With COVID-19 upending petroleum demand, North Dakota's oil production fell 30% in May, hitting a monthly low not seen in seven years.
"The second quarter of 2020 was a like a five-alarm fire for the North Dakota oil and gas industry," said Lynn Helms, director of the North Dakota Department of Mineral Resources.
Oil production has picked up since May. But it will take more than a year to return to pre-COVID levels — if ever, given potentially permanent changes in petroleum demand, Helms said.
North Dakota, the nation's largest oil-producing state after Texas, churned out 858,400 barrels per day in May, down 30% from April, according to state data released Friday. Output hasn't been that low since June 2013.
The state's natural gas production in May fell 29% from April, the largest month-to-month decline on record, Helms said.
North Dakota gas and oil production hit all-time highs in November before falling somewhat and then plummeting in April and May.
The state posted another grim statistic: Inactive oil wells shot up from 2,168 in April to 6,108 in May, the highest ever. Oil companies shut in wells, including many new ones, with demand sinking and prices falling.
"Every operator was shutting in everything," Helms said in a conference call with reporters.