North Dakota hits 1 million bpd mark for first time

BISMARCK, N.D., June 18 (UPI) -- By reaching 1 million barrels of oil per day, North Dakota has cemented itself as a cornerstone of the U.S. shale success story, U.S. Sen. John Hoeven said.

The North Dakota Industrial Commission said oil production in April, the last full month for which data are available, was 1,001,149 barrels per day, a new all-time high and the first time the monthly level topped the 1 million bpd mark.

April's production level bested the previous month by 2.4 percent.

Hoeven, R-N.D., said the milestone is significant not only for North Dakota but also for the nation as a whole.

"The U.S. Energy Information Administration reported that the United States in 2013 produced 84 percent of its energy needs domestically, and North Dakota has clearly been a big part of getting there," he said in a statement Tuesday

More than 90 percent of the 1 million bpd came from the Bakken oil formation in the state. U.S. dependency on foreign oil has decreased 18.5 percent since the first well was drilled into the play in 2006.

North Dakota produced less than 100,000 bpd in 2000. The North Dakota Petroleum Council expects Bakken success to last "several more decades."