(Bismarck, ND) — Long-time director of the North Dakota Department of Mineral Resources, Lynn Helms, has announced his plans to retire this year. He’s been the director of the department since it was established back in 2005, and he will step down at the end of June. During Helms’ time as director, North Dakota’s average daily oil production increased from over 99-thousand barrels per day in 1998 to an all-time high of 1.5 million in 2019, stabilizing at about 1.2 million barrels per day by the end of 2023. The search for a new director will begin immediately.
