North Dakota Drilling Permits
The Bakken and Three Forks formations in the Williston Basin kicked off the US shale revolution. Tight oil requires horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing.
All Time
As of April 4, 2026
Recent Activity
As of April 4, 2026
Year over Year
Top Operators in North Dakota
| Rank | Operator | Permits (30d) | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | BURLINGTON RESOURCES OIL & GAS COMPANY LP | 12 | 27.9% |
| 2 | ENERPLUS RESOURCES USA CORPORATION | 9 | 20.9% |
| 3 | OASIS PETROLEUM NORTH AMERICA LLC | 8 | 18.6% |
| 4 | XTO ENERGY INC | 4 | 9.3% |
| 5 | Phoenix Operating LLC | 4 | 9.3% |
| 6 | HUNT OIL COMPANY | 3 | 7.0% |
| 7 | HESS BAKKEN INVESTMENTS II, LLC | 2 | 4.7% |
| 8 | FORMENTERA OPERATIONS, LLC | 1 | 2.3% |
Find Wells Near You in North Dakota
Search for oil wells, gas wells, and drilling permits near any North Dakota address. Enter a city, ZIP code, or street address to find recent well permit activity in your area.
Major Basins in North Dakota
Williston Basin
View Williston Basin rig count →Bakken Formation
View Bakken Formation rig count →Data Source
Data Coverage
1904-12-23 to 2026-03-25
Update Frequency
Daily updates (business days)
Access This Data via API
Access North Dakota well permit data programmatically. Historical data, trends, and more.
/v1/drilling-intelligence/well-permits?state=NDcurl -X GET "https://api.oilpriceapi.com/v1/drilling-intelligence/well-permits?state=ND"
Sample Response
{
"data": {
"state": "North Dakota",
"state_code": "ND",
"total_permits": 41733,
"last_30_days": 43,
"last_365_days": 808,
"year_over_year_change": "-11.3%",
"top_operators": [
{
"name": "BURLINGTON RESOURCES OIL & GAS COMPANY LP",
"permits": 12,
"pct_share": "27.9%"
},
{
"name": "ENERPLUS RESOURCES USA CORPORATION",
"permits": 9,
"pct_share": "20.9%"
},
{
"name": "OASIS PETROLEUM NORTH AMERICA LLC",
"permits": 8,
"pct_share": "18.6%"
}
]
},
"meta": {
"source": "North Dakota Industrial Commission (NDIC)",
"update_frequency": "daily",
"updated_at": "2026-04-04T02:40:06.842Z"
}
}North Dakota Drilling Permit FAQs
North Dakota has 41,733 total drilling permits tracked in our database, with 43 permits issued in the last 30 days. The North Dakota Industrial Commission (NDIC) updates permit data daily.
North Dakota includes the Williston Basin, Bakken Formation basins. The Bakken and Three Forks formations in the Williston Basin kicked off the US shale revolution. Tight oil requires horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing.
The top operators in North Dakota by permit count are: BURLINGTON RESOURCES OIL & GAS COMPANY LP (27.9%), ENERPLUS RESOURCES USA CORPORATION (20.9%), OASIS PETROLEUM NORTH AMERICA LLC (18.6%).
Official permit data comes from the North Dakota Industrial Commission (NDIC) (https://www.dmr.nd.gov/oilgas/). OilPriceAPI aggregates this data and provides it via API with historical trends and operator analytics.
Weekly Drilling Report
See how North Dakota compares to other states in our weekly permit analysis with interactive map and operator rankings.
This Week in Well Permits →