BISMARCK – North Dakota’s oil and gas production dropped considerably according to recent figures announced by the North Dakota Department of Mineral Resources on Tuesday.

“We saw a pretty significant drop,” said Lynn Helms, director of the Mineral Resources Department, referring to the January figures, the most recent figures available.

Helms said it has been “a whirlwind the last two or three weeks in terms of trying to keep up with what might or might not happen with oil prices and oil activity.”

In January, oil production dropped 5%, Helms said. He said that is the biggest drop since the pandemic.

The state produced 1.086 million barrels of oil a day in January. The month prior the state produced 1.144 million barrels of oil a day.

Helms said natural gas production actually declined more than oil production. He said there was a 7% decline in natural gas.

The state produced 2,825,395 MCF a day or 87,587,236 MCF of natural gas in January. In December the state produced 3,027,656 MCF a day or 93,857,331 MCF.

Helms attributed the majority of the drop in production to the winter weather.

On Tuesday, 33 rigs were actively drilling in North Dakota.

Helms said permitting was “pretty anemic” in January and February. Thirty-two permits were issued in February, 39 in January and 45 in December 2021.

Helms said the prospects of North Dakota returning to being No. 2 in oil production “are slim to pretty far away.”

Helms reported last month that New Mexico has replaced North Dakota as No. 2 in oil production.

As of January, North Dakota has 16,856 (preliminary number) producing wells. The month before the state had 17,200 producing wells.

Fort Berthold Reservation produced 212,593 barrels of oil a day. Six rigs are working on the reservation and there are 2,625 active wells. Twenty-four wells are waiting on completion.

Helms said the number of well completions has been volatile since the pandemic as the number of active completion crews dropped from 25 to one, then increased to 11 this week.

He said OPEC+ continues to phase out oil production cuts beginning September 2021 through the end of the third quarter 2022. At its March 2022 meeting, he said, OPEC+ decided to stick with its plan to increase production 400,000 barrels per day each month going forward. He said the Russia sanctions have exacerbated an already tight market.