Phoenix Operating LLC is a mid-scale North Dakota Bakken operator with 359 total wells, 160 active and 145 producing as of 2026-10-08, spread across Burke, Divide, McKenzie, Mountrail, and Williams counties. The company is in an aggressive regulatory push: 22 cases are pending, requesting 75 wells across upcoming dockets, with a historical win rate of 68% but a portfolio-wide average progression probability of just 36.9% — signaling a large, speculative pipeline rather than a near-term slam dunk. The next two hearing dates (2026-10-21 and 2026-10-22) concentrate the bulk of activity, with 8 high-relevance spacing unit cases on the docket spanning Bakken pools from Hanks/Climax in Williams to Lone Butte and MonDak in McKenzie. Recent signed orders — including two Burg-Bakken spacing units and an SWD authorization in Divide County, plus pooling orders in Williams and Mountrail — confirm the machine is turning, even as the pending docket carries significant continuation risk.
Phoenix has 22 pending cases on the docket as of 2026-10-08, with hearings concentrated on 2026-10-21 and 2026-10-22. Active counties span Burke, Divide, McKenzie, Mountrail, and Williams. The pending cases visible in the bundle are all spacing unit applications. Eight cases are flagged high-relevance in the hearing list, covering pools including Hanks/Climax-Bakken, Ranch Creek-Bakken, Zahl-Bakken, Climax-Bakken, Little Muddy-Bakken, Trailside-Bakken, Lone Butte-Bakken, MonDak-Bakken, Winter Butte/MonDak-Bakken, and Lone Butte/Ranch Creek-Bakken. The momentum ramp score is 49.7.
Phoenix's total well count stands at 359, of which 160 are active and 145 are producing now. An additional 21 wells have been plugged. The operator's work-type footprint spans drilling rigs, frac crews, frac sand, new-pad dirt and construction, and water logistics and trucking — a full-cycle operational profile consistent with ongoing pad development.
Eight orders were signed in the six weeks preceding the as-of date. On 2026-10-05, Phoenix received two Burg-Bakken Pool spacing unit orders (nos. 35162 and 35161) and an SWD authorization (no. 36272), all in Divide County. On 2026-09-29, a pooling order (no. 36018) was signed for Big Meadow-Bakken Pool in Williams County and a pooling application order (no. 36021) for Kittleson Slough-Bakken Pool in Mountrail County. On 2026-09-22, two spacing orders (nos. 35669 and 35670) covering Black Slough and Black Slough-Bakken Pool and one spacing unit application order (no. 35854) for Dimond-Bakken Pool were signed in Burke County. On the pending side, the highest-probability case is 33117 (Hanks/Climax-Bakken, Williams, 87.6% progression probability, 4 requested wells, 2560 acres, 2 continuances). Case 33244 (Ranch Creek-Bakken, McKenzie, 83.3%, 1 requested well, 3840 acres) follows. Cases 33269 and 33270 (both Zahl-Bakken Pool, Williams, 73.9% and 72.7%, 4 requested wells each, 1920 acres each) round out the high-confidence tier. At the other end, case 32588 (Thompson Lake/Kittleson Slough-Bakken, Burke/Mountrail) carries only a 3.5% progression probability after 8 continuances, despite 8 wells already spudded on the ground. Case 32746 (MonDak-Bakken, McKenzie) has been continued 6 times and sits at 26.8%. No names data is present in the bundle.
No convergence data is present in the bundle. Contextually, the simultaneous clustering of spacing, pooling, and SWD orders across Divide, Williams, Burke, and Mountrail counties in a single six-week window — combined with a 22-case pending docket requesting 75 wells — points to an operator in active multi-county build-out mode. The greenfield McKenzie County cases (Lone Butte-Bakken and MonDak-Bakken pools, all with zero prior wells) represent a distinct frontier push layered on top of the more established Burke/Williams/Divide core.
| Case | County | Pool | Precision | Map |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 33117 | Williams | Hanks/Climax-Bakken | legal | 📍 map |
| 33244 | McKenzie | Ranch Creek-Bakken | legal | 📍 map |
| 33269 | Williams | Zahl-Bakken Pool | legal | 📍 map |
| 33270 | Williams | Zahl-Bakken Pool | legal | 📍 map |
| 33243 | McKenzie | Ranch Creek-Bakken | legal | 📍 map |
| 33118 | Williams | Climax-Bakken | legal | 📍 map |
| 33271 | Williams | Little Muddy-Bakken Pool, Zahl-Bakken Pool | legal | 📍 map |
| 33272 | McKenzie | Trailside-Bakken Pool | legal | 📍 map |
| 33242 | McKenzie | Butte-Bakken, Ranch Creek-Bakken | legal | 📍 map |
| 33202 | McKenzie | Lone Butte-Bakken | legal | 📍 map |
| 33115 | McKenzie | Lone Butte-Bakken | legal | 📍 map |
| 33020 | McKenzie | Winter Butte/MonDak-Bakken | legal | 📍 map |