Department of Mineral Resources: pipeline limits, Bakken inventory and EOR pilots shape outlook

Nathan Anderson, director, Department of Mineral Resources, told the North Dakota House Appropriations Committee that oil production in the state is holding near 1.15–1.2 million barrels per day and that gas capture in the state “remains very positive and solid at 95%.”

Anderson said those figures, combined with an increasing gas‑to‑oil ratio, mean the state could become “pipeline limited” if production reaches about 1.3 million barrels per day — a threshold he and agency staff project could arise in the current biennium if production and gas ratios continue their trends. He said the potential constraint could reduce oil volumes if additional takeaway capacity is not developed.

Why it matters: North Dakota produces the vast majority of its output from the Bakken/Three Forks system, and Anderson told the committee that roughly 97% of the state’s production comes from that pool. That concentration makes access to gas‑takeaway infrastructure and technologies to use or export associated gas central to sustaining production and related state revenues.

Anderson reviewed several technical and policy items: updated inventory estimates…