State oil production still growing

The growth in North Dakota's oil patch continues, with oil wells producing more than 110,000 barrels of oil per day for the first time in nearly 20 years, state officials say.

"We're on pace for over 500 wells (permitted) this year, and that hasn't happened for quite some time," state Oil and Gas Division Assistant Director Bruce Hicks told the Industrial Commission on Wednesday.

Division Director Lynn Helms said the state last issued more than 500 oil-well drilling permits in 1996 - the only other year it issued that many permits since the 1979-85 boom years in western North Dakota. The highest year was 1981 with 1,098 permits.

Helms said North Dakota wells have not produced at a rate of 110,000 barrels or more per day since December 1987. He said 61 percent of the state's current oil production comes from horizontal well technology and that 96 percent of all drilling permits are for horizontal wells, which are drilled at an angle.

Hicks' report for the second quarter of this year showed the average production in the state for April through June was 108,153 barrels per day. It has since topped the 110,000-barrel-per-day mark. For the same period last year, production was 94,205 barrels per day.

Hicks also said the number of oil rigs drilling in the state grew from an average of 22 per day in the second quarter of 2005 to an average of 37 in the second quarter of this year.

"We're holding real good on rig count. We've got 41 today," he said Wednesday.

He said prices are strong, with an average of $62.17 per barrel of sweet crude during the last quarter of the year, compared with $47.76 during the second quarter of 2005.

Associated Press