Bakken boosts its gas infrastructure
Oil is still a serious business in the Bakken shale, but when it comes to midstream, the money is on gas
Driven mostly by US production growth concentrated around the oil-generating geology of North Dakota, the Williston basin’s midstream footprint has expanded according to the region’s unique and evolving needs. Gas-to-oil ratios have flipped in the Williston basin over the past six years, increasing more than 90pc since 2016 from 1.51mn ft³/d (42,800m³/d) to 2.8mn ft³/d per bl of oil produced. Drilling activity in the Bakken shale is nearly four times higher than it was two years ago. As in the Permian basin, oil production in the Williston has a high rate of associated gas. But the Bakken’s residual gas is rich in NGLs, and that requires infrastructure generally more akin to North Texas’ Bar
Also in this section
16 December 2025
The December 2025/January 2026 issue of Petroleum Economist is out now!
16 December 2025
Abdullah Aljarboua serves as a senior fellow in the energy macro & microeconomics programme at KAPSARC. His work spans macroeconomics, energy-economic modelling, large-scale optimisation and advanced computational techniques for modelling complex energy policy dynamics. Here he speaks with Petroleum Economist about the Gulf region’s role in shaping the energy landscape over the coming decades
16 December 2025
The 25th WPC Energy Congress, taking place in Riyadh in April 2026 brings together global leaders, scientists, policymakers and innovators at a pivotal moment in the world’s energy evolution.
15 December 2025
As contradictory as it might seem, US oil output has continued to grow over the last several years, even as drilling in the shale plays has maintained a slow decline. This improbable dichotomy is a testimony to the industry’s technological prowess
