Where next for the Bakken?
Producers are making the North Dakota tight oil play an attractive place to drill again, but it will struggle to compete with the Permian
The Bakken, a vast shale formation under the plains of North Dakota where the US tight oil business took off less than a decade ago, has fallen into the shadows of the more productive Permian and Eagle Ford basins. Oil production in the Bakken has stagnated at around 1m barrels a day since mid-2016. Some analysts say output will never get back to its late-2015 peak, when it topped 1.2m b/d. Amid the stalled production and hotter growth prospects elsewhere, investors have fled Bakken-focused drillers. However, there are signs that the Bakken's top producers are starting to make the economics of drilling the play more enticing. Rystad, a consultancy, pegs the wellhead breakeven for top operato
Also in this section
18 February 2026
With Texas LNG approaching financial close, Alaska LNG advancing towards a phased buildout and Magnolia LNG positioned for future optionality, Glenfarne CEO Brendan Duval says the coming year will demonstrate how the company’s more focused, owner-operator approach is reshaping LNG infrastructure development in the North America
18 February 2026
The global gas industry is no longer on the backfoot, hesitantly justifying the value of its product, but has greater confidence in gas remaining a core part of the global energy mix for decades
18 February 2026
With marketable supply unlikely to grow significantly and limited scope for pipeline imports, Brazil is expected to continue relying on LNG to cover supply shortfalls, Ieda Gomes, senior adviser of Brazilian thinktank FGV Energia,
tells Petroleum Economist
17 February 2026
The 25th WPC Energy Congress, taking place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia from 26–30 April 2026, will bring together leaders from the political, industrial, financial and technology sectors under the unifying theme “Pathways to an Energy Future for All”
