Where we buy
Williston Basin (Bakken)
The Williston Basin is where modern shale royalties were invented, and it shows: prolific wells, steep early declines, and twenty years of drilling history that make honest valuation genuinely possible.
The rock, in plain English
How the Bakken really works.
The targets are the Middle Bakken and the benches of the Three Forks beneath it — tight, oil-rich rock layers a couple of miles down, developed with long horizontal laterals and large frac jobs. A single 1,280-acre spacing unit often carries many wells, drilled in waves years apart.
Bakken wells come out of the ground fast and decline fast: a well can produce a large share of its lifetime oil in its first few years, then settle onto a long, shallow tail. If your checks have been shrinking, that’s the curve doing what curves do — not necessarily a reason to sell, but a reason to understand where your wells sit on it.
The basin is mature, which is good news for owners who want straight answers. With two decades of public production data, the guesswork in valuing a Bakken royalty is smaller than almost anywhere else we buy — what’s left to debate is infill drilling, refracs, and how much room remains in your unit.
What moves the money
What a fair offer in the Bakken accounts for.
These are the lines we’ll walk you through before any number goes on paper.
Core versus fringe
Acres in core McKenzie, Mountrail, or Dunn counties can be worth several times the basin average; fringe townships much less. The county on your deed matters more than the basin name.
Well vintage
A unit drilled in 2014 and never revisited is a different asset than one with fresh wells. Older units may still hold infill or refrac potential — or may be fully developed.
Remaining unit room
How many wells your spacing unit has versus how many the rock supports is the biggest swing factor in any Bakken offer. We’ll show you our count.
Production taxes on the stub
North Dakota’s production and extraction taxes come out before your royalty does — your check understates gross revenue, and a careful valuation accounts for it.
On the map
Counties we see most.
Where the Bakken files usually come from — though we read every county in the basin.
- McKenzie
- Mountrail
- Dunn
- Williams
- Divide
- Burke
- Stark
- Richland (MT)
- Roosevelt (MT)
By state
Selling rules differ by state line.
Pooling, title quirks, and taxes follow the state — our state guides cover them.
Want a number to anchor on first? The value estimator has the Bakken’s rule-of-thumb ranges built in, and the hold vs. sell comparator uses its decline assumptions. No email required for either.
No pressure, ever
Whenever you’re ready — even if that’s never.
Tell us a county and a name — we’ll do the the Bakken homework at our cost and walk you through what you own, whether or not you ever sell.
No automated calls. No mailers with sight drafts. No follow-up unless you ask for it.
Rather talk to a person? (970) 444-7374or email hello@eldoradomp.com