Locator: 10001RIGS.
Rig Locator Map at this link: http://www.click2map.com/v2/dgriffin94/Bakken_Rig_Locator
Page 1 (last entry, September 8, 2016)
New entries will begin on Page 2.
Updates/Commentary:
- May 15, 2023: 39 active rigs.
- May 7, 2020: 20 active rigs.
- May 7, 2020: 22 active rigs.
- May 2, 2020: Saudi Arabia drowns the world in oil; WTI plummets to $1/bbl; recovers to $15/bbl; number of rigs in ND plummet to a low of 29; at 30 today; CLR, Oasis both announce they will shut down production in ND;
- October 13, 2019: 58 active rigs (has recently gone as low as 56); WTI around $54
- May 17, 2019: 65 active rigs; WTI $63
- July 29, 2017: 61 active rigs; about 11 more than folks thought there would be at this time a year ago; WTI rose 9% this past week; just shy of $50
- April 27, 2017: Outrun Change has a nice update with more recent data; active rig count rose to 52 for a day or so in early April when WTI was trending toward $55 but has since dropped back to 48; similarly, WTI has dropped back to $48.50.
- February 17, 2017: back to 40; had hit 36 one week ago for about four days; 40 is identical to the "40" one year ago, February 17, 2016
- January 18, 2017: back to 38 active rigs, after being down to 36 rigs for about two weeks;
- December 12, 2016: 41 active rigs;
- December 8, 2016: 40 active rigs;
- November 8, 2016: 39 active rigs;
- November 4, 2016: 37 active rigs; had dropped back to 34 but now back to 37;
- September 8, 2016: 37 active rigs;
- August 26, 2016: 30 active rigs; a couple weeks ago I suggested that when I saw 35 active rigs, operators may have "jumped the gun"
- August 4, 2016: 33 active rigs;
- July 27, 2016: 35 active rigs;
- July 26, 2016: 33 active rigs; did the operators jump the gun?
- July 22, 2016: surprisingly, up to 32 at end of the day, Friday afternoon, going into the weekend; more talk that oil industry "has turned the corner";
- June 28, 2016: bounced up to 31 at start of the day, but mid-day, back to 30;
- June 2, 2016: bounced up to 29, but now today, back to 25 active rigs;
- May 20, 2016: back to 25 active rigs; (did we get below 25? if so, it was only to 24)
- April 26, 2016: 25 active rigs;
- April 25, 2016: 26 active rigs;
- April 19, 2016: 28 active rigs;
- March 31, 2016: 29 active rigs:
- March 15, 2016: 30 active rigs;
- March 14, 2016: 31 active rigs:
- March 11, 2016: 32 active rigs:
- March 8, 2016: 33 active rigs;
- March 2, 2016: 34 active rigs;
- February 29, 2016: 35 active rigs;
- February 18, 2016: 38 active rigs;
- February 17, 2016: 39 active rigs;
- February 9, 2016: 40 active rigs;
- February 9, 2016: 41 active rigs:
- February 5, 2016: 42 active rigs;
- February 2, 2016: 44 active rigs;
- January 29, 2016: 45 active rigs;
- January 28, 2016: 46 active rigs;
- January 21, 2016: 47 active rigs;
- January 20, 2016: 48 active rigs; Iranian sanctions lifted over the weekend; Saudi Arabia and Iran will fight for Chinese market
- January 14, 2016: 49 active rigs;
- January 13, 2016: 51 active rigs; noted about 11:00 a.m. after being at 54 overnight;
- January 13, 2016: 53 active rigs; 54 overnight; in the morning went to 53;
- January 7, 2016: 54 active rigs:
- January 6, 2016: 57 active rigs; Dickinson Press suggests 55 very soon;
- January 4, 2016: 58; oil trading at $37; up about 2% on increased sabre-rattling and rhetoric in the Mideast over spat between Saudi Arabia (killing a prominent Shiite cleric) and Iran (diplomats expelled from Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain)
- December 29, 2015: 60; oil trading at $36;
- November 16, 2015: 63; oil trading at $40/bbl; up to $42 today; after Paris terrorist events
- November 6, 2015; 64;
- November 5, 2015: 67; briefly up to 70 this past week, but back to 67
- October 14, 2015: 66; new post-boom record low
- September 17, 2015: 67; new post-boom record low
- September 14, 2015: 68; ties post-boom record low
- September 10, 2015: 69 -- just after CLR announces cut in Bakken rig from 10 to 8;
- July 21, 2015, mid-morning: 68
- July 20, 2015, end of day: 70
- July 20, 2015, morning opening: 71
- July 13, 2015: 72
- July 9, 2015, end of day: 73
- July 9, 2015, early in the day: 74
- June 22, 2015: 75
- June 12, 2015: 76
- June 11, 2015: 77 -- huge fall just when I thought we might see the number start going up
- May 29, 2015: 80 -- after getting back to 83, fell back to 80; oil rose almost 5% today
- May 20, 2015: 80
- May 18, 2015: 81
- May 13, 2015: 83
- April 25, 2015: 84
- April 23, 2015: 86 (late in the day)
- April 23, 2015: 87 (early in the day)
- April 22, 2015: 88 (end of day)
- April 22, 2015: 90 (beginning of day)
- April 13, 2015: 91
- April 6, 2015: 93
- April 2, 2015: 94
- March 30, 2015: 96
- March 24, 2015: 100
- March 23, 2015: 104
- March 18, 2015: 107
- March 17, 2015: 110
- March 4, 2015: 115
- February 27, 2015: 120
- February 18, 2015: 130
- February 4, 2015: 140
- January 28, 2015: 153
- January 22, 2015: 150
- January 5, 2015: 170 (beginning the 8th year of the North Dakota Bakken boom)
- December 19, 2014: 181
- December 9, 2014: 191
- October 27, 2014: 196
- September 18, 2014: 200
- June 9, 2014: 192
- January 8, 2014: 193 (beginning the 7th year of the North Dakota Bakken boom)
- November 26, 2013: 193
- September 16, 2013: 177 (new record, post-boom low; but completing more wells than ever)
- August 1, 2013: 178 (gradual trend downward over the summer, finally hitting new low)
- May 15, 2013: 194 (from 191 to 193 first thing in the a.m.; 194 by noon )
- May 14, 2013: 191 (from 187 to 191)
- May 3, 2013: 192 (new post-boom record)
- May 2, 2013: 191 (ties post-boom record)
- March 11, 2013: 189 -- generally hovering around 185
- January 27, 2013: 191 -- since hitting 179, the number of active rigs has gradually climbed
- January 4, 2013: new intra-boom low -- 179
- Update, breakdown, some commentary, September 30, 2012
- September 20, 2012: 184 (ended the day at 185) (post-boom low at 184)
- August 29, 2012: 190
- August 25, 2012?: 189
- August 22, 2012, 12 noon: 191
- August 22, 2012, 8:00 a.m.: 197
- August 21, 2012: 197
- August 7, 2012: 198
- May 29, 2012, 2:00 p.m.: 218
- May 29, 2012, 8:00 a.m.: 217
- May 28, 2012: 216
- May 24, 2012: 9:45 a.m.: 215
- May 24, 2012, 8:30 a.m.: 214
- April 19, 2012: 213
- April 3, 2012: 211
- April 2, 2012: 208
- March 3, 2012: 207
- March 2, 2012: 206
- February, 1, 2012: 205
- January 23, 2012: 203
- November 19, 2011: 204
- November 14, 2011: 203
- August 29, 2011: 201
- August 26, 2011: 200
- August 26, 2011: 199
- August 25, 2011: 196
- August 22, 2011: 195
- August 18, 2011: 193
- August 11, 2011: 192
- August 9, 2011: 190
- August 9, 2011: 189
- August 8, 2011: 187
- July 20, 2011: 184
- July 19, 2011, evening: 183
- July 19, 2011, morning: 182
- July 18, 2011: 180
- May 10, 2011: 179
- May 3, 2011: 178
- April 21, 2011: 176, by operator
- April 16, 2011: 175
- March 14, 2011: 174
- March 7, 2011: 173
- February 17, 2011: 172
- February 17, 2011: 171 (that didn't take long; 169 the day before)
- February 16, 201l: 169 (finally)
- February 3, 2011: 168 (within an hour it had dropped back to 167; 175 by summer?)
- January 10, 2011: 167
- December 10, 2010: 166
- November 29, 2010: 165
- November 26, 2010: 163
- November 24, 2010: 162
- November 23, 2010: 161
- November 18, 2010: 160
- November 15, 2010: 159
- November 11, 2010: 158 (for only a few hours, it appears)
- November 11, 2010: 157
- October 8, 2010: 156 (yesterday we were at 153)
- October 6, 2010: 151 (completely unexpected; holding there for 24 hours)
- October 5, 2010: 149 ( completely unexpected; only for a short period this date)
- September 3, 2010: 146 (completely unexpected)
- July 30, 2010: 143
- July 29, 2010: 142 rigs (it was 140 this morning)
- July 22, 2010: 138 rigs
- July 4, 2010: 133 rigs
- July 2, 2010: 131 rigs
- May 24, 2010: 117 rigs
- May 3, 2010: 114 rigs
- April 27, 2010 (111 rigs)
- 29 rigs -- April 23, 2020
- 66 rigs -- May 12, 2019
- 25 rigs -- May 20, 2016
- 218 rigs -- May 29, 2012, 2:00 p.m.
- 215 rigs -- May 24, 2012
- 210 rigs -- April 3, 2012
- 205 rigs -- February 1, 2012
- 200 rigs -- August 26, 2011
- 195 rigs -- August 22, 2011
- 190 rigs -- August 9, 2011
- 185 rigs -- August 8, 2011
- 180 rigs -- July 18, 2011
- 175 rigs -- April 16, 2011
- 170 rigs -- February 17, 2011
- 165 rigs -- November 29, 2010
- 160 rigs -- November 18, 2010
- 150 rigs -- October 6, 2010
- 145 rigs -- September 3, 2010
- 140 rigs -- July 29, 2010
- 135 rigs -- July 21, 2010
- 130 rigs -- June 15, 2010
- 125 rigs -- June 11, 2010
- 120 rigs -- May 28, 2010
- 115 rigs -- May 20, 2010
- 110 rigs -- April 24, 2010
- 105 rigs -- March 25, 2010
- 100 rigs -- March 8, 2010
- 95 rigs -- February 22, 2010: ties record
UPDATES
April 28, 2013 (big UP movers: BR, CRL, G3 Operating, QEP, Triangle) (big DOWN movers: Petro-Hunt; Statoil [BEXP])
- Abraxas:1
- American Eagle: 1
- Armstrong: 1
- Arsental Energy: 1
- Baytex: 2
- BEXP: 0 (transitioned from STO to BEXP)
- BR: 12
- CLR: 19
- Cornerstone: 0
- Crescent Point Energy: 0
- Denbury Onshore: 0
- Emerald (was VOG): 1
- Enerplus (ERF): 3
- Environmentally Clean: 0
- EOG: 5
- Fidelity: 3
- G3 Operating (Halcon): 8
- GMX Resources: 0
- Helis (now QEP)
- Hess: 14
- Hunt: 2
- KOG: 8
- Legacy: 1
- Liberty Resources: 1
- Marathon (MRO): 5
- Murex: 0
- Newfield: 3
- North Plains: 0
- Oasis: 8
- OXY USA: 7
- Petro-Hunt: 6 (I believe Petro-Hunt sold a significant amount of acreage since last rig update)
- QEP: 8 (bought Helis since last rig update)
- Samson Oil and Gas: 1 (new to the list?)
- Samson Resources: 3
- Sequel: 1
- Sinclair: 1
- Slawson: 4
- SM Energy: 4
- Statoil: 12 (transitioned from BEXP to STO)
- Triangle: 4
- True: 1
- Welter Consulting: 1
- Whiting: 19
- WPX: 4
- XTO: 9
- Zavanna: 1
- Zenergy: 2
- Abraxas: 1
- Baytex: 2
- BEXP: 16
- BR: 9
- CLR: 14
- Cornerstone: 1
- Crescent Point Energy: 2
- Denbury Onshore: 4
- Enerplus (ERF): 2
- Environmentally Clean: 1
- EOG: 7
- Fidelity: 4
- G3 Operating (Halcon): 2
- GMX Resources: 1
- Helis: 3
- Hess: 17
- Hunt: 2
- KOG: 8
- Legacy: 1
- Liberty Resources: 1
- Marathon (MRO): 6
- Murex: 2
- Newfield: 2
- North Plains: 2
- Oasis: 8
- OXY USA: 6
- Petro-Hunt: 12
- QEP: 4
- Samson Resources: 4
- Sequel: 1
- Sinclair: 1
- Slawson: 4
- SM Energy: 4
- Triangle: 2
- True: 1
- Whiting: 17
- WPX: 6
- XTO: 7
- Zavanna: 1
- Zenergy: 4
- CLR: 23
- WLL: 15
- Hess: 15 (includes 7 AEZ rigs)
- EOG: 9 -- has been as high as 13
- BEXP, Newfield, Oasis, Petro-Hunt, XTO: each with 7
- Encore, MRO, Slawson: each with 6
- Anschutz (now OXY), BR: each with 5
- Samson Resources: 4
- Hunt, Murex, Tracker, Zenergy: each with 3
- Baytex, KOG, North Plains, OXY, QEP, Zavanna: each with 2 (KOG says it is adding a 3rd)
- The following each had one (1) active rig in North Dakota today: Arsenal, Core 54, Cornerstone, Enerplus, Fidelity, G3, Helis, Legacy, Oil for America, Peak, Prima, Sinclair, and SM. (SM has been as high as 2; Fidelity says it is adding a second)
WLL: 14 (up 2)
EOG: 13 (same)
CLR: 20 (up 1)
BEXP: 7 (up 2)
Slawson: 5 (down 1)
BR: 5 (up 2)
Marathon: 6 (down 1)
Hess: 10 (up 1)
Newfield: 5 (up 1)
St Mary Land: 2 (same)
Petro-Hunt: 5 (same)
Encore: 3 (same)
XTO: 5 (same)
Anschutz: 5 (same)
Cirque: 2 (up 2)
Zenergy: 1(down)
Tracker: 3 (same)
Zavanna: 1 (same)
Kodiak: 2 (same -- both in ND now)
Oasis: 6 (up 2)
Murex: 2 (down 1)
Others: QEP (2 -- up 1); Sagebrush (1 -- down 2), Hunt (2), Ritchie (1), American (4 -- up 1), Eagle (0), Baytex (2 -- down 1); Samson (3), Simray (0 - down 1), Jayhawk (0), PDC (0), Cornerstone (2 -- same); Peak (1), Fidelity (1), North Plains (2), BTA (1).
If a number goes down, my hunch is the rig is moving to a new site, going over to Montana, or is being refurbished. I doubt rigs are being moth-balled or sent to states outside the Bakken.
It's really quite amazing how much activity/production these companies can get out of one or two rigs. During the recent boom, the number of rigs rose to a high of 99 (summer of 2008) and dropped to a low of 33 (summer, 2009). The number of rigs is gradually increasing and it appears we will be near 90 wells by summer of 2010.
In the past, the norm was to complete a well in 45 days. Now drillers are routinely reaching "total depth" in less than 30 days (for a horizontal well; a vertical well can be drilled in about a week).
Producers used to "frac" a well immediately after the well reached total depth. They now may wait a week, a month, or even longer.
Total depth (TD): that is the total length of pipe put into the well, not the depth straight down from the surface of the ground to the targeted formation (such as the Bakken). Drillers are generally reaching the Bakken at about 9,000 feet, and then drill laterally for another mile (an additional 5,000; for one-section spacing) or two miles (an addition 10,000 after going vertical; for two-section spacing). Therefore, a TD of 14, 000 to 15,000 suggests a "short lateral" and a TD of 18,000 or more suggests a "long lateral."
*****
Following the number of active rigs by producer will give you the best idea of what the next year will be like. This list is from November 12, 2009. Compare it with the list at the top of the page.
WLL: 7
EOG: 6
CLR: 5
BEXP: 3
Slawson: 3
BR: 3
Marathon: 3
Hess:3
Petro-Hunt: 3
St Mary Land: 3
XTO: 2
Anschutz: 3
Cirque: 2
Zenergy: 2
