据5月18日Rigzone报道，根据美国能源信息署《钻井生产率报告》，尽管北达科他州巴肯地区原油产量下降了6%，但2021年该地区年度天然气产量(以总取水量衡量)增长了9%。

根据该报告，天然气产量在2021年达到29.7亿立方英尺/天的年度高点，超过了2019年创下的29.5亿立方英尺/天的年度高点，扭转了2020年因疫情导致需求下降和停产导致的8%降幅。

相比之下，巴肯地区原油平均年产量在2019年达到145万桶/天的峰值，然后在2020年和2021年下降了17%和6%。自2008年以来，该地区天然气与原油产量的比例一直在上升，并继续加速。

北达科他州监管机构和运营商继续减少天然气生产过程中的井口燃除。

美国能源信息署表示，北达科他州工业委员会提高了天然气捕获目标，即在井口捕获的天然气比例从2014年10月的74%提高到2020年11月初的91%。

截至2021年12月，北达科他州天然气燃除率平均为7.5%，这意味着92.5%的天然气已被捕获。

根据NDIC数据，为了实现捕获目标，北达科他州中游公司将其天然气处理能力从2013年的10亿立方英尺/天扩大到2021年的40亿立方英尺/天。

NDIC预计2023年处理能力将增加到42亿立方英尺/天，因为增加了更多的管道运输能力。

2022年2月，WBI能源公司将100英里长的北巴肯扩建管道投入使用，该管道可以将25亿立方英尺/天的天然气从北达科他州蒂奥加生产中心输送到北达科他州麦肯齐县需求中心。

王佳晶 摘译自 Rigzone

原文如下：

Bakken Gas Production Up In 2021 As Oil Drops once Again

Annual natural gas production – measured as gross withdrawals – in North Dakota’s Bakken region increased by 9 percent in 2021, even as the region’s crude oil production declined by 6 percent, according to the Drilling Productivity Report by the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

According to the report, natural gas production reached an annual high of 2.97 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) in 2021, surpassing the previous high of 2.95 Bcf/d set in 2019 and reversing an 8 percent decline in 2020 amid demand decline and production shut-ins related to the Covid-19 pandemic.

In contrast, the Bakken region’s average annual crude oil production peaked at 1.45 million barrels per day in 2019 and then declined by 17 percent in 2020 and by 6 percent in 2021. The region’s ratio of natural gas to crude oil production has been increasing since 2008 and continues to accelerate.

North Dakota state regulators and operators continue to reduce natural gas flaring at the wellhead that has accompanied natural gas production.

The EIA stated that the North Dakota Industrial Commission raised natural gas capture targets, or the percentage of natural gas captured at the wellhead rather than flared, from 74 percent in October 2014 to 91 percent at the beginning of November 2020.

As of December 2021, North Dakota’s natural gas flaring rate averaged 7.5 percent, which means that 92.5 percent of the natural gas was captured.

To meet the capture targets, midstream companies operating in North Dakota expanded their natural gas processing capacity from 1.0 Bcf/d in 2013 to 4.0 Bcf/d in 2021, according to the NDIC.

The NDIC expects processing capacity to increase to 4.2 Bcf/d in 2023 because more pipeline takeaway capacity has been added.

In February 2022, WBI Energy placed into service the 100-mile North Bakken Expansion pipeline, which can transport 0.25 Bcf/d of natural gas from production centers in Tioga, North Dakota, to demand centers in McKenzie County, North Dakota.