Bakken Rig Count Holds at 23, New EOR Push Aims to Unlock Billions of Barrels

The number of active drilling rigs in North Dakota's Bakken formation held steady at 23 on Saturday, May 9, 2026, according to live rig data. No rigs were added, removed, or moved location from the previous day.

The count is unchanged from one week ago and down by one rig from the 24 rigs active a month ago on April 9, 2026.

The static rig count coincides with a major new push to extend the life and output of existing Bakken wells through enhanced oil recovery (EOR). On May 8, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced a $36 million award to advance carbon dioxide–based EOR in the Bakken shale through a program led by the University of North Dakota’s Energy & Environmental Research Center, according to a DOE release.

The Bakken Enhanced Oil Recovery–Cracking the Code (Bakken EOR-CC) effort will combine laboratory research, reservoir modeling, artificial intelligence, and field work to evaluate EOR strategies. The DOE stated the program could potentially unlock billions of additional barrels of incremental oil and extend the life of the state's coal-fired power plants by utilizing their captured CO2 for EOR.

Unconventional formations like the Bakken typically yield only about 10% of oil in place, leaving significant volumes unrecovered. “This program is essential to maximize the full potential of our valuable hydrocarbon resources in the Bakken," said DOE Assistant Secretary for the Hydrocarbons and Geothermal Energy Office Kyle Haustveit.

The initiative represents a broader $157 million push for Bakken oil recovery, as reported by other news sources. The Bakken EOR-CC program will assess multiple injection strategies across six pilot projects, building a technical basis for commercial-scale EOR in the play.

DOE’s $36 million investment, plus $9 million in cost-share from the University of North Dakota and project partners, will fund one of the six pilots. State and private sources are providing about $100 million in funding for the remaining five pilot projects, according to the DOE.

AI and machine-learning tools will be used to analyze performance data from the pilots to identify best practices and accelerate broader deployment. The integrated effort is intended to create a unified technical foundation for wider adoption of EOR technologies across the Bakken and similar unconventional reservoirs.

For operators and royalty owners, the focus on enhanced recovery offers a long-term pathway to increase ultimate recovery from existing wells, potentially offsetting the need for higher drilling activity to maintain production levels. The steady rig count suggests operators are maintaining a measured pace of new development while this significant EOR research initiative gets underway.