February 2017

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

Written on November 8, 2026, looking back. This issue was not published in February 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 output1,034,250barrels a day5.1% above the month before · 7.6% below a year earlier

Wells reporting oil13,040plus 124 confidential wells whose volumes are withheld

Wells spudded68oil and gas wells, by spud date

Orders signed637 spacing and 0 pooling actions

Crude price$48.26a barrel, first purchase$22.72 a year earlier

Flared share of reported gas10.9%

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

What stood out

The operator of record changed from SM Energy Company to Oasis Petroleum North America LLC on 147 wells.

Drilling

68 oil and gas wells have a spud date in February 2017 in the state's wells layer of November 6, 2026. By county: McKenzie 31, Mountrail 14, Dunn 11, Williams 9, Stark 2.

Hearings and orders

6 Industrial Commission orders signed in February 2017 are in the project's order index, with 37 spacing and 0 pooling actions on spacing units. Most frequent applicants: EOG Resources, Inc. (2), Kraken Oil & Gas, LLC (2). The facts are machine-extracted from the signed orders and not individually reviewed.

Operators

144 operators filed rows in the February 2017 report. Most wells reported: Hess Bakken Investments II, LLC (1,471), Whiting Oil and Gas Corporation (1,439), Continental Resources, Inc. (1,392), XTO Energy Inc (883), Oasis Petroleum North America LLC (865).

The operator of record changed on 168 wells since their previous report.

SM Energy Company to Oasis Petroleum North America LLC: 147 wells
Continental Resources, Inc. to Southwestern Production Corp.: 12 wells
Hess Bakken Investments II, LLC to Crescent Point Energy U.S. Corp.: 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 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.