North Dakota’s oil production fell by 6,000 barrels per day in December to 1.27 million bpd, even as the number of producing wells climbed to a record high, monthly data from the state’s Industrial Commission showed on Thursday.
Oil producers cut back on hydraulic fracturing activity ahead of expected colder weather and the holidays, reducing the number of active frack crews to 13 from 17.
Even so, the number of producing oil wells in North Dakota reached a record at the end of last year, totaling 18,753, Director at North Dakota Department of Mineral Resources, Lynn Helms said on Thursday during a call.
North Dakota remained the third largest U.S. oil producing state.
January output will likely be lower, after the cold snap in the middle of the month briefly cut production in half, and representatives for the industrial commission warned it could take a month for output levels to recover.
(Reporting by Georgina McCartney in Houston; Editing by Liz Hampton and David Gregorio)