October 2012

North Dakota's oil month in October 2012, from the public record.

Written on November 8, 2026, looking back. This issue was not published in October 2012. 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 output746,742barrels a day2.8% above the month before · 52.8% above a year earlier

Wells reporting oil7,911plus 290 confidential wells whose volumes are withheld; includes 1,683 counted inside unit totals

Wells spudded179oil and gas wells, by spud date

Orders signed121204 spacing and 75 pooling actions

Crude price$87.65a barrel, first purchase$82.05 a year earlier

Oil output, January 2003 to August 2026; the dot marks October 2012.

Drilling

179 oil and gas wells have a spud date in October 2012 in the state's wells layer of November 6, 2026. By county: McKenzie 62, Williams 37, Mountrail 27, Divide 21, Dunn 13.

Hearings and orders

121 Industrial Commission orders signed in October 2012 are in the project's order index, with 204 spacing and 75 pooling actions on spacing units. Most frequent applicants: Continental Resources, Inc. (16), Petro- Hunt, L.L.C. (15), Hess Corp. (11). The facts are machine-extracted from the signed orders and not individually reviewed.

Operators

177 operators filed rows in the October 2012 report. Most wells reported: Continental Resources, Inc. (589), Hess Corporation (573), Whiting Oil and Gas Corporation (572), EOG Resources, Inc. (439), Marathon Oil Company (308).

The operator of record changed on 3 wells since their previous report. No single change covered five or more 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 October 2012, 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.