North Dakota also set a record for the number of producing oil wells in June: 18,085. Compared with a few years ago, the state has more active wells but less oil production as its industry has matured.
Helms said Tuesday that oil companies are moving beyond the “core” of the state’s Bakken oil fields onto “second tier” and even “third tier” oil lands. He said new production technologies can allow those secondary fields to produce levels on par with the core itself.
