Bakken Blend crude production in North Dakota in November averaged more than half a million b/d, a new record for the state, its Industrial Commission's Department of Mineral Resources said Tuesday.
Crude production averaged nearly 510,000 b/d in November, up about 22,000 b/d from October and more than 150,000 b/d more than November 2010, the agency said in a statement.
"Oil production in the state has increased anywhere from 8,000 to 40,000 b/d every month since June," Lynn Helms, the DMR's oil and gas division director, said in the statement.
Helms added that 500,000 b/d of crude represents about 10% of US production.
"That's enough oil to displace imports from Iraq or Colombia," Helms said.
DMR data shows total production in North Dakota for November was nearly 15.3 million barrels from 6,300 producing wells.
Assisting in the increase in production in the fourth quarter has been unseasonal warm weather, market sources said Tuesday.
