North Dakota's Natural Gas Production Increased 17% Month-Over-Month; State Still Hit Capture Target Guidelines; NDIC Tweaks Policy -- September 23, 2020

Big headline in Bismarck, but, wow, talk about trivial. The NDIC simply tweaked some rules and regulations after consulting with the oil companies. Link to Houston Chronicle:

North Dakota’s Industrial Commission on Tuesday approved a revised gas capture policy that aims to encourage investment in infrastructure but doesn’t change targets for burning excess natural gas at well heads.

State Mineral Resources Director Lynn Helms said the Oil and Gas Division has “relaxed the policy slightly in a few places and tightened it significantly in other places” after months of consultation with industry and environmental groups, The Bismarck Tribune reported.

Helms said future gas capture requires “a monumental effort” and billions of dollars in infrastructure such as natural gas processing plants and pipelines. North Dakota's gas production is projected to hit 5.3 billion cubic feet a day 18 years from now. The state produced a record of more than 3.1 billion cubic feet per day in November 2019.

Companies have met or exceeded gas capture goals in recent months, largely due to decreased production amid the coronavirus pandemic and several new processing facilities and expansions coming online in the last year, North Dakota Pipeline Authority Director Justin Kringstad said.

The policy includes several exceptions for companies that flare natural gas under certain circumstances, such as gas plant outages or delays securing a right-of-way for pipeline construction. Mineral Resources spokeswoman Katie Haarsager said the revised policy should clarify how the variances in the calculation are applied.

In fact, natural gas production increased by 17% month-over-month in most recent data and North Dakota still reached its natural gas capture target.  Link here.