BISMARCK – North Dakota’s oil production showed only a slight dip in April, the most recent figures available.

In April, the state produced 1,391,188 barrels of oil a day, a drop of 572 barrels compared to March when the state produced 1,391,760 barrels of oil a day.

The all-time high was in January of this year when the state produced 1.403 million barrels of oil a day,

The North Dakota Department of Mineral Resources released the most recent oil and gas production figures on Friday.

North Dakota reached a new all-time high of producing 2.862 MCF a day of natural gas in April.

The state also had a preliminary new all-time high of 15,490 producing wells in April.

On Friday, the price of North Dakota light sweet was $40.50 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate, $52.28, according to Flint Hills Resources.

As of Friday, 61 rigs were actively drilling in the oil patch.

Fort Berthold Reservation produces 302,773 barrels of oil a day, according to the report. Fourteen rigs are actively drilling on the reservation and there are 2,098 active wells.

Lynn Helms, director of the Mineral Resources Department, said the drilling rig count has become very stable in the 60s. He said the current operator plans are to hold the rig count steady or perhaps two to five fewer rigs in the second half of 2019, depending on oil price, workforce and infrastructure constraints.

He said over 99 percent of drilling now targets the Bakken and the Three Forks formations.

“Lower crude oil price, gas capture, workforce and competition with the Permian and Anadarko shale oil plays for capital continue to limit drilling rig count,” Helms said.