The Bakken-Three Forks rig count increased this week to 76 rigs running across our coverage area.
In recent Bakken news, Montana’s Board of Oil and Gas Conservation is considering a proposal that will require buffers zones around homes to protect them from oil and gas drilling.
Read more:Dakota Access Pipeline Concerns
The U.S. rig count increased slightly, ending with 862 rigs running by midday Thursday. A total of 219 rigs were targeting natural gas (nine less than the previous week) and 640 were targeting oil in the U.S. (12 more than the previous week). The remainder were drilling service wells (e.g. disposal wells, injection wells, etc.)76 are in ND alone.
Bakken Oil & Gas Rigs
The Bakken oil rigs increased to 75 rigs this week with Bloomberg reporting WTI oil prices trading at $56.72/bbl on Friday morning, a $2.91 decrease from the previous week. WTI-Brent decreased $1.41 landing to $61.85. The Bakken has zero natural active gas rig in the area this week with futures dropping to $2.71/mmbtu.
McKenzie County continues to lead development and is running 3o running this week, while Williams increased to 18 and Mountrail stayed flat at 11. View the full list below under the Bakken Drilling by County section.
Activity continues to be dominated by horizontal drilling:
- 73 rigs are drilling horizontal wells
- 2 rigs are drilling directional wells
- 1 rigs are drilling vertical wells
Bakken Drilling by County
Bakken Oil & Gas News
WPX Plans to Increase Bakken Activity
Two Saltwater Leaks in North Dakota
What is the Rig Count?
The Bakken Shale Rig Count is an index of the total number of oil & gas drilling rigs running across Montana and North Dakota. The rigs referred to in this article are for ALL drilling reported by Baker Hughes and not solely wells targeting the Bakken formation. All land rigs and onshore rig data shown here are based upon industry estimates provided by the Baker Hughes Rig Count.