North Dakota's top oil regulator recently stated that 33,000 wells need to be developed for the resources of the Bakken formation in the state to be fully utilized.

Lynn Helms, who is the director of the North Dakota Department of Mineral Resources in Bismarck, spoke to members of the Minot Area Chamber of Commerce's Energy Committee on September 1, according to Minot Daily News.

At the speech, Helms said that the state has 6,600 wells capable of producing oil on any given day, and 6,000 that actually are producing, the media outlet reports. He said that 2,000 wells a year are expected to be drilled in North Dakota.

Accomplishing that goal will require 225 drilling rigs, which will subsequently create 47,000 jobs, according to the media outlet. Helms went on to state his opinion that oil-field employment is currently at around 35,000. Of those working as a result of oil fields, 28,000 work at the rigs and another 8,000 serve wells.

The United States Geological Survey performed a study in 2008 which concluded that the Bakken formation contains about 2 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and more than 3 million barrels of untapped oil.