According to this article published today at Bloomberg, and a statement released by the North Dakota Department of Mineral Resources, North Dakota’s Bakken Oil Field Production has overtaken that of OPEC member country, Ecuador.
According to Lynn Helms, the director of the ND DMR, “Oil production in the State has increased anywhere from 8,000 to 40,000 barrels per day every month since June.” ND is now at the half a million barrel per day oil production mark.
Naysayers will undoubtedly say something like “The Bakken oil production numbers do not matter because the produced oil accounts for less than 3% of our daily consumption.” As we have said all along, the Bakken oil production alone will not rid us of foreign and hostile oil, but it has the potential to significantly reduce our dependence because of the similar oil extraction technologies that can be done in other shale plays.
Regardless of the size in ND oil production vs. the US consumption, it is a pretty good day for unconventional oil production when a State overtakes an OPEC member country… take that Ecuador!