North Dakota Rig Count Holds at 30, Up 7 from May Start

The number of active drilling rigs in North Dakota's oil fields held steady at 30 on Sunday, May 31, according to live data from Bakken Wire. There were no changes from the previous day, with no new rigs added, removed, or relocated.

The current count represents a significant increase from levels seen earlier this spring. The state's active rig fleet is up four rigs from one week ago, when 26 rigs were active, and is up seven rigs from the start of May, which saw 23 rigs running.

The stability in North Dakota aligns with a broader, sustained increase in U.S. drilling activity. According to a Baker Hughes survey reported by Bing News on May 29, the total number of oil and gas rigs actively drilling across the United States increased by four to 562 last week. This marked the sixth consecutive weekly gain for oil rigs specifically and the fifth straight weekly increase for the overall combined count, pushing it to its highest total in a year.

The national trend suggests operators are responding to stable or favorable market conditions by gradually deploying more capital to drilling programs. For the Bakken formation, a core shale basin, the seven-rig increase over the past month indicates a measured but positive shift in operator sentiment and activity planning following a period of lower rig counts.

Internationally, political and regulatory pressures on drilling are making headlines, though their direct impact on the Williston Basin is limited. Rigzone reported on May 29 that Norway is campaigning for the European Union to withdraw a moratorium on new oil and gas drilling in the Arctic, a region holding a majority of Norway's petroleum resources. In the UK, political party Reform UK has signaled a potential policy shift, with Deputy Leader Richard Tice telling energy giants that his party would prioritize North Sea drilling and cutting energy bills over green energy investments if it wins the next general election, according to a separate Rigzone report.

For North Dakota operators and mineral owners, the steady rig count at a multi-week high provides near-term certainty for service company demand and future production volumes. The rig count is a leading indicator of future oil production, and the current level suggests production should remain stable in the coming months barring any sudden market shifts. Attention will now turn to whether operators can sustain or build upon this activity level through the summer months.