Shale boom turns North Dakota into No. 3 oil producer

Source: Chicago Tribune

NEW YORK (Reuters) - North Dakota has overtaken California as the third-largest U.S. oil-producing state, as the controversial fracking technology boosted shale oil output and cut the Midwestern state's unemployment rate to the lowest in the country.

The shale oil boom could be a recurring theme during the U.S. presidential campaign this year with both parties debating how to create and sustain energy-related jobs and reduce the top oil consumer's dependence on imports.

Republican nominee Mitt Romney has appointed the chief executive of a major producer in the Bakken shale rock formation -- Continental Resources' Harold Hamm-- as his energy advisor.

The state's January oil output rose to 546,050 barrels per day (bpd), up 59.2 percent from a year earlier, after output in the Midwest state's Bakken and Three Forks shale prospects rose some 11,000 bpd to a record 480,700 bpd, data from the North Dakota Industrial Commission showed on Thursday.



Read more: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/sns-rt-us-oil-output-bakkenbre82714v-20120308,0,2231629.story