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NEWS RELEASE
February 19, 2018
NDPC RECONVENES TASK FORCE
TO INCREASE NATURAL GAS CAPTURE
Bismarck, N.D. – The North Dakota Petroleum Council
reconvened a task force to explore means of pursuing higher natural gas
capture and spurring additional infrastructure development. The Natural Gas
Capture and Infrastructure Development Task Force (NGCID) met last week to
establish goals and will begin collecting and analyzing data to find
common challenges that can be addressed through industry-wide coordinated
efforts.
“Our task force model has been successful in the past
and helped industry continually meet or exceed its gas capture goals,” said
Ron Ness, president of the North Dakota Petroleum Council. “The multi-year
industry downturn and changes over the past two years, however, have created
new challenges that need to be addressed.”
Among the largest challenges has been the industry
downturn. Although natural gas production has increased over the past two
years, the depressed market inhibited investment in gas processing and
transmission assets. Industry has announced more than 800 million cubic feet
per day of new or expanded processing capacity that will help accommodate
production, but other challenges exist that will require a collaborative
approach.
The Task Force has established six subcommittees that
will closely examine key challenges, including additional infrastructure
buildout, right-of-way and tribal regulatory challenges, H2S contamination,
remote capture technologies, new operator engagement, and reworking of the
gas capture plan requirements to better meet the needs of a changing and technologically
advancing oilfield.
The Task Force, which consists of more than 60 people
representing all of North Dakota’s major producers and midstream companies,
will meet monthly, plans to report back to the North Dakota Industrial
Commission regularly, and will develop recommendations on how to increase
capture by the middle of May.
“In just four years since this Task Force was first
formed and came out with its initial findings and recommendations, so much
has changed,” said Ness. “It became clear we needed to revisit this issue in
a rapidly changing environment and pursue new innovations and new ideas to
ensure we’re continuing to meet our goals and capture more natural gas for
the benefit of mineral owners, value-added markets and the state as a whole.”
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About the North Dakota Petroleum Council
Since 1952, the Petroleum Council has been
the primary voice of the oil and gas industry in North Dakota. The Petroleum
Council represents more than 500 companies involved in all aspects of the oil
and gas industry, including oil and gas production, refining, pipeline,
mineral leasing, consulting, legal work, and oil field service activities in
North Dakota, South Dakota, and the Rocky Mountain Region. For more
information, go to
www.ndoil.org
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