ND's Record-Setting Oil Production Fuels Economic Boom with Record Employment, 3.6% Jobless Rate

Following an ongoing pattern that I have been following all year, North Dakota set more new records in June for monthly oil production (see chart above, data here).

According to a report earlier this year from Bloomberg, "Drilling advances are enabling producers to tap the Bakken, where rocks lack the porosity and permeability of conventional oil fields. The Bakken contributed to last year’s 7.5 percent gain in U.S. crude output, the biggest since 1955 and the first in 18 years. 

Output may reach 300,000 to 400,000 barrels a day by mid-2011 and stay at that level for 10 to 15 years, said Lynn Helms, director of the North Dakota Mineral Resources Department. The state’s previous estimate was 220,000 to 280,000. "

The following are new, all-time record highs set in June:

Daily Oil Production: Record high 315,282 barrels in June, which has already exceeded the previous forecast mentioned above that oil output in North Dakota would reach 300,000 in mid-2011; that's a 5.8% increase from May, a 46.6% increase from June 2009, and a 89.7% increase from June 2008.

Total Monthly Production: Record high 9,458,455 barrels in June, almost double the amount produced two years ago.

Number of Wells Producing: Record high 4,746 in June, 13.4% above last year.

Barrels per Well: Record high of 1,993 in June, 29.3% above last year.

Daily Oil Per Well: Record high of 66 barrels in June.

As a direct result of the oil boom, North Dakota's economy is booming as well, with the lowest state jobless rate in the country of 3.6% in June, and recent jobs gains that completely offset all of the jobs lost during the recession, bringing North Dakota's employment to a record high in June of 371,300 (see bottom chart above).