Cumulative Production Of Oil In The Williston Basin Through 2012

The 2013 data has not yet been posted at the NDIC.

This is the data through 2012:

There are a lot of interesting data points in that chart.

Oil was discovered in North Dakota in 1951.

They have been drilling Madison wells and Red River/Red River "B" wells for decades.

They started drilling Bakken wells in 2006, about eight years ago. The Bakken boom in North Dakota began in 2007.

After decades, the average:

• Madison well has produced 168,000 bbls over decades of production.
• Red River/Red River "B" well has produced 200,000 bbls over decades of production.

After less than a few years of production, the average:

• Bakken well has produced 100,000 bbls of oil.

Two other data points:

• After 60 years of drilling in North Dakota, 1,265 Red River/ R R "B" wells have been drilled.
• After 60 years of drilling in North Dakota, a total of 5,547 Madison wells have been drilled. 
• After less than 8 years of drilling, more than 5,400 Bakken wells have been drilled.

The number of Bakken wells drilled in 2014 will surpass the number of Bakken wells drilled in any previous year of the boom.