OnTrack for 1,712 Permits in North Dakota for 2011 -- Bakken, North Dakota, USA

With 966 permits for oil and gas wells issued so far in 2011, "we" are on track for 1,712 new permits for oil and gas wells in North Dakota this year (a very small number will be salt water disposal wells).

• 2006: 422
• 2007: 497
• 2008: 953
• 2009: 628
• 2010: 1,682
• 2011: 1,712 (estimate based on July 25, 2011, data). 

My numbers will be slightly different from the official NDIC numbers, but not by much (+/- 5 each year) because I missed a few taking them from the daily activity reports.

Be that as it may, my database shows that 49 permits issued in 2010 were canceled or have expired.

For 2010, I have data for 977 permits (off confidential list but no data; total depth reached; plugged or producing, IP). That means there are still 705 permits that are still outstanding, either drilled and on the confidential list, or not even spudded yet. That's more than all the permits issued in 2009, 2007, or 2006.