The Bakken-Three Forks rig count increased by one to 176 running over the past week. The NDIC notes around 187 rigs are active in North Dakota, but around 14 of those are in the process of moving in and rigging up.

In recent Bakken news, Koch cancelled its proposed "Dakota Express Pipeline." The Koch cancellation is surprising considering there are more than 500,000 b/d of oil moving by rail out of the basin per day at current estimates. Read more here: Koch Cancels Proposed Bakken Pipeline

The U.S. rig count stayed flat at 1,777 running over the past week. A total of 356 rigs are targeting natural gas (9 less than last week) and 1,416 are targeting oil in the U.S. (8 more than last week). The remainder are drilling service wells (e.g. disposal wells, injection wells, etc.). 179 rigs are running in the Williston Basin across MT, ND, and SD. That's up one from last week.

Not all rigs counted in our census are drilling for the Bakken, but it's close. The NDIC estimates 95% or more of activity in this region targets the Bakken and Three Forks formations.

Note: The NDIC reports 187 rigs are active in North Dakota. That is 11 more than Baker Hughes reports in the Bakken area. The difference is likely accounted for in the number of rigs actually working, rigs that might not be serviced by Baker Hughes AND rigs in areas outside of the Bakken fairway. On any given week, a certain number of rigs are in route to the next well location or idle waiting to drill the next well. The NDIC notes that around 14 rigs are in the process of moving in and rigging up.