Bakken Rig Count - 183 - Magnum Hunter's 2014 Bakken Capital Budget - $52 Million

March 31, 2014 Kirk Eggleston

The Bakken-Three Forks rig count decreased by 1 to 183 rigs running over the past week. The NDIC notes around 194 rigs are active in North Dakota, but around 15 of those are in the process of moving in and rigging up.

In recent news, Magnum Hunter sold off its non-core Eagle Ford assets in 2013. In 2014, the company is focusing on its core Appalachia and Williston Basin areas. $52 million of the company’s $400 million capital budget will be spent in the Williston Basin in 2013. 65% of the budget will be spent on the company’s Appalachia assets.

The U.S. rig count increased by six to 1809 rigs running over the past week. A total of 318 rigs are targeting natural gas (8 less than last week) and 1,487 are targeting oil in the U.S. (14 more than last week). The remainder are drilling service wells (e.g. disposal wells, injection wells, etc.). 185 rigs are running in the Williston Basin across MT, ND, and SD, decreasing by 1 rig 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 194 rigs are active in North Dakota. That is 9 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 15 rigs are in the process of moving in and rigging up.

Bakken Oil & Gas Rigs

The number of oil rigs decreased by 1 rig running over the past week. WTI oil prices stayed flat at $101.55/bbl by the end of the week. Williston Basin Sweet crude traded at $88.44/bbl on March 29th. The WTI-Brent stayed the same from last week, settling at ~$7 by the end of the week.

The natural gas rig count in the region held flat at zero. Natural gas futures (Henry Hub) were trading$4.49/mmbtu by the end of the 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 62 rigs running. Dunn, Mountrail, and Williams counties are the only other counties with more than 24 rigs running each. View the full list below under the Bakken Drilling by County section.

Activity is dominated by horizontal drilling:

168 rigs are drilling horizontal wells
15 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 and/or Smith Service Co's (Schlumberger) Smith Rig Count.

Bakken Rig Count - 184 - Hess Begins Selling Gas from Tioga Plant

March 21, 2014 Kirk Eggleston

The Bakken-Three Forks rig count increased by 2 to 184 rigs running over the past week. The NDIC notes around 198 rigs are active in North Dakota, but around 12 of those are in the process of moving in and rigging up.

In recent news, Hess announced in March 2014 that it will begin selling natural gas from its Tioga, North Dakota, plant. According to the company, expansion plans for the plant have been delayed due to poor weather conditions.

The U.S. rig count decreased by six to 1803 rigs running over the past week. A total of 326 rigs are targeting natural gas (18 less than last week) and 1,473 are targeting oil in the U.S. (12 more than last week). The remainder are drilling service wells (e.g. disposal wells, injection wells, etc.). 186 rigs are running in the Williston Basin across MT, ND, and SD, increasing by two rigs 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 198 rigs are active in North Dakota. That is 14 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.

Bakken Oil & Gas Rigs

The number of oil rigs increased by 2 rigs running over the past week. WTI oil prices stayed flat at $99.56/bbl by the end of the week. Williston Basin Sweet crude traded at $86.19/bbl on March 21st. The WTI-Brent closed up from last week, settling at ~$7 by the end of the week.

The natural gas rig count in the region held flat at zero. Natural gas futures (Henry Hub) were trading$4.31/mmbtu by the end of the 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 25 rigs running each. View the full list below under the Bakken Drilling by County section.

Activity is dominated by horizontal drilling:

168 rigs are drilling horizontal wells
16 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 Rig Count - 182 - Emerald Oil Increases Bakken Production by 80% in 2013

March 14, 2014 Kirk Eggleston

The Bakken-Three Forks rig count increased by 7 to 182 rigs running over the past week. The NDIC notes around 190 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, Emerald’s total production increased by 80% in 2013 over 2012 from ~935 boe/d to ~1690 boe/d. The production increase was attributable to the addition of 10.58 net operated Bakken and Three Forks wells in 2013.

The U.S. rig count decreased by 17 to 1809 rigs running over the past week. A total of 344 rigs are targeting natural gas (1 less than last week) and 1,461 are targeting oil in the U.S. (18 more than last week). The remainder are drilling service wells (e.g. disposal wells, injection wells, etc.). 184 rigs are running in the Williston Basin across MT, ND, and SD, increasing by eight rigs 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 190 rigs are active in North Dakota. That is 6 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.

Bakken Oil & Gas Rigs

The number of oil rigs increased by 7 rigs running over the past week. WTI oil prices decreased to ~$99/bbl by the end of the week. Williston Basin Sweet crude traded at $84.94/bbl on March 13th. The WTI-Brent opened up some from last week, settling at ~$10 by the end of the week.

The natural gas rig count in the region held flat at zero. Natural gas futures (Henry Hub) were trading around ~$4.40/mmbtu by the end of the 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 62 rigs running. Dunn, Mountrail, and Williams counties are the only other counties with more than 25 rigs running each. View the full list below under the Bakken Drilling by County section.

Activity is dominated by horizontal drilling:

166 rigs are drilling horizontal wells
16 rigs are drilling directional wells
0 rigs are drilling vertical wells.

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 Rig Count - 175 - Nearly Half of Halcon Budget Targeting Bakken

March 10, 2014 Kirk Eggleston

The Bakken-Three Forks rig count stayed flat at 175 rigs running over the past week. The NDIC notes around 192 rigs are active in North Dakota, but around 13 of those are in the process of moving in and rigging up.

In recent Bakken news, Halcon anticipates spending approximately 49% of its total drilling and completions budget in the Williston Basin in 2014. Based on previous budget estimates, that’s about ~475 million.

The U.S. rig count increased by 23 to 1,792 running over the past week. A total of 345 rigs are targeting natural gas (10 more than last week) and 1,443 are targeting oil in the U.S. (13 more than last week). The remainder are drilling service wells (e.g. disposal wells, injection wells, etc.).177 rigs are running in the Williston Basin across MT, ND, and SD, increasing by one rig 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 192 rigs are active in North Dakota. That is 15 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 13 rigs are in the process of moving in and rigging up.

Bakken Oil & Gas Rigs

The number of oil rigs increased by 2 rigs running over the past week. WTI oil prices stayed relatively flat at ~$100/bbl by the end of the week. Williston Basin Sweet crude traded at $84.19/bbl on March 7th. The WTI-Brent remain about the same from last week, settling at ~$8 by the end of the week.

The natural gas rig count in the region held flat at zero. Natural gas futures (Henry Hub) were trading around ~$4.60/mmbtu by the end of the 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 55 rigs running. Dunn, Mountrail, and Williams counties are the only other counties with more than 26 rigs running each. View the full list below under the Bakken Drilling by County section.

Activity is dominated by horizontal drilling:

160 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 Rig Count - 175 - EOG Resources Plans to Double Bakken Activity in 2014

February 28, 2014 Kirk Eggleston

The Bakken-Three Forks rig count increased by 2 to 175 rigs running over the past week. The NDIC notes around 192 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, EOG Resources plans on drilling 80-net wells in 2014. That’s nearly double the number of net-wells drilled in 2013, which was 54. At that rate, the company has a drilling inventory in the Bakken of ~8 years.

The U.S. rig count decreased by 2 to 1,769 running over the past week. A total of 335 rigs are targeting natural gas (7 less than last week) and 1,430 are targeting oil in the U.S. (5 more than last week). The remainder are drilling service wells (e.g. disposal wells, injection wells, etc.). 176 rigs are running in the Williston Basin across MT, ND, and SD, increasing by two rigs 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 192 rigs are active in North Dakota. That is 17 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 18 rigs are in the process of moving in and rigging up.

Bakken Oil & Gas Rigs

The number of oil rigs increased by 2 rigs running over the past week. WTI oil prices stayed relatively flat at ~$102/bbl by the end of the week. Williston Basin Sweet crude traded at $79.69/bbl on February 26th. The WTI-Brent remain about the same from last week, settling at ~$6 by the end of the week.

The natural gas rig count in the region held flat at zero. Natural gas futures (Henry Hub) were trading around $4.61/mmbtu by the end of the 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 56 rigs running. Dunn, Mountrail, and Williams counties are the only other counties with more than 26 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
14 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