Wednesday, April 11, 2012

North Dakota Sets New Records in February for Both Crude Oil Production and Oil Employment


The "Economic Miracle State" of North Dakota pumped another record amount of oil during the month of February at a daily rate of 558,255 barrels, which was an increase of 2.24% and 12,000 barrels per day compared to January, and was 60% above the output level from a year earlier (see top chart above). The new record-setting production in recent months has moved the Peace Garden state ahead of California to become the nation’s No. 3 oil-producing state, behind only Texas and Alaska. If North Dakota continues to increase monthly output at the current rate, it could soon surpass Alaska to become the No. 2 oil-producing state.

As a result of the ongoing oil boom in the Bakken area, North Dakota continues to lead the nation with the lowest state unemployment rate at 3.1% for February, more than five percent below the national average of 8.2% for February. There were 13 North Dakota counties with jobless rates at or below 3% for February, and Williams County, which is at the center of the Bakken oil boom, boasts the lowest county jobless rate in the country at just 0.9%.  The exponential growth in North Dakota oil production has fueled exponential growth in the state's "Natural Resources and Mining" employment, which has tripled in less than three years, and surpassed 20,000 for the first time in February.  

Bottom Line: The ongoing record-setting oil production in North Dakota continues to make it the most economically successful state in the country, with record levels of employment and income growth, a labor shortage, increasing tax revenues, the lowest foreclosure rate in the country, a strong real estate market, and jobless rates in many counties of the Bakken region below 3%.

Update: According to the Conference Board, there were fewer unemployed workers (12,060) in North Dakota in February than advertised online jobs (13,700), for a Supply/Demand ratio of only 0.88. Nationally, there were 12.806 million unemployed workers and 4.42 million advertised openings for a Supply/Demand ratio of 2.91.

8 Comments:

At 4/11/2012 4:44 PM, Blogger Breaker Morant said...

As I have said before-Gauging the "North Dakota Miracle" merely by what is occurring within the state misses much of the picture.

The national economic footprint of North Dakota oil is usually missed and hard to quantify. IE-The thousands of jobs in other states supplying and servicing the North Dakota oil fields.

I have started to think of North Dakota almost in Stalingrad terms. IE sucking in men and material at a tremendous rate.

 
At 4/11/2012 6:10 PM, Blogger rjs said...

still has a way to go to surpass the 2 million barrels a day alaska produced at it's peak in 1988:

http://www.google.com/imgres?hl=en&safe=off&sa=X&biw=1524&bih=699&tbm=isch&prmd=imvns&tbnid=3qWv7S1fjFzRSM:&imgrefurl=http://blog.american.com/author/shayward/page/2/&docid=8bFKq7UUpRKqHM&imgurl=http://blog.american.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/2.jpg&w=899&h=654&ei=Bg6GT-PzIMfdgQezzpHdBw&zoom=1&iact=rc&dur=80&sig=112304439316393341001&page=1&tbnh=145&tbnw=200&start=0&ndsp=18&ved=1t:429,r:8,s:0,i:87&tx=56&ty=48

 
At 4/11/2012 6:56 PM, Blogger Benjamin Cole said...

In time, CA will once again blow all these little backwater-wimp states off the map.

"Nationwide, fracking is driving an oil and natural gas boom. Energy companies are using the procedure to extract previously unreachable fossil fuels locked within deep rock. The industry is touting the potential of fracking in California to tap the largest oil shale formation in the continental United States, containing 64% of the nation's deep-rock oil deposits."

--30--

That's right, that's right. Nearly two-thirds on the nation's oil shale here in CA.

Texas will known as as "The Oil Bee-Hole" state due to its "No. 2" status, dropping underneath CA.

 
At 4/12/2012 2:30 AM, Blogger PeakTrader said...

It seems, in 2011, North Dakota added roughly 200,000 bbl/d, which offset most of the 270,000 bbl/d decline in Alaska and the Gulf of Mexico:

EIA Expects Higher U.S. Crude Production
Mar 7, 2012

"U.S. crude oil production increased by an estimated 120 thousand bbl/d to 5.60 million bbl/d in 2011.

A 390-thousand bbl/d increase in lower-48 onshore production in 2011 was partly offset by a 40-thousand bbl/d decline in Alaska and a 230-thousand bbl/d decline in output in the Federal Gulf of Mexico/GOM.

The rise in production is driven by increased oil-directed drilling activity, particularly in onshore shale formations."

 
At 4/12/2012 2:48 AM, Blogger PeakTrader said...

It's more accurate to say North Dakota added roughly 200,000 bbl/d over the past year.

Without excessive restrictions just in Alaska and the Gulf of Mexico, the U.S. could've added 1 million bbl/d, or more, instead of the 120 thousand bbl/d.

 
At 4/12/2012 12:00 PM, Blogger VangelV said...

Bottom Line: The ongoing record-setting oil production in North Dakota continues to make it the most economically successful state in the country, with record levels of employment and income growth, a labor shortage, increasing tax revenues, the lowest foreclosure rate in the country, a strong real estate market, and jobless rates in many counties of the Bakken region below 3%.

I recall when you made similar arguments about shale gas production. My guess is that in a year or two at the latest this bubble will burst just as the previous one did.

 
At 4/16/2012 3:53 AM, Blogger noiln said...

sets is also a branch of science. It’s used to calculate the values with different methods. In the past people calculate the values with different things. In past calculation method is too much difficult but due to the progress of sciences now days we can calculate too much large vales with in a second.

 
At 4/20/2012 6:05 PM, Blogger james said...

I don't generally think of north dakota as being an oil producing state. Many folks don't realize that LA has many oil wells all over the city. Maybe the liberals have not been so very successful in California as their peers give them credit for considering the fact theirs oil rigs all over the city of LA.

 

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