Worker shortage slows Bakken oil development
http://bismarcktribune.com/news/state-and-regional/worker-shortage-slows-bakken-oil-development/article_255e4b9c-5286-53d6-9731-23f70035f081.htmlJul 14, 2017
North Dakota oil production decreased 1 percent in May but remained slightly above 1 million barrels per day, according to the Department of Mineral Resources.
Oil producers are drilling Bakken wells faster than they can bring them online due to a shortage of experienced workers, Director Lynn Helms said Friday.
“There’s a great amount of frustration about not being able to get the trained personnel to be able to hydraulically fracture wells as fast as they can drill them,” Helms said.
The number of wells that have been drilled but are waiting on fracking crews was estimated to be 830 at the end of May, unchanged from a month earlier.
Companies planned to make significant progress on that backlog this year, but have been unable to get ahead due to a lack of trained fracking crews. In some cases, operators have let contractors go after they showed up with too many inexperienced workers, Helms said.
Oil production was 1.04 million barrels per day in May, preliminary figures show, from a record 13,876 producing wells.
Fifty-eight drilling rigs were active in North Dakota on Friday, about eight more than Helms said he anticipated for this year.
It’ll be another month before statistics are available that show the impact the Dakota Access Pipeline is having on oil transportation in North Dakota....
