Well paths & colors
Survey stations and well attributes come from the North Dakota Department of Mineral Resources GIS downloads. Prepared survey tiles support a statewide overview and detailed inspection without loading every station at once. A well may contain multiple mapped branches; branches are not counted as separate physical wells.
Section colors classify the geometry into vertical, curve, lateral, and other path segments. A pronounced sideways departure in an upper, mostly vertical section can be marked as a drillback candidate. These are geometric classifications, not verified drilling-event or completion records.
| Azimuth & inclination | Path direction and departure from vertical. |
|---|---|
| DLS & curvature | Changes in direction between survey stations. Curvature expresses the same underlying bend in different units. |
| Local tortuosity | Path length relative to its chord over a centered, up-to-1,000-ft measured-depth window. An intentional curve can increase this measure. |
| Operator | The operator reported in the GIS snapshot. Display groups simplify the legend; they do not establish ownership or the operator at a past production date. |
Section-specific color scaling gives the vertical, curve, and lateral their own ranges. A color then shows variation within that section; the same color in two sections need not represent the same numerical value. Use the legend and displayed limits when comparing wells.
Historical production
Monthly oil/condensate volumes were prepared from supplied historical exports identified as DMR production reports. The available series covers January 2000–December 2024, with a separate limited December 1952–December 1955 series. It is a dated snapshot, with no supplied 1956–1999 or 2025–2026 coverage.
Playback scales lateral display width to the selected production view. A reported zero remains different from an unavailable report. Missing months are not interpolated. The geometry remains the October 2026 mapped survey throughout playback, because the source does not establish when each branch was drilled or completed.
For a selected DSU group, each matching permit/API well contributes once across its branches. The chart uses whole-well reported volumes, not a share allocated by the length inside a boundary. Coverage indicators identify partial reporting.
Overlapping groups are not additive. The same well can intersect several DSUs. Adding their production totals would count that well more than once.
Spacing footprints & approximate depth
DSUs retain the published footprint polygons, including irregular shapes and overlapping records. Nested bands, inward display offsets, and optional vertical separation make overlapping units easier to inspect. Those symbols do not change the source footprint or represent regulatory setbacks.
The GIS footprint has no legal top or bottom depth. The 3D boxes use approximate Lodgepole–Three Forks display intervals from available formation controls and explicit fallback estimates. Depths follow the viewer’s provisional KB/per-well relative-TVD convention, without a common reference-elevation correction. They are orientation aids, not fitted formation surfaces or order-defined vertical limits.
Well association is calculated from positive-length intersections of classified lateral segments with the original DSU polygons. The default 660-ft overlap threshold can be changed. It is an inspection filter, not a legal assignment, ownership rule, drainage assumption, or verified bench match.
Legal spacing depends on the applicable commission orders and their terms. The state’s spacing-unit explanation provides the regulatory context.
Mapped footage & scenario capacity
The footage view measures mapped classified lateral plan footage: projected horizontal path length, not measured-depth footage or verified completed footage. Lengths and areas are calculated in EPSG:5070. Exact shared or retraced XY linework is unioned within each permit/API10 well; different wells remain separate. Unsupported intervals, including measured-depth gaps over 1,000 ft, are excluded rather than bridged.
Each DSU is clipped and measured independently. Township reporting instead clips each well once to township land inside the union of published DSUs reported as Bakken. That mask describes the supplied spacing coverage; it is not a geological prospective-area determination. Source township gaps, overlaps, and small boundary fragments are retained and audited.
Scenario capacity = eligible acres × selected feet per acre
Scenario development = mapped lateral feet ÷ capacity
Scenario remaining feet = max(capacity − mapped lateral feet, 0)
The signed balance and excess footage remain separate. A development ratio can exceed 100%; it does not mean more than 100% of the oil has been recovered.The initial comparison densities are 49.5, 66, and 82.5 ft/acre. The middle case is eight two-mile equivalents per 1,280 acres; the outer cases are ±25%. These are illustrative inputs, not calibrated optimal spacing, confidence bounds, or recommended development plans. Targets and completion status remain unverified, so the current footage combines mapped targets.
“Remaining feet” is a scenario residual. It does not identify feasible trajectories or a count of wells left to drill, and it does not estimate reserves, EUR, economics, or reservoir depletion. Setbacks, target quality, interference, completed intervals, rights, and operating constraints need separate evidence.
The historical inventory comparison
Optional saved Bakken Forward inventory colors are a separate September 12, 2026 screening model based on September 7 GIS. Only supported exact matches are displayed; review and unmatched records remain unavailable. That model has not been recalculated for the October snapshot and is under methodological review. Its saved remaining-well values are not validated drillable-location counts.
Reading the results
- Gray means unavailable or unsupported in the selected scale—not zero production, no development, or no potential.
- A missing mapped path is not evidence of an undrilled area. Survey coverage, branch history, completion status, and target assignments are incomplete.
- Depth exaggeration and display widths are visual tools. They do not change measured TVD or depict physical bore diameter.
- Published DSUs overlap. Their areas, independent footage measurements, scenario residuals, and group production cannot be summed as exclusive allocations.
- This is an independent visualization project. Consult original state records and applicable orders for authoritative source information.
Sources & further reading
- ND DMR GIS data downloads ↗Horizontal surveys, well attributes, drilling spacing units, and PLSS reference layers. The agency notes that information may be inaccurate or out of date and does not warrant its accuracy or reliability.
- ND DMR well permitting & spacing ↗Context for spacing orders, vertical limits, and overlapping units.
- NDGS Report of Investigation 135 ↗Local Bakken/Three Forks development and reservoir context. Local study results do not establish a universal statewide spacing density.
- Viewer source code ↗Preparation tools, implementation notes, and tests for the underlying viewer. Source code and third-party datasets have separate provenance.
The state outline and selected city reference points use U.S. Census Bureau TIGERweb, January 1, 2026 vintage. They orient the view; the state outline is not the Bakken’s geological extent.
Explore the viewer ↗