North Dakota's oil production dropped 13% in December and fell below 1 million barrels a day for only the fourth month since early 2017.
December weather resulted in North Dakota oil and gas output sinking 13%
It was the biggest one-month drop since April and was expected.
February 16, 2023 at 11:24PM
The big drop was expected, though, after the state was walloped by bad weather in December. A huge storm followed by a deep cold spell crimped production.
North Dakota, the nation's third largest oil-producing state, pumped out 956,288 barrels of petroleum in December, down 13% from nearly 1.1 million in November. That's the lowest output since 909,000 barrels a day in April, another month plagued with bad weather.
Oil production didn't again climb past 1 million barrels a day until the second half of January, Lynn Helms, North Dakota's mineral resources director, told reporters Thursday.
"We are seeing strong numbers in terms of field data coming in later in January and early February," he said. "We should be well above 1 million barrels per day in this period."
North Dakota's natural gas production also fell 13% in December from the previous month. It too began rising in late January.
The state's drill rig count — an indicator of future production – stands at 46, the same as in January, but up from 44 in December.
North Dakota had 17,230 active oil wells in December, down by 350 from November as many wells were shut-in due to bad weather, Helms said.
The Federal Reserve on Wednesday cut its benchmark interest rate by an unusually large half-point, a dramatic shift after more than two years of high rates that helped tame inflation but also made borrowing painfully expensive for American consumers.
