Top Ten Producers -- 2014, 2013, 2012, 2012, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007 -- Bakken, North Dakota, USA

2014: Top 5 Producers

 Link here. Full list here.  (Lists vary slightly.) Operator, BPD, net acres

1. Whiting: > 128,692; 885,000 net acres
2. Hess: 113,453; 640,000 net acres

3. CLR: 113,420; 1.2 million net acres
4. XTO: 70,535;

5. EOG: 69,352; 110,000 net acres
6. BR (COP): 63,352

7. Statoil: 58,666 bopd; 355,000 net acres
8. MRO: 58,001
9. Oasis: 50,235
10. QEP: 44,506
11. WPX: 34,392
12. Halcon: 32,975
13. Petro-Hunt: 32,018
14. Slawson: 29,684
15. SM Energy: 25,005
16. Newfield: 19,874
17. OXY USA: 19,025
18. Triangle USA Petroleum: 14,295
19. Enerplus: 12,117
20. Zavanna: 11,178
21. Hunt: 10,564
22. Murex: 6,961
23. Samson Resources (KKR): 6,417
24. Fidelity: 6,053
25. Emerald Oil: 5,641
26. Lime Rock Resources: 5,582
27. Abraxas: 4,960
28. American Eagle: 3,820
29. Crescent Point: 3,007
30. Liberty Resources: 2,336
31. Sinclair: 2,272
32. SHD 2,237
33. Petrogulf: 1,803
34. Cornerstone Natural Resources: 1,096
35. Arsenal Energy: 1,033
36. North Plains Energy: 980
37. Denbury Onshore: 901
38. Armstrong Operating: 594
39. Mountain Divide: 542
40. True Oil: 497
41. Thunderbird Resources: 445
42. Bakken Hunter: 256
43: Rim Operating: 110
44. Legacy Reserves: 105
45. Windsor Energy: 103
46. Resource Drilling: 89
47. Gadeco: 75
48. Texakota: 45
49. Condor Petroleum: 33
50. Petro Harvester Operatong: 26

2013: Top 50 Producers

Link here. 

Company / bopd -- estimated net acreage in North Dakota Bakken

1. Hess: 82,108 -- 640,000
2. CLR: 74,332 -- 1.2 million
3. Whiting: 73,132  -- 685,000
4. EOG: 58,842 -- 580,000
5. XTO: 48,141 -- 600,000
6. MRO: 45,156 -- 370,000
7. Statoil: 43,797 -- 258,000 (378,000 in ND and MT)
8. Oasis: 37,981 -- 500,000 (may be slightly more/less; recently sold some non-core acreage)
9. KOG: 37,219 (will be acquired by Whiting by end of 2014) -- 183,0000
10. BR: 35,858 -- 620,000
11. QEP: 31,925 -- maybe 118,000
12. HRC (Halcon): 26,470 -- 131,000
13. WPX: 26,210 -- maybe 85,800
14. Slawson: 23,254 -- at one time reported to be about 100,000
15. SM Energy: 20,688 -- about 159,000
16. OXY USA: 16,864 -- ~ 300,000
17. Petro-Hunt: 16,176
18. Newfield: 14,024 -- hard to say; maybe 60K in ND Bakken; 40K in Elm Coulee (MT)
19. Enerplus: 12,020 -- 215,000 + (ND, MT, and Saskatchewan)
20. Fidelity (MDU): 11,200 -- 124,000 (ND, MT)
21. Hunt: 9,152
22. Murex: 7,298 --
23. Triangle: 7,201 -- 190,450
24. Zavanna: 6,800
25. Samson Resources: 6,503 -- no idea; sold 20,000 acres to Magnum Hunter; sold 120,000 acres to CLR
26. Baytex: 4,973 -- maybe 70,000 (had 126,000 acres prior to selling 50,000 acres to Magnum Hunter)
27. Sequel: 4,840 -- 65,000 (2011, company website)
28. Abraxas: 4,449 -- acreage in ND Bakken hard to determine; 21,000 back in 2011, but sold 13,500 net acres in 2013
29. American Eagle: 2,966 -- 11,000 perhaps
30. Crescent Point Energy: 2,414
31. Sinclair: 1,959
32. Emerald: 1,812 -- maybe around 70,000 net acres after acquiring 20,800 net acres in early 2014
33. Arsenal: 1,073
34. Denbury: 991 -- sold most of their Bakken position to XOM in 2012
35. Cornerstone: 804 -- maybe 89,000 net acres in ND (21,000 net acres in Sheridan County, MT)
36. True Oil: 767
37. Mountain Divide: 698
38. Armstrong Operating: 539
39. GMX Resources: 427 -- maybe 35,000 (2012 corporate presentation)
40. Bakken Hunter: 388 -- a subsidiary of Magnum Hunter; 97,000 (ND)
41. Gadeco: 249
42. Windsor Energy Group: 227
43. Rim Operating:  151
44. Resource Drilling: 147
45. Legacy Reserves Operating: 82
46. North Plains Energy: 81 -- sold to KOG some time ago; kept some wells?
47: SHD Oil & Gas: 75
48. Texakot: 46
49: Resolute Natural Resources: 44
50: Petro Harvester Operating: 19 

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Top ten producers in the Bakken, North Dakota, 2012. See story here.
Barrels of oil per day
List updated from Whiting Corporate Presentation 4Q12 

• 1. Whiting Oil and Gas Corporation, 66,156
• 2. Continental Resources, 65,141
• 3. Hess Corporation, 64,657
• 4. Brigham Oil & Gas, 50,325
• 5. EOG, 46,091
• 6. XTO Energy Inc. 33,148
• 7. Marathon Oil Company, 31,194
• 8. Petro-Hunt, L.L.C., 25,743
• 9. Slawson, 21,058
• 10. KOG, 20,423
• 11. Oasis, 20,013
• 12. Burlington Resources, 19,798
• 13. QEP, 17,521
• 14. WPX, 17,043
• 15. OXY USA, 15,187
• 16. SM Energy, 12,665
• 17. Zavanna, 10,991
• 18. Enerplus, 10,568
• 19. Hunt, 9,955
• 20. Newfield, 9,437

Top ten producers in the Bakken, North Dakota, 2011. See story here.

• 1. CLR: 19.034 million, 543
• 2. EOG: 16.071 million, 341
• 3. WLL: 14.701 million, 422
• 4. HES: 14.145 million, 635
• 5. BR: 8.715 million, 266
• 6. MRO: 6.987 million, 228
• 7. BEXP: 6.598, 114
• 8. Slawson: 6.255, 124
• 9. Denbury Onshore: 4.619, 322
• 10. Petro-Hunt, 4.612, 207 

Top ten producers in the Bakken, North Dakota, 2010. For full list and source, click here.

Producer: barrels of oil in 1000s; barrels of water in 1000s; number of wells; average production/well

• 1. EOG: 17,132; 4,896; 259; 66,146
• 2. WLL: 13,706; 10,291; 341; 30,278
• 3. CLR: 12,148; 11,156; 415; 29,272
• 4. BR: 9,420; 23,419; 221; 42,624 (see note at bottom of page to help explain production)
• 5. Hess: 6,970; 16,878; 445; 15,663
• 6. Marathon: 5,389; 1,586; 175; 30,794
• 7. Slawson: 4,604; 1,320, 84; 54,810
• 8. BEXP: 3,317; 2,867; 58; 57,190
• 9. Encore: 3,274; 21,564; 297; 11,023 (see note at bottom of page to help explain production)
• 10. XTO: 2,166; 1,632; 152; 14,250

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Top ten oil producers, 2009, North Dakota (full list here):

Producer: barrels of oil in 1000s; barrels of water in 1000s; number of wells; average production/well

• 1. EOG: 13,040; 1,398; 152; 85,789
• 2. BR: 10,674; 21,113; 201; 53,104
• 3. CLR: 8,185; 7,789; 319; 25,658
• 4. WLL: 6,761; 8,837; 254; 26,618
• 5. Hess: 6,606; 18,621; 422; 15,654
• 6. Marathon: 4,065; 965; 132; 30,795
• 7. Encore: 3,068; 25,368, 287; 10,690 (see note at bottom of page to explain  this)
• 8. Slawson: 1,923; 583; 46; 41,804
• 9. Murex: 1,921; 1,070; 117; 16,419
• 10. XTO: 1,918; 955; 109; 17,596

Comments/observations/trends:

• It's all about net acreage in the Bakken. Of the top four producers, both years, BR has the least acreage, and BR dropped from second to fourth place in 2010. I expect the gap to widen in 2011. Interestingly, Hess may have the most acreage in North Dakota (depends on sources for data; Hess has at least 750,000 and may have more than 900,000 acres. If more than 900,000 acres, it is number one in the state. Production/well is a significant problem. I blogged about that from the beginning.) See note at bottom of page for additional information regarding BR.

• Based on what I'm seeing so far in 2011, it's very possible both CLR and WLL will jump to number 1 and number 2, and it's possible WLL will be number 1. 

• Encore (now part of Denbury -- DNR): see note in bold red at bottom of this page to explain Encore -- VERY IMPORTANT.

• Hess, XTO, Murex with poor production well. Murex dropped off the top ten list for 2010.

• Slawson has improved its production/well.

• EOG's production/well dropped significantly from 2009 to 2010. If folks remember, the initial EOG wells in the Parshall oil field were stunning (2009); since then, less so. 

Hey, you forgot BEXP in 2009? Where's BEXP (2009)? Did you forget BEXP?  Nope. In 2009, BEXP was number 18. BEXP went from #18 in 2009 to #8 in 2010, probably the biggest jump. Folks used to "laugh" about BEXP's "inflated" IPs, but maybe they were "real."  In 2009:

• #18. BEXP: 601; 469; 17; 35,352

One can argue BEXP rose to #8 based on huge increase in number of wells (from 17 to 58) but BEXP's production/well also increased significantly.

I did these lists quickly; did not double-check for typographical errors or check for calculation errors. If anyone spots an error, and I'm sure there are some, please let me know.  Comments on trends, observations, explanations, all welcome.

I think going back to 2008 is comparing apples and oranges because so much has changed in the Bakken in the past four years. But for those who are interested, here is the same data (full list here):

Top ten oil producers, 2008, North Dakota (full list here):

Producer: barrels of oil in 1000s; barrels of water in 1000s; number of wells; average production/well

• 1. BR: 12,106; 17,743; 164; 73,817
• 2. EOG: 8,613; 970; 66; 130,500 (checked twice)
• 3. CLR: 6,507; 6,366; 296; 21,983
• 4. Hess: 5,491; 2,066; 389; 14,116
• 5. WLL: 3,895; 9,269; 244; 15,963
• 6. Encore: 3,312; 26,188; 300; 11,040 (see note at bottom of page to explain this)
• 7. MRO: 2,395; 607, 80; 29,938 (double-checked)
• 8. St Mary: 1,817; 6,453; 257; 7,070 (wow)
• 9. Petro-Hunt: 1,558; 4,314; 157; 9,923 (wow)
• 10. Murex: 1,129; 874; 110; 10,264

And, while we are at it, let's look at data from 2007.

Top ten oil producers, 2007, North Dakota (full list here):

Producer: barrels of oil in 1000s; barrels of water in 1000s (other data not provided by linked source)

• 1. BR: 12,690; 12,091
• 2. CLR: 5,147; 4,117
  
• 3. Hess: 4,190; 16,696
• 4. Encore: 2,260; 25,247 (see note at bottom of page to explain this)
• 5. WLL: 2,299;9,574
• 6. St Mary: 1,978; 6,718
• 7. Petro-Hunt: 1,515; 4,217
• 8. EOG: 1,453; 0.918 (almost no water)
  
• 9. Zenergy: 1,179; 4,118
  
• 10. BTA: 795; 1,866 

VERY IMPORTANT -- VERY IMPORTANT -- EXPLANATION FOR ENCORE "WATER PRODUCTION"

The majority of Encore's production was from wells drilled during the1970's and 1980's. Encore purchased old wells which were drilled into the Madison or other formations (not the Bakken). 

In addition, many (if not most) of those were being produced with enhanced recovery (EOR). In other words, these were water flooded units using vast volumes of water pushed through the formation to drive the oil out. 

So Encore's (now Denbury's) low oil production and high water production are distorting whatever results they've had over the past few years as they drilled into the Bakken formation.

Burlington Resources, as another longtime ND producer, may have their results also skewed by these same factors. 

The above information/explanation was provided by a reader.  This makes all kind of sense. DNR is perhaps the #1 operator in the oil patch for enhanced oil recovery (water-flooding and CO2 injection). It now makes more sense why DNR was interested in Encore. 


A huge "thank you" to the reader who sent me this information.