Eloise Ogden/MDN Drilling activity has slowed in North Dakota due to the oil price, according to Lynn Helms, director of the N.D. Department of Mineral Resources.

North Dakota produced 1.428 million barrels of oil a day in March, a decline from February when the state produced 1.451 million barrels a day.

The North Dakota Department of Mineral Resources announced new oil and gas production numbers on Friday. The production numbers are normally availabl for release about two months behind.

In natural gas production, the state produced 3.125 billion cubic feet per day in March. The gas capture rate was 87% (2.711 billion cubic feet per day). In February the state produced 3.109 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas. The gas capture rate also was 87% (2.699 billion cubic feet per day).

North Dakota had a preliminary all-time high of 16,263 producing wells in March. The previous all-time high was 16,169 in October 2019.

Lynn Helms, director of the Mineral Resources Department, said in his monthly report the drilling rig count was stable in the mid-50s in the second half of 2019 through February 2020. He said industry projected a 50-75% reduction in rig count from April-June and the count is already down 78% with four to five rig leases expected.

On Friday, 12 rigs were actively drilling in North Dakota, considerably down from February, March and April when 54, 52 and 35 rigs, respectively, were drilling in the state. The all-time high was 218 rigs drilling on May 29, 2012.

On the Fort Berthold Reservation, 339,974 barrels of oil were produced and six rigs are actively drilling there. The reservation had 2,438 active wells. Also on Friday, the price of North Dakota Light Sweet was $6.75 a barrel and. West Texas Intermediate was $27.56 a barrel, according to EIA, CME Group and Flint Hills Resources. The all-time high for N.D. Light Sweet was $136.29 on July 3, 2008, and West Texas Intermediate’s all-time high was $145.29 per barrel on July 31, 2008.

“The number of well completions has been very volatile and has dropped dramatically since March as the number of active completion crews decreased from 25 to 1,” Helms said. He said the lower crude price has put extreme downward pressure on rig and completion crew counts. He also said unemployment claims indicate about 8,000 layoffs as of May 14, with an additional 1,000-2,000 jobs at risk.

Helms also said drilling activity has slowed due to the oil price.

In regard to crude oil markets, Helms said the new OPEC+ agreement to cut 9.7 million barrels per day, announced last Sunday, “is a good step to establish a price floor, but liquid fuel demand is expected to bottom out in May 2020. China demand is recovering, but is not expected to reach full recovery until fourth quarter 2020. Other G20 nations have seen 20-60% reductions in road traffic.”