Helms: What Rig Count Zero Means in a Shale Play

A Critical Mineral at a Critical Moment: The Importance of Restoring Domestic Tungsten Production in the U.S.

A Revolutionary Way to Understand Energy Customers

Lynn Helms, Director, Department of Mineral Resources, recalls what life was like during the last bust when rig counts reached zero in the Bakken. Helms was a week into his job when this historic feat occurred.

Helms explains some of the logistics behind going from several rigs to zero rigs and why so many operators will hang on as long as they can. Ancillary issues like finding workers, innovation advancements and equipment integration are just a few of the issues with Rig Count Zero.

Helms also gives an update on the current situation in the Bakken oil fields with the effects of OPEC, coronavirus impact and COVID-19 Shutdown.

Author Profile

Jason Spiess

Contributor - The Crude Life Content Network

Jason Spiess is a multimedia journalist, entrepreneur and content consultant. Spiess has over 25 years of media experience in broadcasting, journalism, reporting and principal ownership in media companies. (Over 30 years experience if you count his adolescent years as a newspaper delivery boy learning the importance and logistics of daily distribution and monthly door-to-door bill collecting.) Spiess has worked in the areas of oil and gas, UAS and precision agriculture, health care, cannabis, agriculture, real estate, government affairs and economic development. Spiess is the host of two radio programs, Building the Bakken and Coffee & Capitalism, and three specialty programs, MonDak OilField Review, Corporate Ink and UnStuck, that carry a radio network that spans five states and two countries. Spiess is a North Dakota native and graduated from North Dakota State University.