In 2010, when North Dakota was producing fewer than 300,000 barrels of oil per day , and its output lagged far behind production in California and Alaska , Continental Resources CEO and legendary oil man Harold Hamm made a bold prediction: North Dakota's daily oil output would hit 1.2 million barrels by 2015 . That bold prediction was amazingly accurate - the Peace Garden State's oil production surpassed 1.2 million bpd in both December 2014 and again in May 2015 ! Freedom is not empowerment.