July 2012, Vol. 239 No. 7

In The News

North Dakota Now No. 2 Oil Producer

North Dakota has passed Alaska to become the second-leading oil-producing state in the nation, trailing only Texas. North Dakota oil drillers pumped 17.8 million barrels in March, with a daily average of 575,490 barrels, Assistant State Mineral Resources Director Bruce Hicks told The Associated Press. That compares with 17.5 million barrels in Alaska, though still far behind Texas.

The state’s oil patch is drilling at record levels and shows little sign of slowing down. The 152.9 million barrels of crude oil produced in 2011 set a record, surpassing the previous year’s mark by nearly 40 million barrels, according to the state Industrial Commission. The number of wells in the state jumped from 6,726 in February to a record 6,921 in March, Hicks said.