North Dakota oil output falls by half due to extreme cold

HOUSTON, Jan 16 (Reuters) -

North Dakota's oil production fell by half on Tuesday due to extreme cold weather and operational challenges, the state's pipeline authority said.

Oil production was estimated to have fallen by 600,000 to 650,000 barrels per day, according to the North Dakota Pipeline Authority.

The state's overall production stood at about 1.27 million barrels per day in October, based on the latest available data from the Energy information Administration.

Natural gas output was expected to be down by 1.6 billion cubic feet per day (bcfpd) to 1.8 bcfpd due to the freezing weather, about half of the state's 3.44 bcfpd gas production. (Reporting by Arathy Somasekhar in Houston; Editing by Mark Porter and Nick Macfie)