Oil Revenue Increasing For Roosevelt County

Although it’s far from a boom, Roosevelt County has experienced a lift from increased oil activity during the last several months.

Taxes from oil production for the quarter that ended in September 2021 resulted in a payment of $681,000 for the county.

“It’s the highest it’s been since 2019,” Commissioner Gordon Oelkers said. “It’s came back.”

He noted the county’s largest oil production check was $1.2 million in 2014.

Oelkers anticipates another check for the following quarter to be arriving soon and for that payment to be larger than the previous one.

A percentage of the added revenue is put in each county department’s budget. “High gas prices aren’t good for the nation, but it helps our corner of the world,” Oelkers said.

He explained most of the production is from the Bainville area, but the Zimmerman wells north of Poplar are also being productive. He added that a large block of acres have been leased around the Bainville and Culbertson areas.

He said if oil production increases greatly in the region, cities such as Culbertson are well prepared for an increase in population. “Hopefully, it happens gradually,” Oelkers said.

Production experienced a 48,000 barrel per day increase in North Dakota during the month of November. Rig counts were as high as 32 in December.

In the past, Montana Petroleum Association director Alan Olson has said that when a barrel of oil is $80 that oil fields become more stable. Cost of crude oil is now more than $110 a barrel.

One of the challenges, however, is finding new employees due to record low unemployment numbers in Montana.