North Dakota oil production bounces back in May, but industry needs more workers

North Dakota oil production bounced back in May after getting hammered the previous month by ugly weather. The state pumped out 1.06 million barrels of oil a day, up 17% from April when back-to-back blizzards hit North Dakota.

"We have almost recovered what we lost in April," Lynn Helms, North Dakota's minerals director, told reporters Tuesday. In May, North Dakota still was running below its March output of 1.12 million barrels per day.

The 20% production decline from March to April was one of the worst month-to-month drops in state history.

Oil prices in May averaged more than $100 a barrel, meaning North Dakota oil tax collections remain healthy. West Texas Intermediate — the benchmark U.S. crude price — closed around $103 Tuesday.

North Dakota's drill rig count, a harbinger of future oil production, currently stands at 42, the same as in June, but ahead of May's tally of 40 and April's 38.

The state still is short of the drilling activity it would need to grow production at a 2% annual rate. Helms said the optimal number of rigs for that output target is 50 to 55.

At that level of production, about 25 fracking crews — who pump oil from the ground after wells have been drilled — would be needed. Currently, there are 18 crews, and the oil companies are struggling to find more workers, Helms said.

Indeed, while inflation has been at 40-year high, the nation's unemployment rate of 3.6% in June is near an all-time low.

"In the absence of a nationwide recession, which would send a lot of unemployed people to North Dakota, we will have to grow our own workforce," Helms said.