DENVER, April 30 (UPI) -- It's cheaper to drill and the amount of natural gas captured from North Dakota oil beat state requirements by nearly 10 percent, Whiting Petroleum said.
U.S. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell said in March her department was considering federal standards meant to cut emissions and reduce the amount of gas wasted during flaring.
While the Interior Department will do its part, the secretary said part of the onus lies with industry and state leaders. North Dakota, a state at the heart of the shale oil boom in the United States, requires operators to capture at least 77 percent of the natural gas associated with oil deposits in the state rather than burn it off.
Whiting, which has headquarters in Denver, said in its first quarter 2015 report it's capturing more than 85 percent of the associated gas in North Dakota.
In May, startup company North Dakota LNG announced plans to build a gas processing plant in Tioga, the first of its kind for the state, to reduce flaring.
James Volker, the top executive at the company, said net production for the company was at record levels during the first quarter despite a drop off in exploration and production activity. The company plans 11 total rigs in U.S. shale, including nine in the Bakken reserve area in North Dakota, for the second half of the year. That compares with 25 rigs during the same period last year.
"We are seeing lower completed well costs through service company price reductions, operational efficiencies and new technology applications," he said in a statement Wednesday. "Bakken wells are being drilled and completed for $6.5 million, down from $8.5 million in 2014."
The North Dakota Industrial Commission said oil production in February, the last full month for which data are available, was 1.17 million barrels per day, a 1.1 percent decline from January and a 4 percent decline from December. December's oil production of 1.2 million bpd was the all-time high.
NDIC Director Lynn Helms said a weak crude oil market and state targets aimed at reducing the amount of gas burned off during oil production was to blame for the decline.
