North Dakota’s oil output slipped about 1 percent in June but should remain above 1 million barrels per day for the foreseeable future, state officials said on Friday. The optimistic outlook comes as the state’s shale producers have found a way to survive low oil prices with new technology and process improvements. North Dakota, the No. 2 U.S. oil-producing state, has largely taken a back seat in the past year as companies in the Permian Basin of Texas and New Mexico – the largest U.S. oilfield – battle with the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries for global energy market dominance. “That’s two elephants fighting it out and North Dakota gets caught in the middle,” Lynn Helms, head of the North Dakota Department of Mineral Resources, said on a Friday conference call with reporters. The state pumped 1.03 million barrels of oil per day in June, down […]