Bakken Shale Rig Count Increases by Five to 182

July 21, 2014 Kirk Eggleston

The Bakken-Three Forks rig count increased by five to 182 rigs running across our coverage area by the end of last week. The NDIC notes 196 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, Whiting Petroleum announced on July 13, 2014, that it would acquire Kodiak Oil & Gas, in an all stock transaction, for $3.8 billion. The deal makes the combined company the largest Bakken/Three Forks producer, unseating Harold Hamm’s Continental Resources from the top spot.

The U.S. rig count decreased by four to 1,871 rigs running by the end of last week. A total of 315 rigs were targeting natural gas (four more than the previous week) and 1,554 were targeting oil in the U.S. (nine less than the previous week). The remainder were drilling service wells (e.g. disposal wells, injection wells, etc.). 184 rigs are running in the Williston Basin across MT, ND, and SD. 178 are in ND alone.

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 196 rigs are active in North Dakota. That is 12 more than Baker Hughes reports in the Bakken area, and 18 more than the company reports in North Dakota. 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.

Bakken Oil & Gas Rigs

The number of oil rigs increased by five to 182 rigs running by the end of the week . WTI oil prices increased by ~$2 from the previous week, trading at $102.97/bbl on Friday afternoon. Williston Basin Sweet crude traded at $89.94/bbl on July 18th. The WTI-Brent closed up a bit, settling at ~$4 by the end of last week.

The natural gas rig count in the region held flat at zero. Natural gas futures (Henry Hub) were trading at $3.95/mmbtu by the end of last week. A little more than 10% of the production stream from the Bakken and Three Forks is attributable to natural gas and roughly half of that is NGLs.

McKenzie County continues to lead development with 66 rigs running. Dunn, Mountrail, and Williams counties are the only other counties with more than 20 rigs running each. View the full list below under the Bakken Drilling by County section.

Activity is dominated by horizontal drilling:

171 rigs are drilling horizontal wells
11 rigs are drilling directional wells
0 rigs are drilling vertical wells

Bakken Oil & Gas News

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Bakken Drilling by County

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.

Bakken Shale Rig Count Increases by One to 177

July 14, 2014 Kirk Eggleston

The Bakken-Three Forks rig count increased by one to 177 rigs running across our coverage area by the end of last week. The NDIC notes 190 rigs are active in North Dakota, but around 18 of those are in the process of moving in and rigging up.

In recent Bakken news, Calgary-based Baytex Energy appears to be on the verge of divesting some of its assets, and the company’s Bakken acreage may soon be on the auction block. Baytex officials say the company conducted a portfolio review of assets late in the second quarter in response to a recent $2.8 billion acquisition in the Eagle Ford Shale. During that process certain assets were earmarked for divestment, which officials say would be used to pay down debt.

The U.S. rig count increased by one to 1,875 rigs running by the end of last week. A total of 311 rigs were targeting natural gas (flat from the previous week) and 1,563 were targeting oil in the U.S. (one more than the previous week). The remainder were drilling service wells (e.g. disposal wells, injection wells, etc.). 179 rigs are running in the Williston Basin across MT, ND, and SD. 172 are in ND alone.

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 190 rigs are active in North Dakota. That is 11 more than Baker Hughes reports in the Bakken area, and 18 more than the company reports in North Dakota. 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 18 rigs are in the process of moving in and rigging up.

Bakken Oil & Gas Rigs

The number of oil rigs increased by one to 177 rigs running by the end of the week . WTI oil prices decreased by ~$3 from the previous week, trading at $100.76/bbl on Friday afternoon. Williston Basin Sweet crude traded at $87.44/bbl on July 11th. The WTI-Brent closed up a bit, settling at ~$6 by the end of last week.

The natural gas rig count in the region held flat at zero. Natural gas futures (Henry Hub) were trading at $4.14/mmbtu by the end of last week. A little more than 10% of the production stream from the Bakken and Three Forks is attributable to natural gas and roughly half of that is NGLs.

McKenzie County continues to lead development with 63 rigs running. Dunn, Mountrail, and Williams counties are the only other counties with more than 23 rigs running each. View the full list below under the Bakken Drilling by County section.

Activity is dominated by horizontal drilling:

164 rigs are drilling horizontal wells
13 rigs are drilling directional wells
0 rigs are drilling vertical wells

Bakken Oil & Gas News

Be sure to visit our Bakken Job Listings to search openings and come back weekly for updates or sign up for alerts - Daily or Weekly Email Alerts

Bakken Drilling by County

What is the Rig Count?

Bakken Shale Rig Count Stays Flat at 176

July 7, 2014 Kirk Eggleston

The Bakken-Three Forks rig count remained flat at 176 rigs running across our coverage area by the end of last week. The NDIC notes 190 rigs are active in North Dakota, but around 20 of those are in the process of moving in and rigging up.

In recent Bakken news, combined production from North Dakota and Texas made up nearly half of U.S. oil production according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA) in April of 2013.

Recently, the state of North Dakota hit the 1-million b/d mark for oil, nearly tripling its production over a three year period. The increase in production is directly related to the development of the Bakken Shale. Since April of 2011, production from the Bakken increased 19,000 b/d on average each month, according to the EIA.

The U.S. rig count increased by one to 1,874 rigs running by the end of last week. A total of 311 rigs were targeting natural gas (three less than the previous week) and 1,562 were targeting oil in the U.S. (four more than the previous week). The remainder were drilling service wells (e.g. disposal wells, injection wells, etc.). 178 rigs are running in the Williston Basin across MT, ND, and SD. 171 are in ND alone.

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 190 rigs are active in North Dakota. That is 12 more than Baker Hughes reports in the Bakken area, and 19 more than the company reports in North Dakota. 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 20 rigs are in the process of moving in and rigging up.

Bakken Oil & Gas Rigs

The number of oil rigs remained flat at 176 rigs running by the end of the week . WTI oil prices decreased by ~$2 from the previous week, trading at $103.68/bbl on Friday afternoon. Williston Basin Sweet crude traded at $90.69/bbl on July 3rd. The WTI-Brent was about the same, settling at ~$7 by the end of last week.

The natural gas rig count in the region held flat at zero. Natural gas futures (Henry Hub) were trading at $4.29/mmbtu by the end of last week. A little more than 10% of the production stream from the Bakken and Three Forks is attributable to natural gas and roughly half of that is NGLs.

McKenzie County continues to lead development with 64 rigs running. Dunn, Mountrail, and Williams counties are the only other counties with more than 23 rigs running each. View the full list below under the Bakken Drilling by County section.

Activity is dominated by horizontal drilling:

161 rigs are drilling horizontal wells
15 rigs are drilling directional wells
0 rigs are drilling vertical wells

Bakken Oil & Gas News

Be sure to visit our Bakken Job Listings to search openings and come back weekly for updates or sign up for alerts - Daily or Weekly Email Alerts

Bakken Drilling by County

What is the Rig Count?

Bakken Shale Rig Count Increases by Three to 176

June 30, 2014 Kirk Eggleston

The Bakken-Three Forks rig count increased by three to 176 rigs running across our coverage area by the end of last week. The NDIC notes 192 rigs are active in North Dakota, but around 11 of those are in the process of moving in and rigging up.

In recent Bakken news, Enterprise Products Partners announced at a pipeline summit in North Dakota in late June of 2014 it plans to build a 1,200 mile oil pipeline from the Bakken to Cushing, Oklahoma, a major gathering and distribution hub.The pipeline is planned to be 30 inches in diameter and would originate in Stanley, ND. Company officials said it will have a capacity of 340,000 bbls of oil and should be online by the end of 2016. The pipeline would be Enterprise’s first in North Dakota.

The U.S. rig count increased by 15 to 1,873 rigs running by the end of last week. A total of 314 rigs were targeting natural gas (three more than the previous week) and 1,545 were targeting oil in the U.S. (13 more than the previous week). The remainder were drilling service wells (e.g. disposal wells, injection wells, etc.). 178 rigs are running in the Williston Basin across MT, ND, and SD. 171 are in ND alone.

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 192 rigs are active in North Dakota. That is 14 more than Baker Hughes reports in the Bakken area, and 21 more than the company reports in North Dakota. 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 11 rigs are in the process of moving in and rigging up.

Bakken Oil & Gas Rigs

The number of oil rigs increased by three to 176 rigs running by the end of the week . WTI oil prices decreased by ~$2 from the previous week, trading at $105.62/bbl on Friday afternoon. Williston Basin Sweet crude traded at $92.44/bbl on June 27th. The WTI-Brent opened up slightly, settling at ~$7 by the end of last week.

The natural gas rig count in the region held flat at zero. Natural gas futures (Henry Hub) were trading at $4.39/mmbtu by the end of last week. A little more than 10% of the production stream from the Bakken and Three Forks is attributable to natural gas and roughly half of that is NGLs.

McKenzie County continues to lead development with 64 rigs running. Dunn, Mountrail, and Williams counties are the only other counties with more than 23 rigs running each. View the full list below under the Bakken Drilling by County section.

Activity is dominated by horizontal drilling:

161 rigs are drilling horizontal wells
15 rigs are drilling directional wells
0 rigs are drilling vertical wells

Bakken Oil & Gas News

Be sure to visit our Bakken Job Listings to search openings and come back weekly for updates or sign up for alerts - Daily or Weekly Email Alerts

Bakken Drilling by County

What is the Rig Count?

Bakken Shale Rig Count Increases by One to 173

June 23, 2014 Kirk Eggleston

The Bakken-Three Forks rig count increased by one to 173 rigs running across our coverage area by the end of last week. The NDIC notes 189 rigs are active in North Dakota, but around 15 of those are in the process of moving in and rigging up.

In recent Bakken news, the State of North Dakota has surpassed the 1-million b/d oil mark according to the North Dakota Industrial Commission’s (NDIC) Department of Mineral Resources (DMR), thanks mostly to the Bakken Shale and Three Forks formation. The preliminary data, released in the monthly Director’s Cut in June of 2014, revealed April oil production was 1,001,149 b/d. North Dakota is second only to Texas for oil production.

The U.S. rig count increased by four to 1,858 rigs running by the end of last week. A total of 311 rigs were targeting natural gas (one more than the previous week) and 1,545 were targeting oil in the U.S. (three more than the previous week). The remainder were drilling service wells (e.g. disposal wells, injection wells, etc.). 175 rigs are running in the Williston Basin across MT, ND, and SD. 170 are in ND alone.

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 189 rigs are active in North Dakota. That is 14 more than Baker Hughes reports in the Bakken area, and 19 more than the company reports in North Dakota. 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 15 rigs are in the process of moving in and rigging up.

Bakken Oil & Gas Rigs

The number of oil rigs increased by one to 173 rigs running by the end of the week . WTI oil prices increased by ~$1 from the previous week, trading at $107.26/bbl on Friday afternoon. Williston Basin Sweet crude traded at $93.19/bbl on June 19th. The WTI-Brent opened up slightly, settling at ~$7 by the end of last week.

The natural gas rig count in the region held flat at zero. Natural gas futures (Henry Hub) were trading at $4.55/mmbtu by the end of last week. A little more than 10% of the production stream from the Bakken and Three Forks is attributable to natural gas and roughly half of that is NGLs.

McKenzie County continues to lead development with 63 rigs running. Dunn, Mountrail, and Williams counties are the only other counties with more than 23 rigs running each. View the full list below under the Bakken Drilling by County section.

Activity is dominated by horizontal drilling:

158 rigs are drilling horizontal wells
15 rigs are drilling directional wells
0 rigs are drilling vertical wells

Bakken Oil & Gas News

Be sure to visit our Bakken Job Listings to search openings and come back weekly for updates or sign up for alerts - Daily or Weekly Email Alerts