Low oil prices and regulations for flaring and oil conditioning helped suppress North Dakota’s crude oil production in October, the first time the monthly total has fallen since November 2013, data released Friday by the state’s Department of Mineral Resources showed. Crude output in October was 1.182 million b/d, a 4,054 b/d decline from September, the agency said. “We’ve really got three majors forces at play here and all of them are working to restrict production … or hold it flat,” said Lynn Helms, director of North Dakota’s Department of Mineral Resources. Helms said this marked the first time in eight months the state did not set a production record and said it was “very unusual” to not see an increase in production from September to October. Helms pointed to flaring reductions, conditioning and falling oil prices as the likely explanation. On Tuesday, the […]