The Bakken Shale | January 2022
Field Overview
Named after Henry Bakken, the farmer who owned the land where oil was originally discovered, the Bakken Shale is located in North Dakota, Montana, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan. The USGS estimated in 2013 that this basin has an expected ultimate recovery of 7.4 billion barrels. North Dakota Department of Natural Resources put the break-even point at US$46/bbl (2020). The top formations within the region are the Three Forks and the Spanish formations.
State Drilling Statistics
Total Rigs in North Dakota- 27 (-1)
Total Rigs in United States- 610 (+24)
Total U.S. Rigs 59% YTD
Bakken Top Producer
Top Producer By BOE – Burlington (ConocoPhillips)
Basin Highlights
Evolution Petroleum Enters Williston Basin with Nonop Deal
Texas based Evolution Petroleum signed a $25.9 million contract with Foundation Energy Management LLC for 50% of their non-operated Williston assets. This new deal is a milestone of growth for Evolution who currently operates in Wyoming, Texas, Louisiana and now North Dakota. The additional assets are expected to produce 2.3 million boe, boosting Evolutions net daily production by 10%.
Hess Expects Higher Capital Spending, Production in 2022
Hess Corporation has its sights set on future returns, with an increase of 37% capital budget for production. Their two main areas of focus will be in Guyana and the Bakken, where they plan on spending a total of $2.6 billion on production in 2022, $1.15 million of which is set aside for the Bakken. This increase in spending will result in a forecasted 330,000 and 340,000 BOEpd, not including Libya. Other U.S. operators are also expected to increase spending on production by %13 in 2022, says Cowen & Co.
Illinois court vacates approval of Dakota Access pipeline capacity expansion
The future of the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) is being bounced back and forth between the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) and an Illinois appellate court. The DAPL can currently transport up to 750,000 bpd, however, with the recent expansion approval by the ICC, it could possibly transport over 1 million bpd. The approval was recently shot down by the appellate court and turned back over to the commission, who were chastised for being biased towards the expansion of the pipeline.
Top Producers By BOE
Change | Rank | Company | MMBOE Production (1/22) |
![]() | 1 | Burlington (ConocoPhillips) | 3.0 |
![]() | 2 | XTO Energy | 2.8 |
![]() | 3 | WPX Energy (Devon) | 2.3 |
![]() | 4 | Slawson | 2.2 |
![]() | 5 | EOG | 1.0 |
Rig Count

North Dakota Oil Production

North Dakota Natural Gas

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