Twelve-month drilling permits, spuds and first production, the DUC-proxy backlog, permit-to-spud cycle times and North Dakota counties ranked by activity momentum. Each figure is a count, percentile or index Buckhead Energy computes from grouped records; no individual well is listed.
Last computed: 2026-11-06
Quick answer: Over the last 12 months North Dakota recorded at least 1,009 drilling permits, 683 spuds and 421 wells reaching first production, by Buckhead Energy’s count; 865 wells sit in the DUC proxy with a median of 230 days since spud. Mountrail County ranks first by activity momentum score (70). Monthly counts under 3 are withheld, so totals are floors.
In the last 12 complete months: at least 1,009 drilling permits, 683 spuds and 421 wells reaching first production. Each total adds published monthly counts, so it is a floor.
865 wells were spudded in the last three years with no first production reported yet. This DUC proxy includes dry holes, injection wells and reporting lag, so it is not a completion queue.
The median permit 6 to 36 months old reached spud in 82 days, and the median spud 12 to 36 months old reached first production in 174 days.
It multiplies the change in a county’s permits by the change in its oil and gas production, comparing the last 12 months with the 12 before, and scales the result so 100 means both held level. It describes activity trends, not value.
Ranked by momentum score: the change in drilling permits times the change in county oil and gas production, last 12 months against the 12 before. 100 means both held level. Counties without enough published data in both windows are not scored.
| County | Momentum | Permits change | Production change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mountrail | 70 | -19% | -13% |
| Williams | 67 | -41% | +13% |
Permit to spud uses permits 6–36 months old; spud to first production uses spuds 12–36 months old. Percentiles resting on fewer than 5 wells show n<5.
| Stage | Wells | 25th pct | Median | 75th pct |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Permit to spud | 1,943 | 49 | 82 | 159 |
| Spud to first production | 1,628 | 133 | 174 | 229 |
Ranked by wells operated on record, not production or value. See the full leaderboard.
| Operator | Wells operated | Top formation |
|---|---|---|
| Continental Resources | 3,599 | Bakken |
| Hess Bakken Investments Ii | 2,909 | Bakken |
| Whiting Petroleum Corp. | 2,553 | Bakken |
| Devon Energy Williston,LLC | 2,360 | Bakken |
| Oasis Petroleum North America | 2,225 | Bakken |
| Burlington Resources Oil & Gas Company | 1,532 | Bakken |
| XTO Energy | 1,409 | Bakken |
| Enerplus Resources | 1,357 | Bakken |
| Marathon Oil Company | 1,328 | Bakken |
| EOG Resources | 1,319 | Bakken |
Ranked by total wells on record in the county summary.
| County | Wells on record |
|---|---|
| Mc Kenzie | 11,021 |
| Williams | 6,990 |
| Mountrail | 5,761 |
| Dunn | 5,261 |
| Bottineau | 2,538 |
| Burke | 2,114 |
| Billings | 1,989 |
| Divide | 1,941 |
| Bowman | 1,579 |
| Renville | 1,507 |
| Formation or play | Wells on record | Operators |
|---|---|---|
| Bakken | 35,128 | 1,290 |
| Williston Basin | 7,551 | 432 |
| Judith River- Eagle | 1,442 | 87 |
Buckhead Energy computes every figure on this page from grouped records in public oil and gas data. The page shows counts, sums, percentiles and indexes only; it does not list individual wells, leases or permits.
Counts under 3 wells and percentiles under 5 wells are withheld; totals are floors.
12-month totals add only the monthly figures that were published, so they are floors, not exact counts.
DUC here is a proxy: a well spudded in the last three years with no first production reported yet. It includes dry holes, injection wells and reporting lag, and does not establish completion status.
Cycle-time cohorts: permit-to-spud uses permits 6–36 months old; spud-to-first-production uses spuds 12–36 months old.
Momentum = 100 × (permits, last 12 months ÷ prior 12 months) × (county oil-and-gas production, last 12 months ÷ prior 12 months). 100 means both held level.
Last computed: 2026-11-06. These figures are informational only and are not a valuation of any mineral or royalty interest.
Statewide activity does not establish anything about a specific tract. Compare these figures with your own lease and statements when considering your mineral rights.
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