Mineral rights
in North Dakota.

North Dakota's oil and gas industry is almost entirely the Williston Basin, and almost entirely the Bakken / Three Forks play. What was a minor producer in the 1990s became one of the most prolific oil plays in US history after horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing unlocked the basin's tight shale reservoirs in the mid-2000s.

Activity is concentrated in a handful of western North Dakota counties: McKenzie, Mountrail, Dunn, and Williams. Within those counties, horizontal wells are drilled from multi-well pads targeting the Middle Bakken and Three Forks formations, typically at depths around 10,000 feet.

North Dakota mineral ownership has unique characteristics. Many interests trace to homestead-era land grants, and the state has a high concentration of non-resident mineral owners — people who inherited rights from family who homesteaded but never lived on the land themselves. If that describes your situation, you are not alone.

North Dakota's oil and gas story is effectively a single-basin story. The Williston Basin covers western North Dakota and extends into Montana and Saskatchewan.

The Bakken play is concentrated in a handful of western counties. If your North Dakota mineral rights are in one of these, they have likely been, or are currently being, actively developed.

The Bakken has seen heavy operator consolidation over the past decade. The list below reflects both the largest current operators and legacy names you may still see on older division orders and royalty statements.

North Dakota's regulatory posture has been consistently pro-development throughout the Bakken era. The state regulator is known for relatively fast permitting cycles and a workmanlike approach to pooling and spacing. For mineral owners, this generally means cleaner processes than in more restrictive states.