BISMARCK, N.D. (KFGO/PRAIRIE PUBLIC) – North Dakota oil production climbed back to more than 1.2 million barrels per day in August.
“The last time we were over 1.2 million barrels a day was nearly three years ago, in November of 2020,” North Dakota Mineral Resources Director Lynn Helms said during his monthly “Director’s Cut” briefing.
Helms said after that, production plummeted due, in part, to the COVID pandemic. He said the August numbers were 3% higher than July’s.
“This is a lot like the good old days, when we would see 3, 4, and 5% production increases, month over month,” Helms said.
Helms also said the increase may be the last one for a while.
“When we look at the number of completions, and we look at the number of wells waiting on completion, we can see that we don’t have a large inventory of wells waiting,” Helms said. “And we’re just going to be completing wells as they’re drilled.”
In his report, Helms said North Dakota is still capturing 95% of the natural gas – above the goal of 91%, set by the state Industrial Commission – but down 1% from July.
