Slawson Exploration Company, Inc. is a seasoned Bakken operator running a 794-well portfolio with 542 wells producing and 424 classified as active, concentrated in McKenzie and Mountrail counties. The company carries an 85% historical win rate on regulatory cases and is pressing forward on multiple fronts simultaneously: a continued spacing-unit case in McKenzie (Trailside-Bakken, 4 wells, 1,920 acres), two fresh spacing/pooling applications in Mountrail's Kittleson Slough-Bakken, and two pooling orders already signed in August 2026 — all pointing to a deliberate, multi-county expansion cadence rather than opportunistic one-off filings.
Slawson's active regulatory footprint spans McKenzie and Mountrail counties. The sole pending case as of the dossier date is case 33032 — a spacing-unit application for the Trailside-Bakken pool covering Sections 25 and 36 of T.147N., R.100W. and Section 1 of T.146N., R.100W. in McKenzie County. It requests a 1,920-acre spacing unit authorizing 4 wells. The case was first heard 2026-07-30, continued, and is next scheduled for 2026-08-27. ML progression probability is 100%, against a historical operator win rate of 85%. In Mountrail County, case 33033 (Kittleson Slough-Bakken, 2,560 acres, 7 wells authorized, T.157N., R.91W.) and two pooling cases — 33053 (Sections 16 and 21) and 33054 (Sections 13, 14, and 15) — were heard 2026-07-30 with progression probabilities of 99.8% and 99.7% respectively. Neither Mountrail case appears in the current pending queue, suggesting they have already progressed.
Slawson operates 794 total wells, of which 424 are classified active and 542 are producing now. Twenty-eight wells have been plugged. The producing-now count exceeding the active count is the most notable portfolio signal: it implies a subset of wells generating production sits outside the active classification, pointing to possible shut-in inventory, wells awaiting workover, or a definitional overlap between statuses. Work types on file span the full development cycle — drilling rigs, frac crews, frac sand, new-pad dirt and construction, and water logistics and trucking — consistent with an operator running simultaneous pad development rather than maintenance-mode operations.
Two pooling orders were signed on 2026-08-17 — Order 36003 and Order 36004 — both covering the Kittleson Slough-Bakken Pool in Mountrail County. These are the most recent regulatory outputs on record and align directly with the pending Mountrail spacing and pooling applications filed around the same period, reinforcing the interpretation that Slawson is executing a coordinated development sequence in that pool. The McKenzie spacing case (33032) remains the only open pending item.
Three signals converge on a near-term Mountrail Kittleson Slough-Bakken development campaign: the two freshly signed pooling orders, the high-probability 7-well spacing application (case 33033), and the prior-well count of 28 on that spacing unit — indicating this is established acreage being densified, not a greenfield bet. In McKenzie, the Trailside-Bakken spacing case (33032) has 2 prior wells and a non-greenfield designation, similarly pointing to infill rather than exploration. Across both counties, Slawson's work-type profile — frac crews, frac sand, pad construction — signals the company is positioned to move quickly from regulatory approval to spud.
| Case | County | Pool | Precision | Map |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 33032 | McKenzie | Trailside-Bakken | legal | 📍 map |