Phoenix Operating LLC — Active Bakken Expander Across Five ND Counties, 59 Wells Authorized, 19 Cases Pending

Docket & Locations

Phoenix operates across five Williston Basin counties: Burke, Divide, McKenzie, Mountrail, and Williams. Active development locations span the Thompson Lake-Bakken and Kittleson Slough-Bakken pools in Burke/Mountrail (case 32588, 5,120-acre unit, 8 wells spudded as of 2026-03-03, 32 prior wells in the area); the Little Muddy-Bakken and Climax-Bakken pools in Williams (case 32586, 5,120-acre unit, 6 wells permitted, 14 prior wells); and a Yellowstone-Bakken field extension in McKenzie (case 32988, progressed to order). Multiple McKenzie cases — Lone Butte/Ranch Creek (33049, 3,200 acres, 4 wells authorized), Butte/West Butte (33045 and 33046, each 1,920 acres, 4 wells authorized), Beicegel Creek (32930, 2,560 acres, 5 wells authorized), and Winter Butte pooling (33019, 1,920 acres, 4 wells authorized) — are continued pending. The September 24 hearing adds five more spacing unit filings across McKenzie and Mountrail, covering pools including Lone Butte/Ranch Creek-Bakken, Cinnamon Creek-Bakken, and Stanley-Bakken, with individual unit sizes of 1,280 to 2,880 acres and 4 wells each.

Portfolio

The total well count stands at 266: 118 active, 129 producing now, and 17 plugged. The authorized pipeline holds 59 wells, with 19 cases pending and 9 of those flagged high-probability. The ramp indicator is 63.3. Work types in play span the full development cycle — drilling rigs, frac crews, frac sand, new-pad dirt and construction, water logistics and trucking — alongside end-of-life work including plugging and abandonment, salvage, and site reclamation, consistent with a portfolio managing both growth and legacy obligations simultaneously.

Recent Orders & Cases

In the week of August 17–21, 2026, Phoenix received eight signed orders. Three SWD/injection authorizations landed on August 21: two Salt Water Disposal orders for Divide County's Daneville Field (orders 35831 and 35830) and a Class II SWD Underground Injection Control order for McKenzie's Ranch Creek Field (order 36030). Three pooling orders were signed August 17 — two for Williams County's Zahl-Bakken Pool (orders 36012 and 36013) and one for Mountrail County's Kittleson Slough-Bakken Pool (order 36019). Also on August 17, a Spacing Unit Modification and Pool Redefinition (order 35180) and a Dismissal without prejudice (order 35179) were both issued for McKenzie County's Charlie Bob-Bakken Pool. On the pending side, 8 cases appear in the active docket, with hearing dates of August 27 and September 24, 2026, spanning Williams, McKenzie, and Divide counties and covering spacing unit, well authorization, and permit revocation case types. The operator's historical win rate across this docket is 83%, with an average case probability of 75.1%.

Hearing locations