Regulator sees further increase in North Dakota oil production

BISMARCK – North Dakota’s top oil regulator says the state’s crude production grew in March and should keep rising throughout the summer, following a lackluster start to the years.

Figures released Friday show that the state’s daily oil output increased 2% to 1.1 million barrels per day in March. State Mineral Resources Director Lynn Helms attributes the uptick to oil companies bringing more wells online that had already been drilled but not yet fracked, which is a necessary step before a well starts producing oil.

At the height of the COVID pandemic, just one crew was working to bring newly drilled wells online. Now there are nine.