The Williston Basin | October 2022

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 the 1936, and by 1954, 80% of possible producing acreage had been leased.

State Drilling Statistics

Active Drilling Rigs in Basin – 42 (+2)
Total Rigs in North Dakota – 38 (-)
Total Rigs in United States- 784 (+15)
Total U.S. Rigs 37% YTD

Williston Top Producer

Top Producer – Continental Resources

Basin Highlights

Judge Refuses to Limit North Dakota’s Federal Lawsuit over DAPL Protest Policing Costs

The Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) that has been moving crude oil from the Bakken to Illinois since 2017 continues to undergo a tremendous amount of protest from Native Americans and environmentalists of other ethnic backgrounds. The state government of North Dakota has made 761 arrests in the last six months alone. The state has contended that federal federal regulatory bodies have allowed for illegal protesting, which has necessitated the expenditure of many tens of millions of dollars from the North Dakota state treasury and North Dakota is attempting to pass those expenses on to the federal government.

Former Whiting Petroleum Office Closing, 104 Denver Jobs Lost in Merger

Chord Energy, the entity that emerged from the recent $6 billion Oasis Petroleum and Whiting Petroleum merger that was completed earlier this year, has announced that they will be closing their long-held Denver office and laying off 104 employees. Many of the Denver employees have been offered jobs at other company locations. Whiting Petroleum had maintained an office in Denver since 1980. The company will maintain its headquarters in Houston, which will be a likely relocation destination for many of the staff now working in Denver

Williston Women Share Experiences, Successes During “Women in Leadership” Expo

The Williston Chamber of Commerce recently held the “Women in Leadership” Expo. The panel included women from a number of industries and professional backgrounds, but oil and gas was among the best-represented industries. Participants expressed that the tradition of oilfield men leaving their families to go and work in North Dakota, transforming Williston into a “boomtown”, has largely dissipated and that the area has become a lot more women- and family-friendly. Dr. Audrey Kalil, a Plant Pathologist at the NDSU Research Extension Center, called upon women to run for more government positions.

Top Producers

Rig Count

North Dakota Oil Production

North Dakota Natural Gas

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