BISMARCK The price of North Dakota sweet crude oil dropped considerably in the past week. But how does that impact the oil boom in North Dakota? According to a Web site from the Tesoro Refining and Marketing Company, the price of North Dakota sweet crude oil fell to $57.80 per barrel on Thursday, down from $86.48 on Oct. 1. What does that mean to the the many oil companies drilling and doing oil-related work in the North Dakota oil fields? "Most companies currently operating in the Bakken have a huge investment in North Dakota," said Bruce Hicks, assistant director of the N.D. Oil and Gas Division in Bismarck. He said pipelines and gas plants have been constructed and many long-term rig contracts have been signed. The Bakken is the hot play area in the North Dakota oil fields. "The recent oil price drop will have some effect on activity, but we will not see an immediate drop in activity. Companies understand there will be corrections in the oil market," Hicks said. He said the future activity levels will be determined by a stabilized oil price. Rob Roosa, finance manager for Brigham Exploration Company, with corporate headquarters in Austin, Texas, said Brigham is monitoring what is taking place with oil prices. But he said they're staying in North Dakota. He said North Dakota is a top play area for the company. Hicks said around 250 different companies are operating wells in North Dakota and 29 different companies are drilling wells in the state. Hundreds of other companies are actually non-operating partners with the 29 currently drilling, he said. The N.D. Oil and Gas Divison is a division of the N.D. Department of Mineral Resources. The Oil and Gas Divison regulates the drilling of oil and gas in North Dakota.

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