North Dakota Oil Production: Barrels per Day, Month by Month
North Dakota produced about 1.16 million barrels of crude oil a day in July 2026, 8.3% of US output and #3 among the states, −2.2% from a year earlier. It produces almost all of its oil from the Bakken and Three Forks formations of the Williston Basin, the field that started the US shale boom outside Texas.
Key Figures
EIA monthly · July 2026| Measure | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Crude production, July 2026 | 1,158 kb/d (1.16 Mb/d) | EIA, preliminary |
| Rank among the states | #3 | EIA |
| Share of US crude output | 8.3% | EIA |
| Change from prior month | −1 kb/d | EIA |
| Change from a year earlier | −26 kb/d (−2.2%) | EIA |
| 12-month average | 1,150 kb/d | EIA, computed |
| Bakken region | 9% of US crude in 2025 (with Eagle Ford, the two next-largest regions after the Permian) | EIA, Today in Energy |
| Top county | McKenzie County, about 220,800 b/d in 2025, followed by Dunn, Mountrail and Williams counties, each above 150,000 b/d | Novi Labs, 2025 update |
| 1 million b/d milestone | Reached in 2014 | North Dakota Petroleum Council |
| Regulator | North Dakota Industrial Commission, Department of Mineral Resources | NDIC |
Ranked against every other state on oil production by state; national context on US oil production.
Monthly Production, Last 26 Months
Thousand barrels per day| Month | kb/d | Change vs prior month | Change vs year earlier |
|---|---|---|---|
| July 2026 | 1,158 | −1 | −2.2% |
| June 2026 | 1,159 | +39 | −1.1% |
| May 2026 | 1,120 | −15 | −0.6% |
| April 2026 | 1,135 | +9 | −3.5% |
| March 2026 | 1,126 | +2 | −5.8% |
| February 2026 | 1,124 | −3 | −3.5% |
| January 2026 | 1,127 | −3 | −4.7% |
| December 2025 | 1,130 | −69 | −5.4% |
| November 2025 | 1,199 | +20 | −2.4% |
| October 2025 | 1,179 | +7 | −0.3% |
| September 2025 | 1,172 | −3 | −2.7% |
| August 2025 | 1,175 | −9 | −0.5% |
| July 2025 | 1,184 | +12 | +1.0% |
| June 2025 | 1,172 | +45 | −1.3% |
| May 2025 | 1,127 | −49 | — |
| April 2025 | 1,176 | −19 | — |
| March 2025 | 1,195 | +30 | — |
| February 2025 | 1,165 | −18 | — |
| January 2025 | 1,183 | −12 | — |
| December 2024 | 1,195 | −34 | — |
| November 2024 | 1,229 | +46 | — |
| October 2024 | 1,183 | −22 | — |
| September 2024 | 1,205 | +24 | — |
| August 2024 | 1,181 | +9 | — |
| July 2024 | 1,172 | −15 | — |
| June 2024 | 1,187 | — | — |
EIA petroleum/crd/crpdn, crude oil field production by state. The newest month is preliminary and is revised as operators report; the data is published with a lag of roughly two and a half months.
The Bakken and the Williston Basin
What sets North Dakota apart
- It is the second shale story after Texas: tight-oil wells drilled horizontally into the Bakken made North Dakota a top-three producing state within a few years.
- The state figure above is North Dakota alone. The Williston Basin also extends into eastern Montana and South Dakota, so basin-wide production figures are higher than the state number.
- Being far from the coast, North Dakota crude depends on pipelines and rail to reach refineries and export docks, so takeaway capacity matters more than in Texas.
What to watch
- Rig activity in the Williston Basin, visible on the rig map and in the weekly rig count.
- The gap between Bakken and WTI prices, which reflects transport costs to market; see types of crude oil for how grades differ.
- Reserves left in the ground, ranked on oil reserves by state.
North Dakota Oil Production FAQ
How much oil does North Dakota produce?
North Dakota produced about 1.16 million barrels of crude oil a day in July 2026 (1,158 thousand barrels a day), 8.3% of US output and #3 among the states. That is −2.2% from a year earlier. Source: EIA monthly state estimates; the latest month is preliminary.
What is the Bakken formation?
A shale formation under the Williston Basin in North Dakota, Montana and southern Canada. Horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing unlocked its oil, and it is now one of the three largest US oil regions with the Permian and Eagle Ford.
Why is the Williston Basin figure higher than North Dakota's?
The basin crosses state lines into eastern Montana and South Dakota. The EIA state figure counts only North Dakota's own production.