Workforce shortage continues to challenge oil and gas industry

BISMARCK, N.D. (KUMV) - North Dakota’s oil and gas industry is facing several challenges as they look to recover to pre-pandemic production. One of those issues is employment.

As of Monday, there are 15 fracking crews, which is five more compared to the beginning of the year. That number is expected to slowly increase as officials said oil producers are having a tough time finding and training a full crew.

“One company has a dozen rigs available in North Dakota, but it’s taking them two months to hire and train a crew. In some cases, it takes three attempts,” said Lynn Helms, Department of Mineral Resources director.

There were a total of 25 crews working in North Dakota at the end of 2019. This is the highest number of workers since the beginning of the pandemic.

Helms added that most rigs moved to New Mexico and Texas during the pandemic because they picked up faster than North Dakota.