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North Dakota Petroleum improvement in oil production record monthly and yearly. Corrections made to measure precisely the result of oil production, so the company can make improvements and development of production systems exploration activities.

“It’s been crazy,” said Ron Ness, president of the North Dakota Petroleum Council, a Bismarck-based group that represents about 160 companies. “It’s a good thing.”

The state Industrial Commission reports that North Dakota oil wells pumped an average 226,940 barrels a day in July and 231,252 barrels daily in August, the latest figures available because oil production numbers typically lag at least two months. The previous high of 215,637 barrels a day was set in November 2008.

North Dakota produced a record 62.8 million barrels last year, up nearly 18 million barrels from 2007.

Ness and Lynn Helms, director of the state Department of Mineral Resources, had predicted that oil activity in 2009 would be at 2007 levels.

“There has been a very sharp rebound in oil prices and the rig count has recovered a great deal,” Helms said Tuesday. North Dakota’s harsh winter led to a drop in drilling activity during the first few months of this year, he said.

The state has been producing more than 7 million barrels per month since July, which puts it on par with Oklahoma in the top five oil-producing states, Ness said.

North Dakota sweet crude was fetching about $68 on Tuesday, more than double the price in December, a five-year low after a record $136.29 in July 2008.

Oil prices at $50 to $70 a barrel keep the investment climate strong in North Dakota, and keep wells working in the state’s oil patch, industry officials say.

North Dakota has 4,541 active oil wells, Helms said. That’s up from 4,025 at the same time last year, and 3,616 in 2007, records show.

The state had a record 98 rigs working last fall but the count dropped to about 30 early this year. Fifty-seven rigs were operating in North Dakota’s oil patch this week.

Each active rig represents about 40 direct jobs and 80 indirect jobs in the state, Ness said.

The state reached its pipeline, rail and refining capacity of about 189,000 barrels daily in October 2008, Helms said. Prices for North Dakota crude generally lag about $10 behind other oil on the New York Mercantile Exchange because of the commodity’s distance from the markets, he said.

Infrastructure improvements, including a new rail shipping station and a pipeline expansion project in northwestern North Dakota, will increase the state’s shipping capacity by about 115,000 barrels daily, Helms said. The projects are expected to be finished early next year and should add about $5 per barrel to the price of North Dakota sweet crude, he said.

Ness said some companies are likely curbing some production to take advantage of the higher prices that could come with the bump in shipping volume.

At the same time, technology is improving throughout the Williston Basin to capture oil faster and more efficiently from the Bakken and Three Forks-Sanish formations in western North Dakota, Ness said.

“2010 is starting to look big,” Ness said.

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