North Dakota uncompleted wells at 993
USA
BISMARCK, October 14, 2015 – The number of North Dakota wells that have been drilled but not completed has neared 1,000 in the latest count.
The US state’s Department of Mineral Resources released data on Tuesday showing the figure at 993 for August, which marks an all-time high in the well backlog.
The high count has been attributed to the slump in oil prices.
“That reflects an attitude of leaving the oil in the ground and voluntarily reducing production,” Lynn Helms, director of the Department of Mineral Resources, told media.
Helms predicted the number would continue to rise in 2015, and said the state was open to granting extensions to the one-year deadline in place for well completion.
Home to the Bakken shale formation, North Dakota is the second-largest hydrocarbons-producing state in the US after Texas.
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