Every active oil and gas formation and play in North Dakota — Bakken, Williston Basin, Judith River- Eagle, and more — ranked by well count, with the top operators and primary counties for each.
Refreshed monthly from NDIC well records. Data current as of 2026-07-28.
As of 2026-07-28, the most-developed North Dakota formation is the Bakken with 35,128 wells on record, across 3 tracked formations, per North Dakota Industrial Commission (NDIC) well records.
Top Operators:
Continental Resources (2,375), Hess Bakken Investments Ii (2,316), Whiting Petroleum CORP (2,312), Oasis Petroleum North America (1,869), Devon Energy Williston,LLC (1,827), Eog Resources (1,225), Xto Energy (1,180), Burlington Resources Oil & Gas Company (1,134), Petrohunt (1,112), Enerplus Resources (1,042)
Primary counties: Mc Kenzie, Williams, Mountrail, Dunn, Bottineau
Top Operators:
Continental Resources (720), Hess Bakken Investments Ii (587), Devon Energy Williston,LLC (517), Oasis Petroleum North America (338), Marathon Oil Company (332), Enerplus Resources (307), Burlington Resources Oil & Gas Company (305), Phoenix Operating Company (260), Whiting Petroleum CORP (236), Xto Energy (214)
Primary counties: Mc Kenzie, Williams, Dunn, Mountrail, Billings
Top Operators:
Continental Resources (480), Denbury Onshore (394), Remuda Energy Development (101), Burlington Resources Oil & Gas Company (68), Ridge Oil & Gas, LLC Dba Ridge Energy (63), Luff Exploration Company (40), Fidelity Exploration & Production Company (25), Bta Oil Producers (24), Shell Oil Company (23), Joseph J C Paine & Associates (18)
Primary counties: Bowman, Slope
Source: North Dakota Industrial Commission (NDIC) well-header records, aggregated by primary play / interpreted formation / basin.
Threshold: Only formations with at least 50 wells are listed (excludes one-off wildcat plays).
Why it matters: Knowing which formation underlies your tract — and which operators are actively drilling that formation — is the foundation of mineral-rights valuation. Stacked-pay plays carry materially different upside than mature single-bench plays.
Refresh cadence: Monthly. Data current as of 2026-07-28.
The geology under your tract drives your valuation. Get a free written offer based on your specific formation and county.
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Sell Your North Dakota Mineral Rights
State: North Dakota
Active formations: 3
Total wells: 43,826
Recent permits: 2,177
Last refresh: 2026-07-28
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