December 2018

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

Written on November 8, 2026, looking back. This issue was not published in December 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 output1,402,871barrels a day1.7% above the month before · 18.6% above a year earlier

Wells reporting oil14,840plus 199 confidential wells whose volumes are withheld

Wells spudded108oil and gas wells, by spud date

Orders signed56103 spacing and 25 pooling actions

Crude price$37.06a barrel, first purchase$56.44 a year earlier

Flared share of reported gas18.8%

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

What stood out

The operator of record changed from Enduro Operating, LLC to Cobra Oil & Gas Corporation on 261 wells.

Drilling

108 oil and gas wells have a spud date in December 2018 in the state's wells layer of November 6, 2026. By county: McKenzie 50, Williams 32, Dunn 18, Mountrail 6, Burke 2.

Hearings and orders

56 Industrial Commission orders signed in December 2018 are in the project's order index, with 103 spacing and 25 pooling actions on spacing units. Most frequent applicants: Hunt Oil Co. (15), Slawson Exploration Co., Inc. (9), Rimrock Oil & Gas Williston LLC (7). The facts are machine-extracted from the signed orders and not individually reviewed.

Operators

137 operators filed rows in the December 2018 report. Most wells reported: Continental Resources, Inc. (1,716), Whiting Oil and Gas Corporation (1,583), Hess Bakken Investments II, LLC (1,540), Oasis Petroleum North America LLC (979), XTO Energy Inc (973).

The operator of record changed on 273 wells since their previous report.

Enduro Operating, LLC to Cobra Oil & Gas Corporation: 261 wells
Zavanna, LLC to Mercury Resources LLC: 12 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 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.