May 2010

North Dakota's oil month in May 2010, from the public record.

Written on November 8, 2026, looking back. This issue was not published in May 2010. It is assembled now from today's public records, with what was known later, so that every month since January 2003 has an issue.

The month in numbers

Oil output297,548barrels a day4.9% above the month before · 44.5% above a year earlier

Wells reporting oil4,860plus 146 confidential wells whose volumes are withheld; includes 1,629 counted inside unit totals

Wells spudded89oil and gas wells, by spud date

Orders signed89689 spacing and 53 pooling actions

Crude price$63.98a barrel, first purchase$51.19 a year earlier

Oil output, January 2003 to August 2026; the dot marks May 2010.

What stood out

The operator of record changed from St Mary Land & Exploration Company to SM Energy Company on 144 wells.

Drilling

89 oil and gas wells have a spud date in May 2010 in the state's wells layer of November 6, 2026. By county: Mountrail 28, Dunn 16, Williams 14, McKenzie 12, Burke 5.

Hearings and orders

89 Industrial Commission orders signed in May 2010 are in the project's order index, with 689 spacing and 53 pooling actions on spacing units. Most frequent applicants: Continental Resources, Inc. (24), Burlington Resources Oil & Gas Co. LP (7), Hess Corp. (7). The facts are machine-extracted from the signed orders and not individually reviewed.

Operators

150 operators filed rows in the May 2010 report. Most wells reported: Whiting Oil and Gas Corporation (248), Hess Corporation (210), EOG Resources, Inc. (206), Continental Resources, Inc. (176), Petro-Hunt, L.L.C. (157).

The operator of record changed on 150 wells since their previous report.

St Mary Land & Exploration Company to SM Energy Company: 144 wells

A change of operator of record is what the reports show; it does not say why. Sales, mergers, renamed legal entities and new contract operators all look the same. Names are as the reports spell them.

Sources

Oil output and price: U.S. Energy Information Administration, monthly state series (public domain), as published today.
Wells reporting, withheld wells, operators and flared gas: the free NDIC Monthly Production Reports for May 2010, as first reported (PDF print).
Spud dates: the DMR GIS wells layer of November 6, 2026.
Orders: the project's index of signed NDIC orders (facts only; see the well index).

Not an official record of the State of North Dakota. Not engineering, investment or legal advice. Every figure is in the archive data file.