North Dakota oil production has fallen by an estimated 250,000 to 280,000 barrels per day due to freezing weather, while natural gas output in the state declined by 700 million to 800 million cubic feet per day, the North Dakota Pipeline Authority estimated on Sunday.
An Arctic blast is blanketing much of the United States, driving up power demand but also straining supplies as frigid temperatures curtail some oil and gas production. Power and gas supply disruptions have already occurred in parts of the country, including an outage on a natural gas pipeline in the Northwest over the weekend.
North Dakota is the third-largest oil producer in the United States, with output totaling 1.3 million barrels of oil per day. It produces just 3.4 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas, however, a fraction of the 34.7 bcf per day produced in Texas, according to the latest figures from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
“The Northern Border pipeline delivering natural gas to the Midcontinent is remaining full with Canadian gas backfilling the lost Bakken volumes,” the Pipeline Authority said in a statement.
In Texas, the country’s largest oil and gas producer, temperatures are now anticipated to be colder than previously expected, with multiple days of sub-freezing temperatures, the Texas Oil and Gas Association warned on Sunday.
The group reported localized power outages in parts of Permian Basin oil fields but said there had not been significant changes in production, pressures or supply availability.
“Localized issues have occurred as anticipated with weather events; however, there has been minimal impact to the overall natural gas production and distribution system,” TXOGA said.
(Reporting by Liz Hampton in Denver; Editing by Andrea Ricci and Mark Porter)