據能源世界網9月16日報道，北達科他州的一位官員周二表示，7月份，北達科他州的石油日產量兩個月首次躍升至100多萬桶，但仍低于峰值水平，由于新冠疫情繼續影響該州巴肯頁巖油田的產量。

美國北達科他州礦產資源局(North Dakota Department of Mineral Resources)局長林恩?赫爾姆斯(Lynn Helms)援引最新數據表示，7月份原油產量增長約20%，從6月份的26807，731桶增至32252,017桶，即每天約104萬桶。

他在該州月度石油更新報告中表示，8月石油產量預計也將上升，最高可達130萬桶/天，但隨著夏季駕駛淡季，以及近期美國基準油價下跌，這一趨勢可能會逆轉。

赫爾姆斯表示，直到2022年下半年，需求不會恢復到疫情前水平，因此未來幾年我們將面對上下波動的這種情況。

在4月發生歷史性價格暴跌之后，美國各地的石油產量大幅度削減，北達科他州的停產特別嚴重，該地區在2019年創下了超過140萬桶/天的峰值。

赫爾姆斯表示，美國第二大頁巖盆地巴肯（Bakken）目前的原油價格為每桶33美元，遠低于疫情導致燃料需求下降之前的每桶60美元以上。

Helms表示，目前的價格不足以促使該州加大鉆探力度，并指出該州的盈虧平衡成本高于其他頁巖地層，如德克薩斯州的二疊紀盆地。除非我們有更好的價格，并且我們開始看到壓裂機組和鉆機回歸，否則我們將開始看到產量繼續下降。

目前該州只有大約10臺油氣鉆機，赫爾姆斯稱之為“歷史低點”。

郝芬 譯自 能源世界網

原文如下:

North Dakota oil output rose about 20 per cent in July

North Dakota oil production jumped to more than 1 million barrels a day in July for the first time in two months but remained below its peak as the coronavirus pandemic continued to hamper output in the state's Bakken shale field, a state official said on Tuesday.

Crude oil output rose about 20 per cent to 32,252,017 barrels total for the month of July, or about 1.04 million barrels per day, from 26,807,731 barrels in June, North Dakota Department of Mineral Resources Director Lynn Helms said, citing the latest available data.

August numbers are also expected to be on the upswing, and could reach as much as 1.3 million bpd, but the trend will likely reverse itself as the summer driving season fades and recent lower US benchmark oil prices take their toll, he said during the state's monthly oil update.

"We don't see pre-COVID demand coming back until late 2022 so we're facing this for the next couple of years, this up and down," Helms said.

Oil production across the country was slashed after a historic price crash in April and shut-ins have been particularly sharp in North Dakota, which produced a peak of more than 1.4 million bpd in 2019.

The current price of crude produced in the Bakken, the second-largest US shale basin, is $33 a barrel, sharply down from more than $60 a barrel before the health crisis curtailed fuel demand, Helms said.

Current prices are not enough to prompt more drilling in the state, Helms said, noting it has a higher break-even cost for production than in other shale formations, like Texas' Permian basin.

"Unless we have much better prices and we start to see frack crews and drilling rigs, we'll start to see a decline," he said.

There are currently only about 10 oil and gas drilling rigs in the state, which Helms called a "modern day low."