Eloise Ogden/MDN New oil production numbers released this week show the state produced 1.127 million barrels of oil a day. The all-time high was in November 2019 when the state produced 1.519 million barrels of oil a day.

BISMARCK – North Dakota produced 1.127 million barrels of oil a day in May, a slight climb above the previous month’s production number of 1.123 million barrels of oil a day in April.

The North Dakota Department of Mineral Resources released the most recent oil and gas production numbers on Tuesday. The numbers are normally about two months behind.

The state’s all-time high for oil production was in November 2019 when 1.519 million barrels of oil a day were produced.

North Dakota produced 92,411,537 MCF or 2,981,017 MCF a day of natural gas in May. In April the state produced 88,470,160 MCF or 2,949,005 MCF a day of natural gas. The gas capture percentage was 92% in May and 94% in April.

The majority of the production – 96% – is from Bakken and Three Forks and the rest – 4% – from legacy pools.

As of Tuesday, the price of crude oil was $58.50 for North Dakota light sweet and $66.42 for West Texas Intermediate.

Twenty-three rigs were actively working in the oil field as of Tuesday.

The state had a preliminary number of 16,612 producing wells in May. The all-time high was 16,612 in April.

Fort Berthold Reservation produced 256,384 barrels of oil a day in May. Two rigs were actively drilling on the reservation. The reservation has 2,568 active wells and 64 wells waiting on completion.

Lynn Helms, director of the Mineral Resources Department, said the drilling rig count is slowly increasing after it fell 65% from January 2020 to May 2021.

He said the number of well completions has been low and volatile since April 2020 as the number of completion crews dropped from 25 to one and then increased to six this past May and to eight this week.

“OPEC+ reached a deal on Sunday to phase out 5.8 million barrels per day of oil production cuts by September 2022 as prices of the commodity hit their highest levels in more than two years. Coordinated increases in oil supply from the group, known as OPEC+ will begin in August. Overall production will increase by 400,000 barrels per day on a monthly basis from that point onward,” Helms said.