Posting Will Be Delayed Today; Interrupted By Granddaughter's Soccer; North Dakota Oil Patch Now Twice As Big (In Dollars) As North Dakota Agriculture/Ranching

The Dickinson Press is reporting:

Is the oil industry now bigger than farming in North Dakota?

The latest figures are rather startling, raising eyebrows on even oil industry experts gathered in Grand Forks this week who are most in touch with the boom that hasn’t leveled off after six years.

In the 12 months ended July 30, the value of the record amount of crude oil and natural gas produced in North Dakota totaled $24.9 billion, based on production figures and average prices for Bakken sweet crude and gas reported monthly by Lynn Helms, director of the Department of Mineral Resources and the state’s chief regulator of the industry.

Like nearly all numbers in the Oil Patch during this boom, that figure is a record.

It’s also more than double what was the record value of the state’s crops and livestock grown and raised in 2012, based on prices received by farmers.