Up to 30pc of North Dakota oil output still offline

Market: Crude oil
23/12/22

Up to 30pc of North Dakota's 1.1mn b/d of crude production remains offline as severe winter weather and travel restrictions persist in the state.

An estimated 300,000-350,000 b/d of crude output is shut in, the North Dakota Pipeline Association (NDPA) told Argus this morning.

The high end of the estimate has been lowered from 400,000 b/d earlier in the week as some gains had been made, but "progress has stalled," according to NDPA director Justin Kringstad, with extreme cold, blizzards and poor road conditions all limiting efforts to bring back wells.

The agency indicated on 22 December that some production had been restored, but extreme cold over the past day has made for additional curtailments.

North Dakota's Department of Mineral Resources earlier this week projected that a significant amount of production will stay offline through the end of the year and that there is "virtually nobody" completing wells right now.

By Brett Holmes

Related news posts

Argus illuminates the markets by putting a lens on the areas that matter most to you. The market news and commentary we publish reveals vital insights that enable you to make stronger, well-informed decisions. Explore a selection of news stories related to this one.

News

04/04/25

Tariffs and their impact larger than expected: Powell

New York, 4 April (Argus) — Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell said today tariff increases unveiled by US president Donald Trump will be "significantly larger" than expected, as will the expected economic fallout. "The same is likely to be true of the economic effects, which will include higher inflation and slower growth," Powell said today at the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing's annual conference in Arlington, Virginia. The central bank will continue to carefully monitor incoming data to assess the outlook and the balance of risks, he said. "We're well positioned to wait for greater clarity before considering any adjustments to our policy stance," Powell added. "It is too soon to say what will be the appropriate path for monetary policy." As of 1pm ET today, Fed funds futures markets are pricing in 29pc odds of a quarter point cut by the Federal Reserve at its next meeting in May and 99pc odds of at least a quarter point rate cut in June. Earlier in the day the June odds were at 100pc. The Fed chairman spoke after trillions of dollars in value were wiped off stock markets around the world and crude prices plummeted following Trump's rollout of across-the-board tariffs earlier in the week. Just before his appearance, Trump pressed Powell in a post on his social media platform to "STOP PLAYING POLITICS!" and cut interest rates without delay. A closely-watched government report showed the US added a greater-than-expected 228,000 jobs in March , showing hiring was picking up last month. By Stephen Cunningham Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

Find out more

News

Trump talks up tariff deals as markets slide

04/04/25

News

04/04/25

Trump talks up tariff deals as markets slide

Washington, 4 April (Argus) — US president Donald Trump held out prospects of a negotiated reduction in high tariffs targeting key US trading partners while insisting that import taxes are here to say. Trump via his social media platform said today he spoke with Vietnam Communist Party leader To Lam, who promised to cut their tariffs to zero on US products. Under the plan Trump unveiled on 2 April, US imports from Vietnam will be subject to a 46pc tariff. Trump late Thursday told reporters that a deal on tariffs is possible "if somebody said that we're going to give you something that's so phenomenal." He mentioned a possible deal with China over the sale of social platform TikTok, which is owned by Chinese company ByteDance. "We have a situation with Tiktok where China will probably say, we'll approve a deal, but will you do something on the tariff?", Trump said. The Trump administration is forcing ByteDance to sell TikTok to a US company, but Beijing must approve the sale. "The tariffs give us great power to negotiate," Trump said. But China's commerce ministry today unveiled a 34pc tariff on all imports from the US from 10 April, and vowed that no exemptions will be granted, unlike in its previous round of tit-for-tat tariffs on US commodities. Trump on 2 April announced a 10pc baseline tax on all foreign imports starting on 5 April, while many major US trading partners would be subject to an even higher tax beginning on 9 April. Imports from the EU would be subject to a 20pc tariff beginning on 9 April and imports from China subject to a 34pc tariff in addition to the previously imposed 20pc tariffs. "CHINA PLAYED IT WRONG, THEY PANICKED - THE ONE THING THEY CANNOT AFFORD TO DO!", Trump said on social media after the announcement from Beijing. Trump's executive order exempted energy commodities and many critical minerals from new tariffs, as well as trade already covered under the US Mexico Canada free trade agreement (USMCA). But oil and stock markets continued to slide today as economists and investors concluded that the US tariffs and potential foreign counter-measures would lead to a protracted trade war and reduce economic growth globally. The latest tariffs are likely to cut global growth rates by 0.5 percentage points and reduce US GDP growth by 1pc in 2025-26, analysts with investment bank Standard Chartered said in a note to clients today. Federal Reserve chairman Jay Powell, speaking at a conference in Arlington, Virginia, today, warned that the latest bout of tariffs will lead to "higher inflation and slower growth." IMF executive director Kristalina Georgieva issued a similar warning on Thursday evening. Trump retorted via his social media platform that "This would be a PERFECT time for Fed Chairman Jerome Powell to cut Interest Rates." What's next? Despite touting possible deals to avoid high tariffs, Trump also said today that investors planning to move manufacturing to the US should expect no changes in his tariff policies. Trump's cabinet also struggled to articulate what comes next, with commerce secretary Howard Lutnick saying that Trump would not lift the tariffs announced this week, while treasury secretary Scott Bessent said deals over tariff levels were possible. Secretary of state Marco Rubio, speaking to reporters on a trip to Brussels, Belgium, said that "it's not fair to say that the economies are crashing — markets are crashing because markets are based on the stock value of companies who today are embedded in modes of production that are bad for the US. "The markets will adjust business around the world, including in trade," Rubio said. "They just need to know what the rules are." By Haik Gugarats Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

News

WTI crude falls to 4-year low on escalating trade war

04/04/25

News

04/04/25

WTI crude falls to 4-year low on escalating trade war

Calgary, 4 April (Argus) — The US light sweet crude benchmark WTI fell by as much as 9pc this morning after China retaliated to the US' latest tariff action, while a selloff in global equity markets deepened. May Nymex WTI traded as low as $60.81/bl Friday morning, a more than $6/bl tumble from the settled price in the session before when it gave up $4.76/bl. Prompt month WTI has not been this low since 13 April 2021 when it settled at $60.18/bl. Prices across commodities and equities are down sharply after China on Friday said it will impose a 34pc tariff on all imports from the US from 10 April, a retaliation for new tariffs launched by US president Donald Trump on 2 April . China faces a 34pc import tariff from 9 April, on top of the 20pc tariffs Trump has imposed over the past two months. The prompt-month WTI contract has given up more than $10/bl, or 17pc, in the two days since Trump announced that dozens of countries would be subject to "reciprocal" tariffs, prompting serious concerns over lower global economic growth and a higher chance of a recession. The IMF say tariffs represent a "significant risk" to the global outlook while US-based bank Goldman Sachs said Friday it has cut its oil demand growth estimate for this year to 600,000 b/d from 900,000 b/d, based on its economists' new view of economic growth. Adding price pressure this week has also been the unexpected plans by eight Opec+ members to unwind production cuts faster , upping output in May by 411,000 b/d. Turmoil continued for the second-straight day in equity markets, with the S&P 500, Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq all down between 3-5pc so far. By Brett Holmes Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

News

IMF says tariffs a significant risk to growth: Update

04/04/25

News

04/04/25

IMF says tariffs a significant risk to growth: Update

Updates Brent price in paragraph 4, adds PVM comment in paragraphs 5-6, Morgan Stanley in paragraph 10 London, 4 April (Argus) — US import tariffs pose a "significant risk" to the global economy, according to the IMF. "We are still assessing the macroeconomic implications of the announced tariff measures, but they clearly represent a significant risk to the global outlook at a time of sluggish growth," IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva said. "It is important to avoid steps that could further harm the world economy." The comments came after two days of turmoil on global oil and equities markets, sparked by the US imposition of sweeping tariffs on trade. For oil markets, this was compounded by a surprise decision from the Opec+ producer group to speed up the unwinding of its output cuts. Front-month Ice Brent crude futures prices fell earlier today to a 3.5 year low of $67.48/bl, down by more than 10pc since US President Donald Trump released details of the tariffs on 2 April. Analysts at brokerage PVM described the timing of this as "frankly amazing" and said it was "the icing to this global bearish cake". "The market is now reckoning on the cork being out of the production bottle and believes, as we do, that it will not be pushed back in," PVM said. US-based bank Goldman Sachs today said it has cut its oil demand growth estimate for this year to 600,000 b/d from 900,000 b/d, based on its economists' new view of economic growth. This and the extra production from Opec+ has led the bank, which was bullish on oil prices for a long time, to cut its Brent crude price forecasts for a second time in three weeks , by $5/bl to $66/bl this year. Goldman also removed a price range from its forecasts, "because price volatility is likely to stay elevated on higher recession risk." Like Goldman, UK-based bank Barclays said there is downside risk to its $74/bl forecast for Brent this year. It said oil demand is holding up, "but the potential effect of the trade war on demand is hard to ignore." Analysts at US-based bank Morgan Stanley said a recession is a realistic outcome of the tariffs decision, although not its base case. Modelled against previous recessions, the bank said there is a risk of oil demand growth falling to zero, compared with its forecast of 900,000 b/d for this year. On supply, it noted that an Opec quota increase "is not the same as an actual production increase", and said it would wait for additional clarity before reassessing its second-half 2025 Brent price forecast of $67.5/bl. By Ben Winkley Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

News

US tariffs a significant risk to global economy: IMF

04/04/25

News

04/04/25

US tariffs a significant risk to global economy: IMF

London, 4 April (Argus) — US import tariffs pose a "significant risk" to the global economy, according to the IMF. "We are still assessing the macroeconomic implications of the announced tariff measures, but they clearly represent a significant risk to the global outlook at a time of sluggish growth," IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva said. "It is important to avoid steps that could further harm the world economy." The comment come after two days of turmoil on global oil and equities markets, sparked by the US imposition of sweeping tariffs on trade. For oil markets, this was compounded by a surprise decision from the Opec+ producer group to speed the unwinding of its output cuts. Front-month Ice Brent crude futures prices have fallen by more than 8pc since US president Donald Trump released details of the tariffs on 2 April, to trade near a three-year low below $69/bl. US-based bank Goldman Sachs on 4 April said it has cut its oil demand growth estimate for this year to 600,000 b/d from 900,000 b/d, based on its economists' new view of economic growth. This and the extra production from Opec+ has led the bank, which was bullish on oil prices for a long time, to cut its Brent crude price forecasts for a second time in three weeks , by $5/bl to $66/bl this year. Goldman also removed a price range from its forecasts, "because price volatility is likely to stay elevated on higher recession risk." Like Goldman, UK-based bank Barclays said there is downside risk to its $74/bl forecast for Brent this year. It said oil demand is holding up, "but the potential effect of the trade war on demand is hard to ignore." By Ben Winkley Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

Business intelligence reports

Get concise, trustworthy and unbiased analysis of the latest trends and developments in oil and energy markets. These reports are specially created for decision makers who don’t have time to track markets day-by-day, minute-by-minute.

Learn more