Eloise Ogden/MDN After a drop in oil production in December attributed to the weather, production in North Dakota has risen above a million barrels of oil a day.

BISMARCK – North Dakota’s oil production climbed back above a million barrels of oil in January after dropping below that amount in December.

Lynn Helms, director of the North Dakota Department of Mineral Resources, who released new production numbers this past week, said the state had a 6% increase in oil production, producing 1,060,708 barrels of oil a day.

In December, the state’s oil production dropped to 957,864 barrels of oil a day.

Helms said the drop in oil production that month was weather related. He said it is expected there will be a major increase in February’s production.

The state’s natural gas production also increased in January with a preliminary number of 87,871,026 million cubic feet (MCF) or 2,834,549 MCF a day.

In December, the state’s final production number for natural gas was 81,948,643 MCF or 2,643,505 MCF a day.

Production numbers are about two months behind.

On Wednesday, North Dakota Light Sweet crude was selling at $67.75 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate at $71.33.

As of Wednesday, 45 rigs were actively drilling in the state. One rig was drilling on federal surface.

In January, 469 wells were waiting on completion.

In January, the state had 17,269 (preliminary number) producing wells. The new all-time high was 17,791 in October 2022.

Fort Berthold Reservation produced 146,949 barrels of oil a day in January. Four rigs are drilling on the reservation and there are 2,640 active wells. Nineteen wells are waiting on completion.

Helms said the drilling rig count has stalled in the mid-40s, with a gradual increase expected over the next two years.

“OPEC+ is managing production month to month. Russia sanctions, China economic activity and looming recessions continue to create significant price volatility,” Helms said.