With continuing improvement in horizontal drilling and fracking technology, North Dakota oil producers are taking a second look before completing wells with two-mile horizontal laterals, and working on designs for four-mile laterals.

During the Department of Minerals Resources' quarterly update to the ND Industrial Commission, DMR Director Lynn Helms said there are a considerable number of uncompleted oil wells with two-mile laterals. Helms said they are considered "temporarily abandoned" because the operators are planning to re-drill the well with a three-mile lateral.

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Helms said about three-fourths of the drilling permit applications submitted to the department now plan for three-mile laterals. He said there are a few three-and-a-half mile laterals in the state, but he's had conversations with two operators that are working on designs for a four-mile lateral.

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Helms said three oil producers are working on experimental enhanced oil recovery projects. Among them is Continental Resources, the state's largest producer, which is working on an EOR project in Williams County. Helms said if the technology is perfected, it will be a game-changer for Bakken production.

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Workforce issues continue to be a challenge for oil producers, causing the industry to look across the globe for more workers. The ND Petroleum Council has launched a program called Bakken GROW, which stands for Global Recruitment of Oil Workers. It is designed to bring in legal immigrants to the oilfield. The focus is currently on Ukrainians, with the first 15 workers expected to arrive later this month, according to former Lt. Governor Brent Sanford, who is managing the program for NDPC.

Helms said it's not just availability of workers that is a problem. He said there have been instances where a drilling rig was shut down because the rig crew wasn't getting the job done right.

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Governor Doug Burgum, who chairs the NDIC, said workforce recruitment is a good investment because of the amount of tax revenue generated by each new well. Helms suggested to Industrial Commission members that the state may want to consider developing a training program for rig crews to help recruit more workers to the oilfield.

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There are currently 36 drilling rigs operating in the Bakken, compared to 44 one year ago.

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