BISMARCK – North Dakota produced 1.167 million barrels of oil a day in July, down about 1.5% in July but 6% above the revenue forecast, according to the assistant director of the North Dakota Department of Mineral Resources. In June, the state produced 1.186 million barrels of oil a day.

The July oil and natural gas production numbers are the most recent ones available.

Mark Bohrer said 97% of the production (1.137 million barrels a day) was from the Bakken and Three Forks formations and 3% (30,598 barrels a day) was from legacy pools.

He also said during the monthly oil and gas update on Tuesday that Nathan Anderson, the new director of the Mineral Resources Department, spent his first day in the office on Sept. 16.

Bohrer said the July completions are up and appear to have slowed the decline slightly.

“I hope to see that turnaround and stabilize,” Bohrer said. He said there also were a higher number of inactive wells that likely contributed to some of the production decrease.

In July, the price of North Dakota Light Sweet was $73.12 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate was $81.80 a barrel.

“That’s about 5% above the revenue forecast, so that’s good,’ Bohrer said.

As of Tuesday, he said, the numbers were down slightly with N.D. Light Sweet at $66.50 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate at $70.95.

“So that’s actually a little bit below our revenue forecast,” he said. He said those numbers can fluctuate quite easily.

The state produced 3,457,296 million cubic feet a day of natural gas in July. Bohrer said that’s down 9%. He said Liberty Midstream was down about 50% due to maintenance during the second half of June and into July so likely contributed to those numbers.

The statewide gas capture and Bakken gas capture remained at 94%. The historical high flared percent was 36% in September 2011.

The number of wells permitted reached 107 in July and 100 in August. Bohrer said 100 is a goal and at that number it is felt production can grow 1-2% with the activity in the oil fields.

Bohrer said the rig count is steady and up slightly. In July, 39 rigs were actively working in North Dakota, 38 in July and 41 on Tuesday.

In both June and July, 372 wells were waiting on completions.

Seventy-nine wells were completed in July and 97 (preliminary number) in August.

“Again, those are the numbers we want to be at to stabilize and grow our production,” Bohrer said.

In July, he said 19,035 wells (preliminary number) were producing.

“That’s very steady from the June numbers,” Bohrer said. In June, the state had 19,025 producing wells. The all-time high was 19,094 producing wells in May. Eighty-nine percent are Bakken and Three Forks wells.

On the Fort Berthold Reservation, 190,233 barrels of oil a day were produced in July. One rig was actively working on the reservation. The reservation has 2,949 active wells, 10 wells waiting on completion and 115 approved drilling permits.