ND oil formations produce 1 billion barrels

Oil production in North Dakota’s Bakken and Three Forks formations has reached a cumulative 1 billion barrels, the state said.

North Dakota Department of Mineral Resources Director Lynn Helms revealed the milestone Wednesday in his monthly report on oil and gas production in the state.

{mosads}The state’s oil drillers produced 35.1 million barrels in August, or 1.13 million barrels a day, a new record and a 1.6 percent increase over July.

Ninety-four percent of the state’s oil came from the Bakken and Three Forks, which stretch into neighboring states and Canada.

Thanks to unconventional drilling techniques, the formations have been at the center of the recent oil boom that made the United States the top oil producer in the world earlier this year.

The Energy Information Administration (EIA) predicted Wednesday that the United States’ top seven oil and natural gas regions, including the North Dakota ones, will increase production in November over October.

The agency expects oil production to grow by 118,000 barrels per day in November, to 5.14 million barrels a day, while gas output will increase by 613 million cubic feet per day, to 43.28 billion cubic feet per day.