The top ten Bakken operators ranked by gross operated production include the normal list of companies. Whiting Petroleum edged out Continental Resources by a mere 15 b/d to claim top operated in December of 2012:

1. Whiting Petroleum
2. Continental Resources
3. Hess
4. Statoil
5. EOG Resources
6. ExxonMobil (XTO)
7. Marathon Oil
8. Petro-Hunt
9. Slawson Exploration
10. Kodiak Oil & Gas