Oil production back over 1 million barrels per day
By Neal A. Shipman
Farmer Editor
As North Dakota saw 1,218 of its oil wells come back online in July, the state saw oil production climb back over 1 million barrels per day. And that 16.5 percent increase in oil and natural gas production had Lynn Helms, North Dakota Department of Mineral Resources director, smiling.
“We’re back in the saddle again,” stated Helm, during his monthly Director’s Cut on Tuesday, Sept. 15.
During July, North Dakota had 1.04 million barrels of crude oil production, while natural gas production rebounded to 2.095 billion cubic feet per day.
“The first time that we went above one million barrels per day was in April of 2014,” stated Helms. “Other than a few dips, we’ve been above one million barrels per day for the past six years. It was a departure from the norm to be below one million barrels in May and June.”
While Helms sees production numbers increasing the next two months, he is less optimistic that those numbers will hold through the winter months.
“We’re approaching winter with just 10 rigs operating in the state,” stated Helms. “We need between 35 and 40 rigs to stay at 1.25 million barrels per day.”