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North Dakota Drilling Activity Report — September 2026

Statewide permits, drilled-but-uncompleted inventory, recent spuds, newly producing wells, and the most active operators and counties — compiled from North Dakota Industrial Commission well-header records and refreshed daily. Free to cite, quote, and embed with attribution.

Data as of · CC BY 4.0

The Month in One Sentence

As of September 17, 2026, North Dakota has 1,091 drilling permits filed over the trailing 24 months, 844 drilled-but-uncompleted (DUC) wells in inventory, 170 wells spudded in the last 90 days, and 99 wells brought onto first production in the last six months, across 42 producing counties — per North Dakota Industrial Commission records compiled by Buckhead Energy.

1,091
Permits · trailing 24 mo
844
DUC wells in inventory
170
Spudded · last 90 days
99
New producers · 6 mo
100
Active operators tracked
42
Producing counties

Most Active Operators

#OperatorWellsPermits 24moDUCs
1 Continental Resources 3,580 116 137
2 Hess Bakken Investments Ii 2,903 235 178
3 Whiting Petroleum CORP 2,548 54 71
4 Devon Energy Williston,LLC 2,344 183 119
5 Oasis Petroleum North America 2,212 150 131

Full top-100 operator leaderboard →

Hottest Counties

#CountyRecent PermitsDUCsProducing Wells
1 Mc Kenzie 508 1,008
2 Williams 559 795
3 Mountrail 320 466
4 Dunn 268 391
5 Bottineau 7 1,099

All North Dakota counties →

Methodology & Downloads

Compiled from North Dakota Industrial Commission (NDIC) well-header and production filings: permits over a trailing 24-month window, current DUC inventory (spudded, no reported first production), spuds in the last 90 days, and wells with first production within six months. Refreshed daily; every figure carries the as-of date above.

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Thinking of Selling North Dakota Minerals?

Wondering whether to sell now? See Is now a good time to sell mineral rights in North Dakota? — it ties this drilling data to the factors that decide timing, then routes to a free written offer.

Cite this report (CC BY 4.0): Buckhead Energy, "North Dakota Drilling Activity Report — September 2026," compiled from North Dakota Industrial Commission records, September 17, 2026. https://www.buckheadenergy.com/north-dakota-drilling-activity-report

Journalists and researchers: monthly figures, county-level breakdowns, and CSV extracts are available on request — [email protected].