Bakken Output Hits Record Wells Amid Price Surge, Conference Eyes Next Boom

North Dakota's oil activity surged in March with a record number of producing wells, state officials reported Friday, as higher prices driven by global conflict spurred activity. The state's Department of Mineral Resources said there were 19,639 active wells in March, up 224 from February, according to data presented at the monthly "Director's Cut" briefing.

The March production of 35.4 million barrels, or 1.142 million barrels per day, marked a near 1% increase from February. Assistant Director Mark Bohrer noted this was the first full month reflecting the impact of the U.S. war with Iran, which began Feb. 28 and closed the key Strait of Hormuz oil shipping corridor. North Dakota's crude price jumped to $84.33 per barrel in March from $57.74 in February, while the West Texas Intermediate benchmark reached $101.02 per barrel on Friday, May 22.

Continental Resources founder Harold Hamm announced Thursday his company would resume drilling new rigs in North Dakota, according to the state briefing. Hamm had stopped new drilling in January due to low oil prices, marking the first pause in 30 years for the company. The current rig count in the state is 25, but is expected to rise.

The optimism was palpable at the Williston Basin Petroleum Conference held this week in Bismarck, which celebrated 75 years of oil dominance in the state. Industry leaders focused on "cracking the code for Bakken 2.0," according to a conference summary. A combined investment exceeding $100 million from the state, the U.S. Department of Energy, and private industry is fueling research into enhanced oil recovery technologies like CO2 injection, surfactants, advanced seismic imaging, and artificial intelligence.

The push aims to improve recovery rates, which currently extract less than 15% of the oil trapped in the Bakken formation, according to the conference summary. Since 2010, more than six billion barrels have been produced from the Bakken.

At the same conference, natural gas infrastructure emerged as a critical hurdle. Justin Kringstad, executive director of the North Dakota Pipeline Authority, warned that without sufficient pipelines, high levels of associated gas could lead to increased flaring, causing producers to move capital elsewhere. He highlighted the proposed Bakken East project, a high-pressure pipeline from Watford City to Fargo.

The pipeline's first phase would connect Watford City to northern Bismarck by November 2029, with completion to Fargo by November 2030, Kringstad said. Experts stated a full system could generate over a billion dollars a year in tax revenue and protect thousands of jobs by keeping oil rigs running. The project would also connect new communities to natural gas and benefit the state's power supply.