as of 2026-06-25

Kraken Operating, LLC — Williams County Bakken Consolidator With Active Spacing Push Across Two Counties

378

Producing now

450

Total wells

Pending cases

Wells authorized

—

Win rate

Producing now378 / 450

Active (status A/AC)366 / 450

Plugged / abandoned11 / 450

Kraken Operating, LLC is a Bakken-focused North Dakota operator running a portfolio of 450 total wells, 366 active and 378 producing as of mid-2026. The company is in the midst of a multi-case spacing unit campaign spanning Williams and McKenzie counties, with 8 pending applications across the Little Muddy, Good Luck, Otter, Squires, Bull Butte, Hebron, Glass Bluff, and Sheep Butte Bakken pools. All cases are at the spacing stage with no permits or spuds yet. Recent signed orders — including spacing amendments, a pool redefinition, commingling authorization, and forced pooling — confirm Kraken is actively reshaping its acreage architecture, particularly in the Little Muddy-Bakken of Williams County.

What stands out

Kraken is running a coordinated 8-case spacing blitz filed nearly simultaneously, yet the ML progression probabilities vary sharply — from 100% on two Little Muddy cases down to 56.2% on case 32921 — signaling that not all of this wave is equally clean, and the 5,120-acre single-well unit in the Little Muddy/Otter-Bakken is the one to watch for a stumble.
The Little Muddy-Bakken in Williams County is clearly Kraken's regulatory home court: 5 of the 8 pending cases touch it, and 4 of the 8 most recent signed orders are Williams County instruments — including two same-day orders (35747 and 35748) that modified spacing and amended pooling in that exact pool on June 9, 2026.
The McKenzie County Glass Bluff case (32920) is the single largest well-authorization ask in the pipeline — 8 wells authorized on a 2,560-acre unit — yet it carries only a 78.2% progression probability against a backdrop of 17 prior wells in that area, and McKenzie already produced a denied spacing amendment (order 35272) as recently as May 2026. McKenzie is clearly the harder jurisdiction for Kraken.
Kraken's commingling authorization (order 35779, signed June 15, 2026) for the Blue Ridge-Bakken pool — a pool that also appears in a multi-pool spacing order (35057) — suggests the operator is building out central tank battery infrastructure in Williams County in parallel with its spacing push, pointing toward a near-term development ramp once permits follow.

Docket & Locations

All 8 active development cases are spacing unit applications, split between Williams County (cases 32821, 32822, 32823, 32824, 32825, 32921) and McKenzie County (cases 32920, 32301). The Williams County cases cluster in Township 158N/157N, Range 101W — the Little Muddy and Good Luck/Otter Bakken pools — plus a Squires-Bakken and a Hebron/Bull Butte-Bakken application further west in Ranges 103W–104W. The McKenzie County Glass Bluff case sits at T.151N., R.103W., while the Sheep Butte field extension (case 32301, first heard November 19, 2025) has progressed to order at T.148N., R.103W. Every case is at stage rank 0 — spacing approved or pending, no permits issued, no wells spudded.

sources: 32821, 32822, 32823, 32824, 32825, 32921, 32920, 32301

Portfolio

Kraken carries 450 total wells in its ND portfolio, of which 366 are active and 378 are producing now. Only 11 wells are plugged. The producing-now count exceeding the active count is a data nuance worth confirming with the operator, but at face value it indicates a large, live production base. No momentum metrics (pending count, high-probability wells, authorized wells, ramp score) are populated in the current data pull, consistent with all pipeline cases sitting at the pre-permit spacing stage.

sources: port-total, port-active, port-plugged, port-producing_now, mom-pending, mom-high_prob, mom-wells_auth, mom-ramp

Recent Orders & Cases

Eight orders have been signed since April 2026. The Little Muddy-Bakken in Williams County dominates: spacing orders 34957 and 35057 were signed April 17, 2026; spacing unit modification and pool redefinition order 35747 and a spacing and pooling amendment order 35748 were both signed June 9, 2026. A commingling authorization for a central tank battery in the Blue Ridge-Bakken pool (order 35779) followed on June 15, 2026. In McKenzie County, two forced pooling orders (35535 and 35536) for the Antelope Creek-Bakken pool were signed May 11, 2026 — and a spacing unit amendment was denied (order 35272, Butte/Bennett Creek-Bakken) on May 12, 2026, the only denial in the recent record. The Sheep Butte field extension (case 32301) has progressed to order status after a first hearing on November 19, 2025, authorizing 4 wells on a 2,560-acre unit in McKenzie County.

sources: ord-35779, ord-35748, ord-35747, ord-35272, ord-35535, ord-35536, ord-34957, ord-35057, 32301

Case-by-Case Probability Snapshot

The two Little Muddy-Bakken cases in T.158N., R.101W. (32821 and 32822) carry 100% ML progression probability each, with a 85% historical win rate; they authorized 4 wells apiece on 2,560-acre and 1,920-acre units respectively. The Squires-Bakken (32825) and Hebron/Bull Butte-Bakken (32824) cases also show 100% and 98% progression probability respectively, each authorizing 3 wells on 2,560-acre units, with an 87% win rate. The Good Luck/Otter-Bakken case (32823) — a large 5,120-acre single-well unit with 9 prior wells — sits at 87.1% probability. The Glass Bluff-Bakken McKenzie case (32920) is at 78.2% for 8 wells on 2,560 acres (17 prior wells). The weakest case is 32921 (Little Muddy/Otter-Bakken, 5,120 acres, 1 well) at 56.2% — the only case where the model is genuinely uncertain despite Kraken's 87% historical win rate.

sources: 32821, 32822, 32823, 32824, 32825, 32920, 32921