Link here (regional links break early).
According to Lynn Helms, director of the Department of Mineral Resources, the number of new drilling rigs in the Williston Basin is projected to reach an unprecedented 225 by the end of the year.
“There are at least 1,000 undrilled permits,” says Helms, “and 250 permits in the queue waiting to be approved.”
Helms states that an oil company leases a tract of land for three years, and then applies for a drilling permit. However, the drilling permit is only good for one year. After that, the oil company has to re-apply, go to the bottom of the queue and risk losing its leasehold.
Datapoints:
- Despite the previous winter being one of the worse on record, ND is still on pace to bring in more drilling rigs than ever before
- North Dakota is projected to crush the state’s crude production record
- North Dakota produced 64.6 million barrels of crude from the beginning of this year to June; by the end of the year, it is estimated the state will produce 133 million barrels
- Currently: 1,000 undrilled permits
Pace of activity:
“Current permit activity suggests that companies intend to drill 5,000 wells over the next 2½ years,” states Helms. According to Helms, in the last five years, 2,600 wells have been drilled. This will be nearly twice the number of wells drilled in half the amount of time.