Natural gas processing plants in North Dakota are tracked here.
From S&P Global, Platts (huge thanks to a reader for spotting this article) :analysis -- Bakken looks to add 445 million cf/d of natural gas processing before year's end.
... as production increased 69 MMcf/d month over month to more than 3 Bcf/d in August, operators lowered flaring to 577 MMcf/d. The startup of the Little Missouri IV processing plant likely led to the decline in flaring, according to S&P Global Platts Analytics. Flaring was still high at 19% for the month, well above the state's 12% mandate.The graphs are staggering:
The drop in flared volumes is a sharp divergence from the prior three months when flaring increased each month. The increase in processed volumes from Little Missouri IV has allowed the Bakken to take an all-time high share of Northern Border Pipeline at the expense of Western Canada imports flowing to the Midwest.
Total Bakken deliveries to the pipeline are at an all-time high so far this month at 1.64 Bcf/d. Western Canadian volumes delivered to the pipeline are currently at 875 MMcf/d, just 10 MMcf/d more than the all-time low set in April, which was due in part to maintenance issues ...
- the Bakken is an oil play, not a natural gas play
- Canadians hate fossil fuel, doing what they can to destroy that part of their economy -- look at the west Canadian production vs little ol' North Dakota -- all of four counties, and mostly just two or three in the big scheme of things, and much of that natural gas production was flared off
Stamped: not trivial:
Makes sense that Bakken gas will crowd out Canadian, given the Bakken gas is oil associated (a side product) and that flaring is discouraged. Long term, they really need another large transport pipe (for both growing Bakken and stifled Canadian production). We don't want to end up like the Permian Waha boys getting near zero prices.
ReplyDeleteNote that even if the Bakken growth moderates or even declines slightly, gas is likely to grow as the play ages.
It's my impression that those in charge in North Dakota are working the flaring issue very, very hard but being very pragmatic.
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