January 2017

North Dakota's oil month in January 2017, from the public record.

Written on November 8, 2026, looking back. This issue was not published in January 2017. 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 output983,839barrels a day4.4% above the month before · 12.3% below a year earlier

Wells reporting oil12,821plus 127 confidential wells whose volumes are withheld

Wells spudded59oil and gas wells, by spud date

Orders signed3475 spacing and 23 pooling actions

Crude price$45.87a barrel, first purchase$24.80 a year earlier

Flared share of reported gas12.7%

Oil output, January 2003 to August 2026; the dot marks January 2017.

Drilling

59 oil and gas wells have a spud date in January 2017 in the state's wells layer of November 6, 2026. By county: McKenzie 29, Dunn 12, Williams 11, Divide 3, Stark 2.

Hearings and orders

34 Industrial Commission orders signed in January 2017 are in the project's order index, with 75 spacing and 23 pooling actions on spacing units. Most frequent applicants: Oasis Petroleum North America LLC (14), Continental Resources, Inc. (5), Newfield Production Co. (4). The facts are machine-extracted from the signed orders and not individually reviewed.

Operators

143 operators filed rows in the January 2017 report. Most wells reported: Hess Bakken Investments II, LLC (1,475), Whiting Oil and Gas Corporation (1,434), Continental Resources, Inc. (1,401), XTO Energy Inc (880), Oasis Petroleum North America LLC (713).

The operator of record changed on 61 wells since their previous report.

Taqa North USA, Inc. to Taqa USA, Inc.: 61 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 January 2017, 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.