Pipeline Insights

North Dakota Regulatory Intelligence
Hearing Pipeline
Regulatory Intelligence
Well Activity
Intelligence Coverage
How to Use This
Top Operators by Oil Production MBbl = thousands of barrels. Signal Wells = wells with extracted permit intelligence.
# Operator Oil (MBbl) Gas (MMcf) Producing Wells Signal Wells
The production table shows which operators have wellfile ML intelligence — extracted permit data and Haiku summaries for individual wells. The casefile table shows which of those operators also have active regulatory cases in the NDIC docket pipeline, connecting upstream filings to production activity.
Casefile Intelligence Coverage NDIC regulatory docket — Spacing, Pooling, Enhanced Recovery cases (non-dismissed).
Reading these signals

Spacing New well pattern approved — operator is locking in acreage ahead of a drilling program. Typically leads to a pad of 2–6 wells within 6–18 months.
Pooling Mineral rights consolidated across multiple owners — regulatory prerequisite before spud. Well spud likely within 3–12 months of order.
Enhanced Recovery Secondary/tertiary injection program approved — signals field expansion or pressure maintenance on existing production.
Pending Case not yet decided — hearing is scheduled. Imminent decision. Highest urgency.
Next Hearing — the most recent upcoming (or most recently passed) NDIC hearing date for any pending case by this operator. A hearing date in the past means the case was recently heard and an order is likely imminent.
Coverage — Both means this operator also has individual well permit files (wellfile intelligence) in our signal database — you can see their specific wells under Well Activity. Casefile only means we have regulatory case data but no processed wellfile permits yet for this operator.

OperatorRegulatory CasesPending SpacingPoolingER Next HearingCoverage
Operator Disagreements — Classified by Type
Well Type Claude (Cortex) Grok Haiku
Not all disagreements are equal

The raw count overstates the signal. Disagreements fall into three types — only one is actionable.


Acquisition Different companies — the document names the original filer; the acquiring company now operates the well. Worth investigating.
Acquisition Examples: Devon / Grayson Mill (2024), Chord / Whiting (2022), ExxonMobil / XTO (2010)


Formatting Same company, different punctuation — LLC vs L.L.C., all-caps OCR vs title case. Not meaningful.


Name variant One model abbreviated — Claude returned "KODA Resources" while Grok returned "KODA Resources Operating, LLC." Same entity, Claude just truncated. Not meaningful.

Bottom line
  • Only Acquisition rows warrant a closer look
  • If Grok + Haiku agree and Claude differs, Claude likely applied current-entity knowledge
  • Formatting and name variant rows are model noise, not data errors
Avg Sentiment by Document Category
Document Category Mix
Regulatory Documents
Most Contentious (negative sentiment — penalties, contested hearings)

Most Routine / Positive (positive sentiment — routine approvals, standard orders)

Documents with scores between −0.2 and 0 (neutral or mixed tone) are not shown in either section.

Well Activity — Sorted by Last Seen
WellOperatorCountyHazard Signals Flags Last Seen
Regulatory Signal Search
📄 Showing pre-computed example results. Live search connecting…
NDIC wellfiles, orders, and case filings analyzed daily for operational signals. Search by operator, activity, or topic — e.g. "Hess pooling order" or "Devon completion Williams County."
Filings indexed and analyzed daily.
Docket filings are the earliest upstream signal in the regulatory pipeline — a spacing application appears here 4–8 weeks before the NDIC hearing, and months before a signed order authorizes drilling. All counts below are bucketed by when each case first appeared on a docket, so continued cases are not double-counted as recent activity.
New Filings — Last 90 Days Operators with high-relevance spacing applications, bucketed by first docket appearance
Active Counties
Upcoming & Active Spacing Cases — First Filed Last 60 Days Includes scheduled and active continued cases — earliest available signal before a signed order
Three Forks Average Depth by County — Williston Basin (32K wells)

🟢 Green = shallower (<9,000 ft) — cheaper to drill  |  🟡 Yellow = mid-depth (9,000–10,000 ft)  |  🔴 Red = deep (>10,000 ft, Bakken core) — highest cost, highest production potential

⚙️ How the data is produced
Source
NDIC (North Dakota Industrial Commission) public filings — well permits, commission orders, and case files. New filings are pulled and indexed daily.
Signal extraction
Each filing is analyzed by three AI models — Grok (initial extraction), Haiku (wellfile intelligence), and Snowflake Cortex (regulatory docs) — to identify operational signals: operator, formation, county, permit type, contractor mentions, H₂S flags, disposal approvals, and regulatory outcomes. Signals are cross-validated across models for accuracy.
Summaries
Well permit files (wellfiles) are summarized by Haiku — a concise 2–3 sentence description of permit conditions, flags, and operational context. Regulatory docs (commission orders, case filings) are summarized by Snowflake Cortex. You don't need to open the source PDF to understand the result.
Tone classification
Each filing's language is scored from −1.0 (adversarial — penalties, contested hearings) to +1.0 (routine approvals). Filings are also classified by type: pooling order, spacing exception, penalty, setback variance, and others.
What this tool does

NDIC wellfiles, commission orders, and case filings are automatically analyzed daily to surface operational signals. Use it to find out what operators are filing, what regulators are approving, which contractors are named, and where activity is concentrated — without reading individual PDFs.

🔍 Regulatory Signals — how to search
Search by operator name
Enter an operator name to see all recent filings associated with that company — permits, orders, and case outcomes.
"Hess" returns pooling orders, completion permits, and any regulatory actions involving Hess Corporation in North Dakota.
Search by activity type
Use operational terms to find filings by what's happening — not just who filed them.
"disposal well approval" returns filings where an injection or disposal well was approved. "stimulation plan" returns completion-stage permits. "fracking contractor" returns filings that name specific service companies.
Search by regulatory topic
Find filings by the regulatory issue involved — useful for tracking enforcement patterns or spotting operators with compliance problems.
"pooling order Mountrail" narrows to mineral pooling cases in that county. "penalty" or "violation" surfaces enforcement actions. "spacing exception" finds wells requesting non-standard unit configurations.
Reading a result card
Each result shows the filing type, operator, county, and an auto-generated summary of what the filing covers. Click the filename link to open the original NDIC document.
The summary tells you the outcome in 2–3 sentences. You don't need to open the PDF unless you need the detail — use the summary to decide if it's worth your time.
📋 Regulatory Intelligence — what you're seeing
Tone score (contentious vs routine)
Each filing is scored on language tone from −1.0 (adversarial) to +1.0 (routine approval). Negative scores flag contested hearings, penalties, and denied applications.
Score below −0.2 = something was disputed or penalised. Use the negative-sentiment list to quickly find operators in regulatory trouble or filings that didn't go smoothly.
Filing categories
Filings are classified into types: field rule amendments, spacing exceptions, pooling orders, notices of hearing, penalties, and setback variances. Use this to filter for the activity type relevant to you.
If you sell completion services, focus on spacing exceptions and pooling orders — those precede drilling decisions. If you're tracking compliance risk, focus on penalties and notices of hearing.
Operator risk signals
Operators appearing repeatedly in negative-tone filings — penalties, withdrawn applications, contested hearings — carry higher regulatory risk. This affects their permitting speed and operational predictability.
An operator with three penalty filings in 90 days may face permit delays or increased scrutiny. That affects your timeline if you're planning to work with them.
Well Signals — reading the flags
Signal Count
Each permit is analyzed for non-routine items. A higher count means more regulatory conditions, contractor requirements, or complications.
1–2 = standard permit (grey). 3–4 = elevated complexity (orange). 5+ = complex well with multiple conditions (red). Complex wells take longer to approve and have more service touchpoints.
Hazard Level — HIGH / MOD / STD
An overall hazard classification assigned by the Snowflake Cortex intelligence model based on all signals found in the well's documents. HIGH = multiple serious conditions. MOD = one or more notable items. STD = no ML intelligence report has been run yet — the well has regulatory signals but hasn't been analyzed by the model.
HIGH typically indicates H₂S presence, contested setbacks, or enforcement history. MOD indicates items worth attention but not critical. STD means the well is in the signal database but its permits haven't been processed through the intelligence pipeline yet.
H₂S — Hydrogen sulfide detected
The formation contains toxic gas. Requires specialized safety equipment, certified personnel, and stricter site setbacks. Raises operational cost for all on-site services.
H₂S-flagged wells require additional certifications and equipment. Factor into quotes and mobilisation plans for any field service work.
FLARE — Gas capture not yet in place
Natural gas will be flared because gathering infrastructure is not yet connected. A gap — and a service opportunity for midstream providers and pipeline contractors.
A newly permitted well with a flaring plan has no gas sales infrastructure. That operator will need gathering connections within 12–18 months or face regulatory action.
SETBK — Setback variance required
The well location is closer than standard minimums to a road, building, or property boundary. Requires Commission approval and is sometimes contested. Expect permit delays.
WATER — Non-standard water sourcing
The permit references a surface water application, injection well, or water recycling plan. Signals the operator is actively managing water logistics.
Relevant for water haulers, disposal well operators, and recycling service providers.
Permit Cycle Signals
Specific items extracted from the permit text, each tagged by date and type. Expand any well row to see them.
Time-Sensitive = a deadline or approval window mentioned in the permit. Structural = a specific infrastructure, equipment, or design condition that must be met.
Practical use of the signals table
  • Filter by operator to see all their active permits and what conditions are attached
  • FLARE flag = operator needs gathering infrastructure — contact before construction starts
  • H₂S flag = specialist services required — safety equipment, certified crews, H₂S monitoring
  • HIGH hazard = complex well, longer timeline, more contractor touchpoints and regulatory scrutiny
  • Click a well row to expand its full signal detail, permit cycle signals, and link to the source filing