Largest Oil & Gas Operators in North Dakota 2026 — Top 100 by Wells Operated

Name: Top North Dakota Oil & Gas Operators Leaderboard
Creator: Buckhead Energy
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Operators Ranked

100

Combined Wells

35,703

Recent Permits (24mo)

2,053

Combined DUCs

3,658

#	Operator	Wells	Permits 24mo	DUCs	Producing	Top Formation	Top County
1	Continental Resources	3,575	119	146	2,964	Bakken	Williams
2	Hess Bakken Investments Ii	2,903	252	169	2,517	Bakken	Mountrail
3	Whiting Petroleum CORP	2,548	57	72	2,138	Bakken	Mountrail
4	Devon Energy Williston,LLC	2,344	201	110	2,112	Bakken	Mc Kenzie
5	Oasis Petroleum North America	2,207	158	141	1,832	Bakken	Mc Kenzie
6	Burlington Resources Oil & Gas Company	1,507	122	92	1,135	Bakken	Mc Kenzie
7	Xto Energy	1,394	144	67	1,079	Bakken	Mc Kenzie
8	Enerplus Resources	1,354	114	57	1,093	Bakken	Dunn
9	Marathon Oil Company	1,328	33	60	1,154	Bakken	Dunn
10	Eog Resources	1,307	55	66	829	Bakken	Mountrail
11	Petrohunt	1,241	42	53	997	Bakken	Mc Kenzie
12	Slawson Exploration Company	786	36	34	588	Bakken	Mountrail
13	Amerada Hess	723	0	200	488	Bakken	Williams
14	Cobra Oil & Gas	694	0	46	631	Bakken	Bottineau
15	Formentera Operations LLC	545	77	33	418	Bakken	Divide
16	Neptune Operating LLC	523	3	6	487	Bakken	Williams
17	Denbury Onshore	479	1	24	411	Judith River- Eagle	Bowman
18	Kraken Operating	447	55	18	396	Bakken	Williams
19	Hunt Oil Company	429	79	87	272	Bakken	Mountrail
20	Lime Rock Resources Iiia	398	6	15	350	Bakken	Dunn
21	Scout Energy Management	388	2	16	370	Bakken	Billings
22	Murex Petroleum	349	20	15	302	Bakken	Williams
23	Zavanna Energy Operating, LLC	288	27	27	193	Bakken	Williams
24	White Rock Oil & Gas	288	0	15	271	Bakken	Billings
25	Phoenix Operating Company	273	223	83	106	Williston Basin	Divide
26	Silver Hill Energy Partners	247	57	17	182	Williston Basin	Williams
27	Foundation Energy Management	239	0	5	179	Bakken	Billings
28	Koda Resources Operating LLC	221	132	31	61	Williston Basin	Divide
29	Cardinal Petroleum	184	0	143	35	Bakken	Bottineau
30	Eagle Operating	164	0	46	112	Bakken	Renville
31	Citation Oil & Gas	160	0	12	146	Bakken	Bottineau
32	Empire North Dakota LLC	158	5	15	135	Bakken	Bottineau
33	Texaco Exploration And Production	155	0	9	146	Bakken	Mc Kenzie
34	Bhp Petroleum Company	155	0	70	57	Bakken	Burke
35	Shell Oil Company	147	0	92	18	Bakken	Mc Kenzie
36	Conocophillips Company	146	0	50	66	Bakken	Stark
37	Union Pacific Resources Company	137	0	0	1	Williston Basin	Slope
38	Sogc INC	137	2	5	99	Bakken	Mc Kenzie
39	Morning Star Oil Company	125	0	0	124	Bakken	Dunn
40	Wpx Energy	124	0	3	6	Bakken	Dunn
41	31 Operating	124	0	11	113	Bakken	Bottineau
42	True Oil	122	7	45	51	Bakken	Mc Kenzie
43	Amoco Production Company	118	0	67	14	Bakken	Dunn
44	Chesapeake Energy	118	0	2	13	Williston Basin	Slope
45	Fulcrum Energy Operating LLC	112	0	5	107	Bakken	Bottineau
46	Zenergy	111	0	3	4	Bakken	Mc Kenzie
47	Zargon Oil Nd	111	0	4	107	Bakken	Bottineau
48	Sm Energy Company	111	0	9	87	Bakken	Mc Kenzie
49	Anr Production Company	110	0	7	91	Bakken	Mc Kenzie
50	Texaco	107	0	47	35	Bakken	Mc Kenzie
51	Petroshale US	104	7	0	66	Bakken	Mc Kenzie
52	Calvert Drilling	104	0	99	2	Bakken	Burke
53	Remuda Energy Development	101	0	0	101	Judith River- Eagle	Bowman
54	Gulf Oil	101	0	59	22	Bakken	Mc Kenzie
55	Qep Energy Company	99	0	1	3	Bakken	Mc Kenzie
56	Northern Resources	98	0	61	0	Williston Basin	Steele
57	Koch Industries	97	0	26	53	Bakken	Williams
58	Tenneco Oil Company	95	0	49	8	Bakken	Billings
59	Chevron	95	0	36	57	Bakken	Billings
60	Hess	92	0	8	46	Bakken	Williams
61	Apache	91	0	46	31	Bakken	Billings
62	Pennzoil Production Company	91	0	44	25	Bakken	Mc Kenzie
63	Mcor Oil & Gas	88	0	4	83	Bakken	Burke
64	Crescent Point Energy	87	0	0	4	Bakken	Williams
65	Kissinger Petroleums	86	0	67	6	Bakken	Renville
66	Luff Exploration Company	84	0	21	61	Williston Basin	Bowman
67	Lime Rock Resources V-A,	83	0	0	79	Bakken	Mc Kenzie
68	Inexco Oil Company	82	0	59	8	Bakken	Ward
69	Samson Resources Company	79	0	14	13	Bakken	Divide
70	W H Hunt Trust Estate	78	0	46	27	Bakken	Billings
71	Wardwilliston Company	76	0	8	67	Bakken	Bottineau
72	Armstrong Operating	76	0	49	21	Bakken	Stark
73	Ballantyne Oil	75	0	20	48	Bakken	Bottineau
74	Earl Schwartz Company	73	0	22	46	Bakken	Burke
75	Cardinal Drilling Company	71	0	65	3	Bakken	Bottineau
76	Cornerstone Natural Resources	70	0	1	44	Bakken	Burke
77	D90 Energy	69	0	3	65	Bakken	Burke
78	Sun Explorationproduction Company	68	0	48	6	Bakken	Williams
79	International Energy Company	68	0	65	0	Williston Basin	Slope
80	Oxy	67	0	7	2	Bakken	Dunn
81	Berenergy	66	1	2	63	Bakken	Renville
82	Meridian Oil	66	0	18	23	Bakken	Mc Kenzie
83	Chandler & Associates	65	0	52	10	Bakken	Renville
84	Bta Oil Producers	64	0	14	27	Bakken	Bowman
85	Liberty Resources Management	63	0	5	49	Bakken	Mc Kenzie
86	Ridge Oil & Gas, LLC Dba Ridge Energy	63	0	0	63	Judith River- Eagle	Bowman
87	Spotted Hawk Development LLC	63	16	1	18	Bakken	Mclean
88	Great American Royalties	62	0	27	32	Bakken	Bottineau
89	Farmers Union Central Exchange	62	0	47	8	Bakken	Billings
90	Coastal Oil & Gas	61	0	22	11	Bakken	Billings
91	Prosper Energy	61	0	11	50	Bakken	Burke
92	I J Wilhite	58	0	45	11	Bakken	Bottineau
93	Fidelity Exploration & Production Company	58	0	1	23	Bakken	Bowman
94	Statoil Oil & Gas	57	0	6	3	Bakken	Mc Kenzie
95	Depco	57	0	40	10	Bakken	Williams
96	Westport Oil & Gas Company	56	0	7	25	Bakken	Billings
97	Phoenix Petrocorp	54	0	2	52	Bakken	Burke
98	Rim Operating	54	0	4	50	Bakken	Williams
99	Petroleum	53	0	43	9	Bakken	Renville
100	Tiger Oil Company	51	0	33	2	Bakken	Mc Kenzie

About This Leaderboard

Source: North Dakota Industrial Commission 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 North Dakota — and who's drilling the most NOW — helps mineral owners understand who they're dealing with at the lease level.

Refresh cadence: Monthly. Data current as of 2026-08-01.

Download: CSV · JSON — free to reuse under CC BY 4.0.

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

Citation (plain text)

Buckhead Energy (2026). U.S. Oil & Gas Reference & Drilling-Activity Data: Helium by Field, State Severance Tax & Deduction Rules, and Operator/County Activity (Version 2.0.0) [Data set]. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21442884

BibTeX (machine-readable)

@dataset{buckheadEnergy2026_10528121442884,
  author    = {{Buckhead Energy}},
  title     = {{U.S. Oil & Gas Reference & Drilling-Activity Data: Helium by Field, State Severance Tax & Deduction Rules, and Operator/County Activity}},
  year      = {2026},
  version   = {2.0.0},
  publisher = {Zenodo},
  doi       = {10.5281/zenodo.21442884},
  url       = {https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21442884}
}

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.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is the biggest oil company in North Dakota?

By wells operated, Continental Resources is the largest oil and gas operator in North Dakota, with 3,575 wells on record per North Dakota Industrial Commission (NDIC) data. Note that "biggest" by revenue or market capitalization can rank differently — this measures operated well count.

What are the top 10 oil companies in North Dakota by wells operated?

The top 10 operators by operated well count are: Continental Resources, Hess Bakken Investments Ii, Whiting Petroleum CORP, Devon Energy Williston,LLC, Oasis Petroleum North America, Burlington Resources Oil & Gas Company, Xto Energy, Enerplus Resources, Marathon Oil Company, Eog Resources. The full top-100 ranking with permits, DUC inventory, and producing-well counts is in the leaderboard below.

Who operates the most oil and gas wells in North Dakota?

Continental Resources operates the most wells in North Dakota at 3,575, with 119 permits filed in the last 24 months, per NDIC well-header records.

How many oil and gas operators are ranked here?

This leaderboard ranks the top 100 operators active in North Dakota by total well count. Many more file with the regulator; these are the largest by operated wells.

Is this ranking by revenue or by wells operated?

By wells operated — the count of wells under each company's current operator-of-record designation in North Dakota Industrial Commission (NDIC) records. It is not a revenue, production-volume, or market-capitalization ranking.

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