February 2016

North Dakota's oil month in February 2016, from the public record.

Written on November 8, 2026, looking back. This issue was not published in February 2016. 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 output1,119,621barrels a day0.2% below the month before · 4.3% below a year earlier

Wells reporting oil12,587plus 80 confidential wells whose volumes are withheld

Wells spudded31oil and gas wells, by spud date

Orders signed6289 spacing and 40 pooling actions

Crude price$22.72a barrel, first purchase$41.31 a year earlier

Flared share of reported gas11.2%

Oil output, January 2003 to August 2026; the dot marks February 2016.

What stood out

The operator of record changed from Oxy USA Inc. to Lime Rock Resources III-A, L.P. on 294 wells.

Drilling

31 oil and gas wells have a spud date in February 2016 in the state's wells layer of November 6, 2026. By county: McKenzie 26, Dunn 3, Williams 2.

Hearings and orders

62 Industrial Commission orders signed in February 2016 are in the project's order index, with 89 spacing and 40 pooling actions on spacing units. Most frequent applicants: Burlington Resources Oil & Gas Co. LP, (11), HRC Operating, LLC, (6), EOG Resources, Inc. (5). The facts are machine-extracted from the signed orders and not individually reviewed.

Operators

147 operators filed rows in the February 2016 report. Most wells reported: Whiting Oil and Gas Corporation (1,465), Continental Resources, Inc. (1,432), Hess Bakken Investments II, LLC (1,404), XTO Energy Inc (841), Oasis Petroleum North America LLC (736).

The operator of record changed on 360 wells since their previous report.

Oxy USA Inc. to Lime Rock Resources III-A, L.P.: 294 wells
Whiting Oil and Gas Corporation to NP Resources, LLC: 53 wells
North Plains Energy, LLC to North Plains Energy II, LLC: 9 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 February 2016, as first reported (workbook).
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.