173: Not Quite There, But Getting Close to a New Record -- Bakken, North Dakota, USA

Active rigs drilling in North Dakota: back up to 173, just one short of the all-time high (174).  And back up nicely from a recent "low" of 168.

• Continental: still at 22
• Hess: 17 (up from 14 just a few days ago) Back in February, Tracker had 3; now there are no Tracker wells in North Dakota; Hess acquired Tracker last year
• Whiting: 15
• EOG: 11 (no change)
• AEZ: down to 2; had 7 before it was bought by Hess

On just this short list, it looks like there might be five (5) wells "unaccounted for" since the Hess/Tracker/AEZ buyouts (Tracker down 3; Hess up 3; AEZ down 5)