Industry Roundup: RNG Expansion, Norway Strike Averted, Price Analysis

Clean Energy Fuels has started up a new renewable natural gas (RNG) plant in Idaho, according to Rigzone. The facility, which started June 5, can process more than 5 million gallons a day of manure. The company called it "one of the largest single-site dairies and RNG facilities in North America." For the Bakken, the expansion of RNG infrastructure represents a growing segment of the broader natural gas market, which North Dakota producers continue to navigate.

Separately, a strike was averted for about 8,000 workers offshore Norway, Rigzone reported on June 5. New agreements including pay increases prevented industrial action that had threatened to cut Norwegian oil and gas production by over 45,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day. The avoidance of a supply disruption in a major producing region helps maintain global crude oil stability, a factor for Bakken crude pricing which is tied to international benchmarks.

In a recent analysis, economists at Macquarie Group, including Chief Economist Ric Deverell, posed the question "Why Is Oil Still Under $100?" in a report sent to Rigzone. The report, highlighted June 5, examines broader market pressures. For Bakken producers, sustained oil prices below the $100 threshold influence drilling budgets, well economics, and the pace of development in the play, which remains a key cost-competitive U.S. shale basin.

These developments underscore the interconnected nature of global energy supply, alternative fuel development, and commodity pricing. Bakken operators monitor such factors as they assess operational planning and midstream capacity needs for both oil and associated gas.