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North Dakota Oil Selling for a Premium

By Ryan Cunningham Apr 22, 2026 | 8:24 AM

(KNOX) – North Dakota oil shipped on the Dakota Access Pipeline is fetching nearly $7 more per barrel than a U.S. benchmark price amid volatility caused by the Iran war.

State regulators aren’t sure why prices for North Dakota oil at its destination in Illinois are higher than traditional benchmark prices. One possibility is the light, sweet crude can be more easily refined into products like jet fuel and diesel that are experiencing demand surges in Europe and elsewhere.

How much of that higher price benefits North Dakota will be more clear in the coming months, said Justin Kringstad, director of the North Dakota Pipeline Authority.

There is little data available on what impact the Iran war has had on North Dakota oil production so far because data is not available in real time. February figures, prior to the beginning of the war, were released Tuesday and showed the state produced an average of nearly 1.13 million barrels of oil per day. North Dakota also produced more than 3.32 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day.

Jacob Orledge/ND Monitor

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