Hess’ Bakken gas-gathering efforts bear fruit
The company reports a remarkable shift in its oil/gas mix in the North Dakota shale play
The carbon footprint of US shale oil, particularly due to fugitive methane from lack of gas-gathering capacity, has become a hot-button topic. But it appears the efforts of US independent Hess in the Bakken shale over the past 12 months have made a significant difference to volumes of gas it is collecting from its oil output. New president Joe Biden and the environmental wing of his Democratic party have methane emissions from shale drilling firmly in their sights. Hess’ numbers should therefore be good news for the US unconventional production industry as a while. Overall, the firm’s Bakken production in Q4 2020 went up by almost 9pc from the same period in 2019, from 174,000bl/d oe to 189,

Also in this section
11 August 2025
The administration is pushing for deregulation and streamline permitting for natural gas, while tightening requirements and stripping away subsidies from renewables
8 August 2025
The producers’ group missed its output increase target for the month and may soon face a critical test of its strategy
7 August 2025
The quick, unified and decisive strategy to return all the barrels from the hefty tranche of cuts from the eight producers involved in voluntary curbs signals a shift and sets the tone for the path ahead
7 August 2025
Without US backing, the EU’s newest sanctions package against Russia—though not painless—is unlikely to have a significant impact on the country’s oil and gas revenues or its broader economy