October 2014

North Dakota's oil month in October 2014, from the public record.

Written on November 8, 2026, looking back. This issue was not published in October 2014. 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 output1,173,581barrels a daylevel with the month before · 24.7% above a year earlier

Wells reporting oil11,665plus 319 confidential wells whose volumes are withheld; includes 1,748 counted inside unit totals

Wells spudded245oil and gas wells, by spud date

Orders signed102446 spacing and 21 pooling actions

Crude price$75.64a barrel, first purchase$90.16 a year earlier

Oil output, January 2003 to August 2026; the dot marks October 2014.

What stood out

The operator of record changed from Kodiak Oil & Gas (USA) Inc. to Whiting Oil and Gas Corporation on 317 wells.

Drilling

245 oil and gas wells have a spud date in October 2014 in the state's wells layer of November 6, 2026. By county: McKenzie 74, Williams 59, Mountrail 47, Dunn 29, Divide 14.

Hearings and orders

102 Industrial Commission orders signed in October 2014 are in the project's order index, with 446 spacing and 21 pooling actions on spacing units. Most frequent applicants: Oasis Petroleum North America LLC (13), Hess Bakken Investments II, LLC (8), Oxy USA Inc. (8). The facts are machine-extracted from the signed orders and not individually reviewed.

Operators

195 operators filed rows in the October 2014 report. Most wells reported: Whiting Oil and Gas Corporation (1,309), Continental Resources, Inc. (1,083), Hess Bakken Investments II, LLC (947), Oasis Petroleum North America LLC (639), XTO Energy Inc (622).

The operator of record changed on 411 wells since their previous report.

Kodiak Oil & Gas (USA) Inc. to Whiting Oil and Gas Corporation: 317 wells
Baytex Energy USA LTD to SM Energy Company: 91 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 2014, 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.