North Dakota is one of the biggest oil-producing states in America. The state pumps about 1.1 million barrels of oil every day. That puts it third in the country, behind Texas and New Mexico. Twenty years ago, North Dakota barely showed up on the national oil map. The shale revolution changed everything.
What Is a Barrel Again?
A barrel of oil equals 42 gallons. That is about the size of a tall kitchen trash can. When people say North Dakota produces 1.1 million barrels per day, they mean more than 46 million gallons of crude oil every single day. That is enough to fill about 70 Olympic swimming pools.
Where Does All This Oil Come From?
Almost all of North Dakota's oil comes from one place: the Williston Basin. This is a large bowl-shaped depression in the earth filled with rock layers that formed hundreds of millions of years ago. The basin covers most of western North Dakota and extends into Montana and Canada. Inside the Williston Basin, the main oil-producing rock layer is called the Bakken Formation.
Before about 2007, drillers knew the Bakken held oil. The problem was the rock was too tight — oil wouldn't flow out on its own. Then companies figured out how to combine horizontal drilling (steering the drill bit sideways through the rock) with hydraulic fracturing (cracking the rock with high-pressure fluid). Those two techniques together unlocked the Bakken. Production exploded.
How Fast Did Production Grow?
In 2005, North Dakota produced about 90,000 barrels per day. By 2014, it had reached 1.2 million barrels per day — a 13-fold increase in nine years. That kind of growth rate was almost unheard of in oil history. The state peaked around 2019 at about 1.5 million barrels per day. Production dipped in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic but has since recovered to around 1.1 million barrels per day.
What Counties Produce the Most Oil?
North Dakota's oil production is concentrated in just a handful of counties in the western part of the state:
- McKenzie County — The top-producing county. Located in the southwest corner of the state. Extremely dense drilling activity in the Bakken and Three Forks formations.
- Mountrail County — One of the first areas to see major Bakken development. Home to the prolific Parshall oil field.
- Williams County — Includes the city of Williston, the main hub of the North Dakota oil industry.
- Dunn County — Active drilling in the core of the Bakken play.
- Divide County — Located in the northwestern corner. Still actively drilled.
Who Tracks All This Data?
The North Dakota Industrial Commission, or NDIC, is the state agency that oversees oil and gas. Its Oil and Gas Division issues permits, collects production reports, and enforces safety rules. Every well drilled in North Dakota has a file in the NDIC's database. Production data is reported monthly by operators and published publicly. You can search well records and production history on the NDIC's website at dmr.nd.gov.
Why Does This Matter for Exploration?
The Bakken's production history is one of the most detailed in the country because the modern drilling boom happened so recently. Well records, formation tops, and completion reports are all digitized and searchable. ScoutTickets.io tracks NDIC data so you can find the best-performing areas and understand what makes a great Bakken well before committing to a prospect.