ND producing more than million barrels of oil a day

BISMARCK – North Dakota is continuing to produce more than a million barrels of oil a day, according to a new report released by the North Dakota Department of Mineral Resources.

The state produced 1,122,693 barrels of oil a day or 34,803,491 barrels in March. During the previous month the state produced 1,158,837 barrels of oil a day or 32,447,435 barrels.

The state also produced 94,577,637 million cubic feet or 3,050,892 MCF a day of natural gas in March. In February, the state produced 3,037,867 MCF a day or 85,060,275 MCF of natural gas.

The numbers normally are about two months behind.

The all-time high crude oil price was $125.62 a barrel for North Dakota Sweet Crude and $134.02 a barrel for West Texas Intermediate in June 2008. On Thursday, N.D. Light Sweet was $65 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate was $70.87.

On Thursday, 39 rigs were actively drilling in North Dakota. There were no rigs drilling on federal surface.

The state’s number of producing wells in March was 17,650 (preliminary number). Of that number, 15,446 wells (88%) are unconventional Bakken/Three Forks wells and 2,204 (12%) are produced from legacy conventional pools.

The Fort Berthold Reservation produced 144,190 barrels of oil a day in March. Seven rigs were drilling on the reservation. The reservation has 2,641 active wells.

Lynn Helms, director of the Mineral Resources Department, said the drilling rig count has fallen to 39 due to road restrictions but is expected to return to the mid-40s with a gradual increase expected over the next two years.

He said there are 18 fracking crews currently active.

“OPEC+ announced unilateral oil production cuts earlier this month amounting to 1.7 million barrels per day (bpd), bringing total cuts by the group to 3.7 bpd until the end of the year. Russia sanctions, China economic activity, looming recessions and shifting crude oil supply chains continue to create significant price volatility,” according to Helms.