Updates: The Raw Data
March, 2020:
- DUCs: 975 (down 52 from the 1,027 in February;
- inactive well count: 2,161 (up 72 from 2,091 in January )
- March: it makes sense that inactive wells are up; DUCs are down; when DUCs are completed, neighboring wells are shut in to protect them;
February, 2020:
- DUCs: 1,054 (up 30 from the 1,024 in January;
- inactive well count: 2,091 (down 516 from 2,607 in January )
- if I recall correctly, December, 2019, was a fairly "mild" winter by
North Dakota standards;
- January: huge jump in DUCs and inactive wells;
- February, 2020, was a fairly mild month, as I recall;
January, 2020:
- DUCs: 1,024 (up 66 from the 958 in December)
- inactive well count: 2,608 (up 687 from 1,920 in December -- a huge increase)
- totals, wells off line for operational reasons: 3,631 -- up significantly month-over-month -- an increase of 753 or up an astounding 26% from the previous month;
- this sets a new record of the the number of wells off line for operational reasons; the previous record was September, 2019, (3,020)
December, 2019:
- DUCs: 958 (up 39 from the 919 in November)
- inactive well count: 1,920 (up 194 from 1,726 in November)
- totals, wells off line for operational reasons: 2,878 -- up significantly month-over-month -- an increase of 233 or about 8.8% from the previous month;
- the number of wells off line for operational reasons in September, 2019, (3,020) sets a new record
November, 2019:
- DUCs: 919 (up 34 from the 885 in October)
- inactive well count: 1,726 (up 43 from 1,683 in October)
- totals, wells off line for operational reasons: 2,645 -- about average for the Bakken -- but up 77 or about 3% from the previous month;
October, 2019:
- DUCs: 885 (down 31 from the 916 in September)
- inactive well count: 1,683 (down 421 from 2,104 in September)
- totals, wells off line for operational reasons: 2,568 -- about average for the Bakken
September, 2019
- awaiting completion (DUCs), 916 (the November Director's Cut said the number of DUCs in August, 2019, was 930 which is different than that initially reported a month ago (see below)
- inactive well count; 2,104 ((the November Director's Cut said the inactive well count in August,
2019, was 1,675 which is different than that initially reported a month
ago (see below)
- total: 3,020
- if this is accurate, the number of wells off line for operational reasons in September, 2019, (3,020) sets a new record
- it looks like 2,665, wells off-line for operational reasons back in March, 2019, is now the 2nd highest number of wells off-line for operational reasons
August, 2019
- awaiting completion (DUCs), down 14, to 916
- inactive well count; down 62 to 1,613
- total: 2,529
- it looks like 2,665, wells off-line for operational reasons is still the all-time high (March, 2019)
July, 2019
- awaiting completion (DUCs): down 53, to 930
- inactive well count: up 122, to 1,675
- total: 2,605 (up from 2,536 last month) or an increase of 2.7% this represents
about 1,000 more wells than will be drilled this calendar year; 2,536 wells is
about the number of wells North Dakota will complete every three years
- it looks like 2,665, wells off-line for operational reasons is still the all-time high (March, 2019)
- scroll down to original post to see 2018 data and note how historically high the current number of inactive well is -- stunning
June, 2019:
- awaiting completion (DUCs): down by 2 to 983
- estimated inactive well count: down 3, to 1,553
- total: 2,536 (down from 2,541 last month) -- this represents
about 1,000 more wells than will be drilled this calendar year; 2,536 wells is
about the number of wells North Dakota will complete every three years
- it looks like 2,665, wells off-line for operational reasons is still the all-time high (March, 2019)
May, 2019:
- awaiting completion (DUCs): up by 23 to 985
- estimated inactive well count: down 69, to 1,556
- total: 2,541 (down from 2,587 last month) -- this represents about 1,000 more wells than will be drilled this calendar year; 2,561 is about the number of wells North Dakota will complete every three years
- it looks like 2,665, wells off-line for operational reasons is still the all-time high (March, 2019)
April, 2019:
- DUCs: 962 (down 6 from last report)
- inactive: 1,625 (down 72 from last report)
- total: 2,587 (down from 2665 last month; this represents about 1,000 more wells than will be drilled this calendar year; 2,561 is about the number of wells North Dakota will complete every three years)
- WTI was about $2/bbl higher in April, 2019, compared to March, 2019
- 2,665 last month was probably an all-time high
March, 2019:
- DUCs: 968, up 74 from last report
- inactive: 1,697, up 30 from last report
- total: 2,665 (up from 2,561 last month; this represents about 1,000 more wells than will be drilled this calendar year; 2,561 is about what North Dakota will complete every three years)
- I do believe that this (2,665) represents an all-time high)
February, 2019:
- DUCs: 894, up 27 from last report
- inactive: 1,667, up a whopping 150 from last report
- total: 2,561 (up from 2,332 last month, about 800 more wells than will be drilled this calendar year)
January, 2019:
- DUCs: 867, up 44 from last report
- inactive: 1,517, up 8 from last report
- total: 2,384 (up from 2,332 last month, about 800 more wells than will be drilled this calendar year)
December, 2018:
- 823, down 134 from last report -- huge decrease
- inactive: 1,509, up 128 from last report -- wow, look at that jump in the number of inactive wells
- total: 2,332 (down slightly from 2,338 in the last report; but 2,332 wells is still way
more than the total number of wells that will be drilled in North Dakota
this year)
November, 2018:
- 957, down 2 from previous report
- inactive: 1,381, up 18 from previous report
- total: 2,338
October, 2018:
- 959, up 31 from previous report
- inactive: 1,363, up 23 from previous report
- total: 2,322
May, 2018:
- 955, up 13 from previous report
- inactive: 1,569, down 48
- total: 2,524
April, 2018:
- 942, up 26 from previous report
- inactive: 1,521, down 13
- total: 2,463
March, 2018:
- 916, up 15
- inactive: 1,653, down 1
- total: 2,569
February, 2018:
- 901, up 48
- inactive: 1,654, down 100
- total: 2,555
January, 2018:
- 853, down 24
- inactive: 1,554, up 85
- total: 2,407
December, 2017:
- 877, down 6
- inactive: 1,469, down 23
- total: 2,346
November, 2017:
- 883, down 6
- inactive: 1,492, up 21
- total: 2,375
October, 2017:
- 889, down 36
- inactive: 1,471, up 27
September, 2017:
- 853, down 10
- inactive: 1,444, down 54
August, 2017:
- 863, down 26
- inactive: 1,498, up 20
July, 2017:
- 889, up 34
- inactive: 1,478
June, 2017:
- 865, up 35
- inactive: 1,458, down 53
- total: 2,323
May, 2017:
- 830, unchanged
- inactive: 1,511, up 45
- total: 2,341
April, 2017:
- 830, up 141
- inactive, 1,466, up 167
- total: 2,296
March, 2017:
- 689, down 110
- inactive: 1,299, down 312 (need to correct typo at that post)
- total: 1,988
February, 2017:
- 799, down 3
- inactive: 1,611, down 67
- total: 2,410
January, 2017:
- 802, down 5
- inactive: 1,678, up 105
- total: 2,480
December, 2016:
- 807, down 32
- inactive: 1,573, up 54
- total: 2,380
- corrected: 9/9/19
November, 2016:
- 839, down 21
- inactive: 1,519, up 16
- total: 2,358
- corrected: 9/9/19
October, 2016:
- 860, down one
- inactive: 1,503, down 11
- total: 2,363
- corrected: 9/9/19
September, 2016:
- 861, down 27
- inactive: 1,514, unchanged
- total: 2,375
- corrected: 9/9/19
August, 2016:
- 888, down 24
- inactive: 1,514, up 42
- total: 2,402
- corrected: 9/9/19
July, 2016:
- 912, up 25
- inactive: 1,472, down 14
- total: 2,384
- corrected: 9/9/19
June, 2016:
- 887, down 44
- inactive: 1,486, down 98
- total: 2,373
- corrected: 9/9/19
May, 2016:
- 931, up 39
- inactive: 1,584, down 6
- total: 2,515
- corrected: 9/9/19
Original Post
See Director's Cut, May, 2018, data.
From the June 29, 2018, update, now updated through most recent data, adding data for May, 2018:
From most recent data, May, 2018 - May, 2017, most recent to oldest, which brings us up to date:
- taken from my posts on the blog. In May, 2017, I started posting
DUCs and inactive wells on a regular basis. It's too time consuming to
go back and fill in the few months in
which I did not post data so I'm not going to fill in that bit of
missing data. I think the existing data tells the story.
- data below: month/year, DUCs, inactive wells. All data below, including the up/down change were taken directly from the NDIC Director's Cuts
- range:
- an outlier, March, 2017: 689
- otherwise, a low of 799 in February, 2017
- a high of 955 in the most recent month, May, 2018
- not graphed, but the trend for the past four months has been up
- January, 2018: 853
- up 48 in February, 2018, 901
- up 15 in March, 2018, 916
- up 26 in April, 2018, 942
- up 13 in May, 2018, 955
Inactive wells:
- in data presented, we have never gone above 1,700 inactive wells
- number of inactive wells in the past three months are among the highest numbers in the data presented
Disclaimer: in a long note like this and with so many numbers, and no triple-checking and no
NYT fact-checker, there will be factual and typographical errors.
