Low oil prices prompt ND oil production to decline 3 percent

BISMARCK –- North Dakota oil production declined 3 percent in January to just shy of 1.2 million barrels per day, the Department of Mineral Resources said today.
Low oil prices are prompting operators to postpone completion work to avoid having wells with high initial production at very low prices, Director Lynn Helms wrote in his monthly update.
Crews completed 47 wells in January, according to the preliminary numbers, compared with 183 wells that were completed in December. An estimated 825 wells are drilled and waiting for hydraulic fracturing crews.
The percent of natural gas flared in North Dakota decreased to 22 percent in January.
Natural gas production declined 6.2 percent in January, the preliminary figures say.
The drilling rig count in North Dakota has fallen rapidly, to 111 rigs operating today.