When you talk oil production in North Dakota these days, the Bakken is probably top-of-mind.
And right now, only around three percent of the state’s oil production comes from “Legacy pools,” conventionally drilled.
That’s about 31,000 barrels per day.
"I've made the comment in the past, that it looks like we have all our eggs in one basket," said DMR oil and gas division assistant director Mark Bohrer. "But it's a pretty good basket — a big, big oil field, so it's not that concerning."
Bohrer did say some of the drilling techniques developed in the Bakken may help in the legacy pools.
"We would like to see those numbers grow," Bohrer said. "Hopefully, at some point, they will focus some of their efforts toward these legacy pools."
Oil Preoduction predictions
Oil production in North Dakota is around 1.17 million barrels per day.
That’s what the June numbers show.
Former North Dakota Department of Mineral Resources director Lynn Helms has said he hoped the state would get back to the 1.3 million barrel mark. But Bohrer said this will be a struggle.
"We've had a couple of down months of production," Bohrer said. "Hopefully the July numbers will turn it around, and we'll see an uptick. We're hopeful."
North Dakota’s highest production came in November, 2019 – 1.5 million barrels per day.
