The largest oil and gas operators active in Montana — ranked by total well count, with recent drilling activity, DUC inventory, and producing-well counts for each. Click any operator to see their full profile and current permits.
Refreshed daily from BOGC well-header records. Data current as of 2026-09-06.
Quick answer: By wells operated, Ridge Oil & Gas is the largest oil and gas operator in Montana with 2,769 wells on record, followed by Fidelity Exploration & Production Company (1,610) and Northwestern (1,601). Ranked from Montana Board of Oil & Gas Conservation (BOGC) well-header records (as of 2026-09-06). This is an operated-well-count ranking, not a revenue or market-cap ranking.
As of 2026-09-06, the most active operator in Montana is Ridge Oil & Gas with 2,769 wells on record, across the top 100 ranked operators, per Montana Board of Oil & Gas Conservation (BOGC) records.
| # | Operator | Wells | Permits 24mo | DUCs | Producing | Top Formation | Top County |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ridge Oil & Gas | 2,769 | 0 | 11 | 2,758 | Bowdoin-Greenhorn | Phillips |
| 2 | Fidelity Exploration & Production Company | 1,610 | 0 | 65 | 1,165 | Powder River Basin | Big Horn |
| 3 | Northwestern | 1,601 | 3 | 160 | 1,422 | Niobrara Fm | Blaine |
| 4 | Mmgl Mt I, LLC | 1,121 | 0 | 185 | 932 | Judith River- Eagle | Fallon |
| 5 | Somont Oil Company | 1,006 | 0 | 119 | 848 | Sweetgrass Arch | Toole |
| 6 | New Horizon Resources | 933 | 0 | 326 | 602 | Sweetgrass Arch | Glacier |
| 7 | Mcr | 581 | 0 | 122 | 445 | Sweetgrass Arch | Toole |
| 8 | Denbury Onshore | 538 | 0 | 203 | 311 | Powder River Basin | Powder River |
| 9 | Montana Power Company | 517 | 0 | 371 | 50 | Sweetgrass Arch | Toole |
| 10 | Brown J Burns Operating Company | 516 | 0 | 373 | 88 | Niobrara Fm | Blaine |
| 11 | Morning Star Oil Company | 496 | 15 | 12 | 481 | Bakken | Richland |
| 12 | Continental Resources | 494 | 28 | 37 | 372 | Bakken | Richland |
| 13 | Texaco Exploration And Production | 486 | 0 | 328 | 14 | Sweetgrass Arch | Toole |
| 14 | Montalban Oil Etal | 434 | 0 | 41 | 374 | Sweetgrass Arch | Glacier |
| 15 | A B Energy | 380 | 0 | 6 | 374 | Sweetgrass Arch | Toole |
| 16 | True Oil | 374 | 0 | 202 | 42 | Central Montana Uplift | Musselshell |
| 17 | Shell Oil Company | 366 | 0 | 243 | 14 | Judith River- Eagle | Fallon |
| 18 | Ocean Energy | 327 | 0 | 199 | 54 | Niobrara Fm | Hill |
| 19 | Devon Energy Production Company | 318 | 0 | 134 | 79 | Niobrara Fm | Hill |
| 20 | Kraken Operating | 287 | 74 | 30 | 227 | Williston Basin | Richland |
| 21 | Keesun | 285 | 0 | 76 | 194 | Sweetgrass Arch | Toole |
| 22 | Fx Drilling Company | 280 | 0 | 100 | 164 | Sweetgrass Arch | Glacier |
| 23 | Cardinal Petroleum | 272 | 0 | 188 | 0 | Sweetgrass Arch | Toole |
| 24 | Klabzuba Oil & Gas | 271 | 0 | 140 | 106 | Niobrara Fm | Hill |
| 25 | Summit Gas Resources | 243 | 0 | 34 | 164 | Powder River Basin | Big Horn |
| 26 | White Rock Oil & Gas | 240 | 14 | 15 | 224 | Bakken | Richland |
| 27 | Balko | 220 | 0 | 30 | 189 | Sweetgrass Arch | Pondera |
| 28 | Norfolk Energy | 219 | 0 | 203 | 2 | Niobrara Fm | Blaine |
| 29 | Conocophillips Company | 217 | 0 | 106 | 9 | Heath Fm | Rosebud |
| 30 | H&R Energy | 215 | 0 | 14 | 201 | Sweetgrass Arch | Toole |
| 31 | Union Oil Company Of California | 211 | 0 | 151 | 21 | Sweetgrass Arch | Glacier |
| 32 | Phillips Petroleum Company | 205 | 0 | 146 | 5 | Sweetgrass Arch | Glacier |
| 33 | Wbi Energy Transmission | 203 | 0 | 121 | 6 | Judith River- Eagle | Fallon |
| 34 | Equitable Resources Exploration | 189 | 0 | 119 | 22 | Sweetgrass Arch | Pondera |
| 35 | Burlington Resources Oil & Gas Company | 187 | 0 | 76 | 35 | Judith River- Eagle | Fallon |
| 36 | Encore Operating | 185 | 0 | 81 | 39 | Judith River- Eagle | Fallon |
| 37 | Ranck Oil Company | 184 | 0 | 23 | 153 | Sweetgrass Arch | Toole |
| 38 | Western Natural Gas Company | 179 | 0 | 64 | 97 | Sweetgrass Arch | Toole |
| 39 | Powder River Gas | 165 | 0 | 11 | 0 | Powder River Basin | Powder River |
| 40 | High Crest Oils | 162 | 0 | 155 | 1 | Niobrara Fm | Hill |
| 41 | Citation Oil & Gas | 160 | 0 | 33 | 122 | Niobrara Fm | Blaine |
| 42 | Quicksilver Resources | 154 | 0 | 86 | 63 | Sweetgrass Arch | Glacier |
| 43 | Sohio Petroleum Company | 152 | 0 | 99 | 0 | Sweetgrass Arch | Chouteau |
| 44 | Fulton Producing Company | 151 | 0 | 114 | 2 | Sweetgrass Arch | Toole |
| 45 | Slawson Exploration Company | 148 | 12 | 21 | 63 | Bakken | Richland |
| 46 | Oasis Petroleum North America | 147 | 11 | 14 | 100 | Bakken | Roosevelt |
| 47 | Amerada Hess | 145 | 0 | 69 | 1 | Central Montana Uplift | Musselshell |
| 48 | D90 Energy | 145 | 0 | 26 | 119 | Bakken | Sheridan |
| 49 | Fuel Resources Development Company | 145 | 0 | 124 | 1 | Central Montana Uplift | Blaine |
| 50 | Whiting Petroleum CORP | 139 | 7 | 6 | 85 | Bakken | Richland |
| 51 | Mcalester Fuel Company | 137 | 0 | 52 | 0 | Heath Fm | Musselshell |
| 52 | Mont Mil Operating Company | 133 | 0 | 120 | 10 | Sweetgrass Arch | Pondera |
| 53 | Omimex Canada | 132 | 0 | 67 | 33 | Sweetgrass Arch | Blaine |
| 54 | K2 America | 126 | 0 | 52 | 25 | Sweetgrass Arch | Glacier |
| 55 | Mondak Utilities Company & Fidelity Gas Company | 126 | 0 | 72 | 0 | Judith River- Eagle | Fallon |
| 56 | Texas Pacific Oil Company | 125 | 0 | 42 | 0 | Sweetgrass Arch | Toole |
| 57 | Cenex | 124 | 0 | 51 | 24 | Central Montana Uplift | Petroleum |
| 58 | Cline Production Company | 121 | 0 | 28 | 90 | Heath Fm | Rosebud |
| 59 | Williston Basin Interstate Pipeline Company | 121 | 0 | 56 | 48 | Judith River- Eagle | Fallon |
| 60 | Bacon J R Drilling | 120 | 0 | 48 | 2 | Sweetgrass Arch | Toole |
| 61 | Highline Exploration | 116 | 0 | 17 | 88 | Powder River Basin | Big Horn |
| 62 | Carter Oil Company | 116 | 0 | 80 | 1 | Sweetgrass Arch | Glacier |
| 63 | Amoco Production Company | 116 | 0 | 74 | 10 | Big Horn Basin | Carbon |
| 64 | Ohio Oil Company | 116 | 0 | 59 | 0 | Sweetgrass Arch | Toole |
| 65 | Midlands Energy CO | 112 | 0 | 74 | 2 | Bowdoin-Greenhorn | Phillips |
| 66 | Cavalier Petroleum | 111 | 0 | 28 | 80 | Sweetgrass Arch | Toole |
| 67 | Gulf Oil | 110 | 0 | 75 | 0 | Williston Basin | Blaine |
| 68 | Elenburg Exploration | 110 | 0 | 101 | 0 | Sweetgrass Arch | Chouteau |
| 69 | Exxon Mobil | 109 | 0 | 69 | 36 | Williston Basin | Valley |
| 70 | Cut Bank Resources | 106 | 0 | 54 | 37 | Sweetgrass Arch | Glacier |
| 71 | Atlantic Richfield Company | 105 | 0 | 62 | 0 | Williston Basin | Valley |
| 72 | Lone Wolf Operating Company | 104 | 0 | 14 | 88 | Niobrara Fm | Blaine |
| 73 | Poplar Resources LLC | 103 | 0 | 21 | 79 | Bakken | Roosevelt |
| 74 | Kipling Energy Incorporated | 102 | 0 | 33 | 55 | Sweetgrass Arch | Toole |
| 75 | Encana Oil & Gas | 102 | 0 | 26 | 14 | Niobrara Fm | Blaine |
| 76 | California Company | 101 | 0 | 53 | 0 | Sweetgrass Arch | Toole |
| 77 | Croft Petroleum Company | 99 | 0 | 62 | 17 | Sweetgrass Arch | Toole |
| 78 | Beartooth Oil & Gas Company | 99 | 0 | 41 | 54 | Heath Fm | Musselshell |
| 79 | Murphy Exploration & Production Company | 98 | 0 | 79 | 10 | Bakken | Roosevelt |
| 80 | Sands Oil Company | 98 | 0 | 26 | 56 | Sweetgrass Arch | Toole |
| 81 | Tomahawk Oil Company | 98 | 0 | 27 | 68 | Heath Fm | Rosebud |
| 82 | Comanche Drilling Company | 95 | 0 | 59 | 16 | Sweetgrass Arch | Toole |
| 83 | Contango Resources Company | 93 | 0 | 6 | 87 | Big Horn Basin | Carbon |
| 84 | Sumatra Oil | 93 | 0 | 60 | 0 | Sweetgrass Arch | Toole |
| 85 | Kingsherwood Oil | 93 | 0 | 20 | 68 | Sweetgrass Arch | Toole |
| 86 | Provident Energy Of Montana | 93 | 0 | 15 | 77 | Sweetgrass Arch | Pondera |
| 87 | Hawley Oil Company | 92 | 0 | 12 | 72 | Sweetgrass Arch | Pondera |
| 88 | Redstone Gas Partners | 91 | 0 | 12 | 0 | Powder River Basin | Big Horn |
| 89 | Ep Energy E And P Company | 91 | 0 | 75 | 3 | Sweetgrass Arch | Hill |
| 90 | Placid Oil Company | 89 | 0 | 77 | 1 | Powder River Basin | Carter |
| 91 | Davis Oil Company | 89 | 0 | 74 | 0 | Powder River Basin | Powder River |
| 92 | Ang Holding USA CORP | 88 | 0 | 34 | 53 | Central Montana Uplift | Blaine |
| 93 | Tarrant R C | 87 | 0 | 59 | 0 | Sweetgrass Arch | Glacier |
| 94 | Mogo Reagan LLC | 87 | 0 | 4 | 83 | Sweetgrass Arch | Glacier |
| 95 | Farmers Union Central Exchange | 87 | 0 | 42 | 0 | Heath Fm | Sheridan |
| 96 | Montana Energy Company LLC | 86 | 0 | 20 | 66 | Central Montana Uplift | Rosebud |
| 97 | Petrohunt | 85 | 0 | 21 | 52 | Bakken | Richland |
| 98 | Pan American Petroleum | 81 | 0 | 54 | 0 | Sweetgrass Arch | Hill |
| 99 | Luff Exploration Company | 79 | 0 | 42 | 22 | Bakken | Richland |
| 100 | Noble Energy | 79 | 0 | 6 | 40 | Bowdoin-Greenhorn | Phillips |
Source: Montana Board of Oil & Gas Conservation well-header records.
Ranking: Operators ranked by total well count under their current operator-of-record. Recent permits cover the last 24 months; DUC count is wells spudded but not yet producing; producing-well count is wells with a first-production date on file.
Why it matters: Knowing who operates the most wells in Montana — and who's drilling the most NOW — helps mineral owners understand who they're dealing with at the lease level.
Refresh cadence: Daily. Data current as of 2026-09-06.
Cite this dataset
Permanently archived and citable via a DOI on Zenodo (CERN), under a CC BY 4.0 license. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.21442884 · View on Zenodo
License & attribution: This data is licensed CC BY 4.0. You are free to share and adapt it, including commercially, provided you credit “Buckhead Energy” and link back to this page or the DOI above.
By wells operated, Ridge Oil & Gas is the largest oil and gas operator in Montana, with 2,769 wells on record per Montana Board of Oil & Gas Conservation (BOGC) data. Note that "biggest" by revenue or market capitalization can rank differently — this measures operated well count.
The top 10 operators by operated well count are: Ridge Oil & Gas, Fidelity Exploration & Production Company, Northwestern, Mmgl Mt I, LLC, Somont Oil Company, New Horizon Resources, McR, Denbury Onshore, Montana Power Company, Brown J Burns Operating Company. The full top-100 ranking with permits, DUC inventory, and producing-well counts is in the leaderboard below.
Ridge Oil & Gas operates the most wells in Montana at 2,769, per BOGC well-header records.
This leaderboard ranks the top 100 operators active in Montana by total well count. Many more file with the regulator; these are the largest by operated wells.
By wells operated — the count of wells under each company's current operator-of-record designation in Montana Board of Oil & Gas Conservation (BOGC) records. It is not a revenue, production-volume, or market-capitalization ranking.
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State: Montana
Operators ranked: 100
Total wells: 26,146
Permits (24mo): 164
Last refresh: 2026-09-06
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