The Williston Basin | May 2023

Field Overview

The Williston Basin is a large sedimentary basin along the eastern edge of the Rocky Mountains in western North Dakota, eastern Montana, and southern Saskatchewan, Can. The basin is characterized by thick sequences of sediments that underlie an area of about 110,000 square miles, and it is geologically closely related to the Alberta Basin in Canada. The first wells in the Williston were drilled in 1936, and by 1954, 80% of possible producing acreage had been leased.

State Drilling Statistics

Active Drilling Rigs in Basin – 35 (-3)
Total Rigs in North Dakota – 35 (-2)
Total Rigs in the United States- 682 (-32)
Total U.S. Rigs 10.4% YTD

Williston Top Producer

Top Producer – Continental Resources

Basin Highlights

ExxonMobil Sells Williston Assets

XTO Energy, the US onshore subsidiary of ExxonMobil, has agreed to sell its Williston Basin assets to Chord Energy for $375 million, exiting ExxonMobil from the basin. The asset is 62,000 acres, 77% of which is undeveloped. This makes for 123 net two-mile lateral locations. Currently, the asset produces 6,000 boed. Chord is the heir of the Oasis Petroleum and Whiting Petroleum merger after both entities exited bankruptcy, and it has since added other assets to its portfolio, including some acreage previously owned by the now-Permian Pure-Player Diamondback Energy.

Williston Basin Petroleum Conference Returns to Regina

The 30th annual Williston Basin Petroleum Conference took place in Regina, Saskatchewan this year. The conference included the first Saskatchewan Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage Summit ever held as an appendage of the Petroleum Conference. Saskatchewan is the fifth-largest oil and gas producing state/province in North America and provides employment for around 30,000 people. 

NextEra Unit Jumps as Gas Pipeline Sales Mean it Won’t Have to Issue Equity

NextEra was faced with the prospect of having to issue equity to investors who had purchased an interest in a certain portfolio of the company’s assets until a deal was struck to divest its Williston pipeline assets. The proceeds from the sale will be used to settle up with these special interest owners. This asset was the sole fossil fuel-related asset in its renewable energy-focused portfolio. 

Top Producers

Rig Count

North Dakota Oil Production

North Dakota Natural Gas

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PETRO Engineering, PLLC via the following sources unless otherwise
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www.eia.gov
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