Oil production from the Bakken Shale in North Dakota and the Eagle Ford Shale in Texas rose by 17,000 barrels per day (bbl/d) in March compared to February, according to Platts’ Bentek Energy.
Crude oil production in the Eagle Ford Basin averaged 1.6 million barrels (MMbbl) in March, up 344,000 incremental bbl/d or 28% from year-ago levels, according to Bentek analyst Sami Yahya. Crude production in the North Dakota section of the Bakken Shale in the Williston Basin averaged 1.2 MMbbl/d for March, up 215,000 bbl/d from the same month in 2014. Total crude production in the U.S. increased by 1.3 MMbbl/d from March 2014 to March 2015.
“Producers in both the Eagle Ford and Bakken basins are still maintaining their production levels by high-grading their acreage and pushing for better efficiencies,” said Yahya. “The current average economic return for the two basins is 17%. However, the downside risk is that some producers may elect to increase their number of drilled-but-uncompleted wells in the near term—until they figure out their cash flow status—which will further flatten or bring down production levels.”
The daily price assessment from Bentek reflects the value of oil out of the Eagle Ford Shale formation in South Texas and is up 25% since mid-March. The average price for the year is $53.30/bbl, with the marker ranging between $46.22/bbl and $62.20/bbl since the start of 2015.
The price of oil out of the Bakken formation at Williston, N.D., rose 36% since mid-March. The average price for the year is $46.81/bbl, with the price ranging between $38.43/bbl and $57.45/bbl since the start of 2015.
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