North Dakota oil drillers appear to be losing ground in the effort to meet state-mandated requirements to reduce flaring of associated natural gas at crude oil wells due largely to persistently high flaring rates on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation. While operators overall appeared to be close to meeting flaring reduction goals, the issue has been complicated by jurisdictional confusion, significant regulatory hurdles, and potentially overlapping state, federal and tribal regulations, officials claim. This week, Lynn Helms, director of North Dakota’s Department of Mineral Resources, said that statewide, 28% of associated gas was flared in August, just above the 26% flared limit set by the North Dakota Industrial Commission earlier this year. Under these rules, operators need to reduce flaring levels to 26% by October 1, then 23% by January 1, 15% within two years and 10% by 2020. Producers face dramatic oil production curtailment penalties if […]