December 2017

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

Written on November 8, 2026, looking back. This issue was not published in December 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 output1,182,839barrels a day1.2% below the month before · 25.5% above a year earlier

Wells reporting oil13,769plus 191 confidential wells whose volumes are withheld

Wells spudded94oil and gas wells, by spud date

Orders signed1690 spacing and 1 pooling actions

Crude price$56.44a barrel, first purchase$45.32 a year earlier

Flared share of reported gas12.2%

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

What stood out

The operator of record changed from HRC Operating, LLC to Bruin E&P Operating, LLC on 324 wells.
The operator of record changed from Whiting Oil and Gas Corporation to Rimrock Oil & Gas Williston LLC on 101 wells.

Drilling

94 oil and gas wells have a spud date in December 2017 in the state's wells layer of November 6, 2026. By county: McKenzie 56, Williams 20, Mountrail 16, Burke 1, Dunn 1.

Hearings and orders

16 Industrial Commission orders signed in December 2017 are in the project's order index, with 90 spacing and 1 pooling actions on spacing units. Most frequent applicants: Liberty Resources Management Co., LLC (4), XTO Energy Inc. (4), Enerplus Resources (USA) Corp. (3). The facts are machine-extracted from the signed orders and not individually reviewed.

Operators

144 operators filed rows in the December 2017 report. Most wells reported: Continental Resources, Inc. (1,524), Hess Bakken Investments II, LLC (1,508), Whiting Oil and Gas Corporation (1,422), XTO Energy Inc (953), Oasis Petroleum North America LLC (949).

The operator of record changed on 430 wells since their previous report.

HRC Operating, LLC to Bruin E&P Operating, LLC: 324 wells
Whiting Oil and Gas Corporation to Rimrock Oil & Gas Williston LLC: 101 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 December 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.