Shale boosts outlook for Whiting Petroleum

DENVER, July 31 (UPI) -- Production from shale basins in the Northern Plains reached record levels in the second quarter, Whiting Petroleum Corp. declared.

Whiting said net second quarter production was 10 million barrels of oil equivalent per day, of which nearly 90 percent was crude oil. For the third quarter, the company expects production to approach 11 million boe per day.

Net production from the Bakken and Three Forks area of North Dakota increased 33 percent year-on-year, while net output from the Niobrara shale increased 59 percent from the first quarter alone.

For the three months ending June 30, Whiting said oil production of 8.01 million barrels represented a 20 percent increase year-on-year. Natural gas production from its assets in North America increased 8 percent year-on-year.

The outlook for North Dakota was strong given the record production and cash flow generated from the Bakken play, Whiting Chairman and Chief Executive Officer James Volker said.

"We believe we have plenty of running room in the Williston Basin [of North Dakota]," he said in a statement Thursday.

Whiting, which has headquarters in Denver, reported total revenues for the second quarter of $835.6 million, up 26 percent from second quarter 2013.