July 2016

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

Written on November 8, 2026, looking back. This issue was not published in July 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 output1,029,839barrels a day0.2% above the month before · 14.2% below a year earlier

Wells reporting oil12,860plus 65 confidential wells whose volumes are withheld

Wells spudded59oil and gas wells, by spud date

Orders signed1012 spacing and 5 pooling actions

Crude price$39.58a barrel, first purchase$45.21 a year earlier

Flared share of reported gas10.6%

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

Drilling

59 oil and gas wells have a spud date in July 2016 in the state's wells layer of November 6, 2026. By county: McKenzie 27, Dunn 26, Williams 3, Divide 1, Golden Valley 1.

Hearings and orders

10 Industrial Commission orders signed in July 2016 are in the project's order index, with 12 spacing and 5 pooling actions on spacing units. Most frequent applicants: Liberty Resources Management Co. LLC (3), Continental Resources, Inc. (1), Enerplus Resources (USA) Corporation (1). The facts are machine-extracted from the signed orders and not individually reviewed.

Operators

144 operators filed rows in the July 2016 report. Most wells reported: Hess Bakken Investments II, LLC (1,445), Continental Resources, Inc. (1,439), Whiting Oil and Gas Corporation (1,400), XTO Energy Inc (864), Oasis Petroleum North America LLC (690).

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 July 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.