America’s second-largest producer has seen an 852 percent increase in annual oil production since 2006 when the Bakken took off.

North Dakota’s oil boom, better known as “The Bakken”, slowed down when oil prices plummeted two years ago and many people working in the oil field left the state. Things are now looking up for a number of reasons, including a rise in oil prices and a friendlier oil production climate from the Trump administration.

“After 2014 we had a tough couple years and lost about 13,000 jobs in the industry. That’s coming back now,” said Rob Lindberg, director of Bakken Backers, a coalition that supports North Dakota’s oil and gas industry.

“In the history of the world there’s only been 10 formations to ever hit one million barrels per day and we’ve got one of them,” he told North Dakota's Minot Daily News.

“The Bakken’s really a special place. Most of the companies operating in the Bakken generally rank it either as their No. 1 or No. 2 asset in the entire world,” he said. For example, he said Hess, a worldwide player, has 33 percent of its production now coming from the Bakken.

The most recent information available from the North Dakota Department of Mineral Resources reports the state produced 1.025 million barrels a day of oil in March. Production dropped below a million barrels of oil a day during the slowdown in the oil patch but has climbed back up again.

The state has seen an 852 percent increase in annual oil production since 2006 when the Bakken play production began. At that time, North Dakota had 5,000 jobs in the industry plus some fracking and drilling crews, according to Lindberg.

Today, the number of jobs directly in the industry has increased to at least 50,000, as well as 23,000 secondary and other jobs supporting the industry.

image: North American Shale Magazine