Bakken Shale Oil & Gas Production
The Bakken Shale produces about 1.20 million barrels of crude oil a day (2025). Centered on North Dakota and eastern Montana within the Williston Basin, the Bakken was the first shale-oil play to reach large scale, from roughly 2008, pairing the industry with horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing at scale for the first time.
Key Figures
| Measure | Value | As of / source |
|---|---|---|
| Crude oil output (#2 of tracked US basins) | 1.20 Mb/d | 2025 · EIA DPR |
| Active rigs (Williston) | 35 (unchanged wk) | 2026-10-09 · Baker Hughes · 6% of US rigs |
| Well breakeven — Bakken (new well) | $66/bbl | 2025 · Dallas Fed Energy Survey |
| Well breakeven — Bakken (existing well) | $42/bbl | 2025 · Dallas Fed Energy Survey |
| Formation | Bakken and underlying Three Forks formations within the Williston Basin | EIA |
| States | North Dakota (the large majority) and eastern Montana | EIA |
| Historical significance | Its 2008–2015 ramp-up was the first shale play to prove horizontal drilling + fracking could work at large scale | EIA |
Every major US shale basin compared side by side, plus the breakeven-vs-WTI chart, decline curves and water use: how fracking works.
The First Shale Boom
How it started the shale era
- Before the Bakken, the Williston Basin was a mature, slow-declining conventional oil region known since the 1950s.
- Combining long horizontal laterals with multi-stage hydraulic fracturing unlocked oil trapped in the tight Bakken and Three Forks rock, and output surged through the early 2010s.
- North Dakota went from a minor producer to a top-3 US oil state within a few years — the template every later shale basin followed.
Constraints specific to the Bakken
- It is remote from Gulf Coast refineries, so pipeline and rail takeaway capacity matter more here than in Texas basins closer to the coast.
- Natural gas produced alongside Bakken oil has historically been flared at higher rates than other basins, given the distance to gas pipeline infrastructure — a point regulators have pushed operators to reduce.
Major Producers in the Bakken Shale
| Company | Type | Ownership | Ticker |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chevron | Integrated major | Publicly traded; no controlling shareholder. | CVX |
| ConocoPhillips | Integrated major | Publicly traded; no controlling shareholder. | COP |
| ExxonMobil | Integrated major | Publicly traded; no controlling shareholder. | XOM |
| Chord Energy | Independent producer (public) | Publicly traded; no controlling shareholder. | CHRD |
| Devon Energy | Independent producer (public) | Publicly traded; former Devon holders own about 54% and former Coterra holders about 46% of the combined company. | DVN |
| Continental Resources | Private producer | Privately held and controlled by founder Harold Hamm and family after the 2022 take-private; it has no publicly traded common shares (June 2026 Form 10-Q). | — |
Companies with a material producing position in this basin, from the oil company directory (hand-curated from company filings; positions change with deals, so check the latest filing before relying on it). It is not a production ranking.
Bakken Shale FAQ
How many rigs are drilling in the Bakken Shale?
Baker Hughes counted 35 active rigs in Bakken Shale (Williston) in the week of Oct 9, unchanged week on week and 6% of the 603 active US rigs.
Who are the biggest operators in the Bakken Shale?
Companies in this site's directory with material producing positions in the Bakken Shale include Chevron, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil, Chord Energy, Devon Energy, Continental Resources (some hold non-operated interests). Ownership and the other basins each one works are in the producer table above and in the oil company directory.
How much oil does the Bakken Shale produce?
The Bakken Shale produced about 1.20 million barrels of crude oil a day in 2025, ranking #2 among the major US shale basins tracked here (EIA DPR). Williston Basin. The first shale-oil play to reach scale, from about 2008.
Why was the Bakken the first major shale play?
It combined a thick, oil-rich but very tight rock layer with operators willing to pair long horizontal wells with multi-stage hydraulic fracturing at a time when both techniques were still maturing. The results in the mid-to-late 2000s proved shale oil could work at scale and drew capital into the Permian, Eagle Ford and other US basins.