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Challenges for gas capture targets in North Dakota
Improvements in technology have boosted the production per rig in the Bakken, but the infrastructure to capture the additional gas has not likewise increased. “We are in a growth mode and moving forward and we have to know there is a plan to capture gas,” said Ron Ness, president of the North Dakota Petroleum Council.
Recently, the North Dakota Petroleum Council reactivated its flaring task force, increasing the target for gas capture from 85 percent to 88 percent by November 2018, and increasing to 91 percent in 2020. North Dakota’s oil and gas industry has already invested more than $13 Billion in gas-gathering and processing infrastructure. To date, close to 800 mcf of gathering and processing capacity is proposed for 2018 and 2019, but this is insufficient to meet the state’s gas capture targets.
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