August 2018

North Dakota's oil month in August 2018, from the public record.

Written on November 8, 2026, looking back. This issue was not published in August 2018. 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 output1,295,161barrels a day1.7% above the month before · 18.9% above a year earlier

Wells reporting oil14,569plus 210 confidential wells whose volumes are withheld

Wells spudded140oil and gas wells, by spud date

Orders signed3963 spacing and 21 pooling actions

Crude price$65.31a barrel, first purchase$44.25 a year earlier

Flared share of reported gas16.8%

Oil output, January 2003 to August 2026; the dot marks August 2018.

What stood out

The operator of record changed from Statoil Oil & Gas LP to Equinor Energy LP on 645 wells.

Drilling

140 oil and gas wells have a spud date in August 2018 in the state's wells layer of November 6, 2026. By county: Williams 49, McKenzie 40, Mountrail 29, Dunn 18, Bottineau 2.

Hearings and orders

39 Industrial Commission orders signed in August 2018 are in the project's order index, with 63 spacing and 21 pooling actions on spacing units. Most frequent applicants: Continental Resources, Inc. (10), Liberty Resources Management Co., LLC (5), Liberty Resources Management Co. LLC (4). The facts are machine-extracted from the signed orders and not individually reviewed.

Operators

139 operators filed rows in the August 2018 report. Most wells reported: Continental Resources, Inc. (1,667), Hess Bakken Investments II, LLC (1,551), Whiting Oil and Gas Corporation (1,498), Oasis Petroleum North America LLC (989), XTO Energy Inc (970).

The operator of record changed on 646 wells since their previous report.

Statoil Oil & Gas LP to Equinor Energy LP: 645 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 August 2018, 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.