Oil prices held steady in 2017, and the Bakken oil and gas industry hunkered down to find ways to make oil and gas wells economic in the lower price environment. Meanwhile, the elimination of the oil export ban helped Bakken crude find new markets, and Dakota Access helped it access better markets, increasing profit margins and helping state funds. Below a timeline of the year in oil.

January — Oil production started the year below the 1 million barrel per day mark at 980,294 per day. That was a 4 percent bump over December’s production, adding 38,000 barrels per day.  Meanwhile, Trump issued an executive order inviting TransCanada to resubmit Keystone XL’s application and directing that the Dakota Access permit be expedited, even as protesters of the latter attempted to take higher ground and open a new camp in the area of the disputed Lake Oahe crossing.