North Dakota's oil industry posted a lackluster April with production rising only 1 % from the previous month.

"We kind of expected it to be a little more but we were kind of struggling to find spring in April," Lynn Helms, North Dakota's minerals director, said Tuesday in a news conference. Wintery weather can put a damper on oil production.

North Dakota, the nation's third-largest oil producing state, churned out 1.13 million barrels per day in April, up from 1.12 million in March. North Dakota had 17,740 producing oil wells in April.

The state's natural gas production rose 2 % from March to April.

The number of drill rigs in North Dakota, a harbinger of future oil production, continues to fall, currently standing at 38 — down from 43 in May and 45 in April.

The rig count, which is down partly due to mergers and acquisitions in the oil industry, is expected to gradually increase to the mid-40s over the next two years, according to North Dakota's monthly oil report released Tuesday.

Helms said he expects the state's oil production to climb between 1 % to 2 % for the rest of 2023, with monthly output rising to 1.2 million barrels per day by year's end.

"We should finish the calendar year in really good shape," Helms said.