History in North Dakota and the Bakken
Written by Fort Union from the public sources listed below; bracketed numbers refer to that list.
Where Chord came from
Chord Energy was established on July 1, 2022, when Oasis Petroleum and Whiting Petroleum combined in a merger of equals; Oasis was the surviving company and took the Chord name. Chord paid Whiting stockholders $245.4 million in cash, or $6.25 per Whiting share, as part of the deal [1].
The Department of Mineral Resources' 2026 top-ten slide still shows the legacy pieces inside Chord's year-to-date oil total: about 21.4 million barrels from Oasis, 18.5 million from Enerplus and 13.5 million from Whiting, out of 53.35 million barrels, or 19.2% of North Dakota production, through August 2026. The same slide shows the five largest operators together accounting for 65.3% of the state's output [2].
Buying acreage from XTO, twice
Chord has twice bought Williston Basin assets from XTO Energy, the ExxonMobil subsidiary that is itself one of the operators on this site. On May 22, 2023 the company announced an agreement to acquire about 62,000 net acres in the basin from XTO for $375.0 million, with an effective date of April 1, 2023. The deal closed on June 30, 2023 for total cash consideration of $361.6 million after adjustments [3].
On September 15, 2025 a Chord subsidiary agreed to buy further developed and undeveloped Williston Basin assets from XTO for $550.0 million, effective September 1, 2025. That transaction closed on October 31, 2025, with total cash consideration of $542.2 million, of which $487.2 million was paid at closing and $55.0 million had been deposited earlier [3]. Chord's announcement described the acquired position as 48,000 net acres in the Williston core, held by production, with expected near-term production of about 9,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day (78% oil) [4].
Enerplus and the move to a Williston-only company
On May 31, 2024, Chord completed its acquisition of Enerplus Corporation, which Chord's chief executive described as creating a premier Williston Basin operator. The company said it expected more than $200 million of annual synergies and named North Dakota, Montana and the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation as communities it would continue to serve [5]. Chord's 2025 annual report describes the transaction as a stock-and-cash deal: on closing it paid Enerplus shareholders $375.8 million in cash, paid $395.0 million to settle Enerplus' revolving credit facility balance, and results from May 31, 2024 onward include legacy Enerplus volumes [3].
On September 16, 2026, Chord agreed to sell its entire non-operated Marcellus position, about 32,000 net acres, to POSCO International for $550 million, with closing expected in the fourth quarter of 2026. The company says its portfolio will then be focused exclusively on the Williston Basin [6]. We summarized that item in our own news feed (linked below).
Current footprint
Chord's annual report for 2025 states that at December 31, 2025 it held 1,302,921 net leasehold acres in the Williston Basin, approximately all of it held by production, and describes this as the largest acreage position of any operator in the basin [3]. It reported 5,025 gross operated producing wells, average 2025 production of 276,620 barrels of oil equivalent a day, and four operated rigs running at year-end, with four to five expected through most of 2026. Its operations target the Middle Bakken and Three Forks formations in North Dakota and Montana [3]. The principal corporate office is in Houston, Texas, and the company owns field offices in the North Dakota communities of Williston, Ray, New Town, Watford City, Keene, Mandaree and Dickinson [3].
Chord reports that it captures substantially all of its natural gas production in North Dakota [3]. Reuters, reporting the state regulator's comments in August 2026, listed Chord first among the top producers that together account for about two-thirds of North Dakota output [7]. The DMR's active-rig list, as read on October 25, 2026, showed five rigs working under legacy Chord entity names: two for Enerplus Resources USA (Dunn and Williams counties), two for Oasis Petroleum North America (Dunn and McKenzie counties) and one for Whiting Oil and Gas (McKenzie County) [8].
Long laterals and technology
Chord's disclosures describe a continuing four-mile lateral program. Its second-quarter 2026 earnings presentation says four-mile wells are expected to be about 40% of 2026 turn-in-line activity, compared with about 5% in 2025, and says the company's drilling cost per foot is falling as laterals lengthen [9]. Trade coverage of the second-quarter call said Chord was also spending on workovers, chemical treatments and artificial-lift optimization on existing wells, and raised its 2026 oil forecast only modestly, to 161,000 barrels a day [10].
In May 2026 Chord made a strategic investment in MaverickX, a shale-recovery technology company, with field deployments planned on Chord-operated Bakken assets [11].
What this means for owners
Because Chord is the product of several mergers, royalty owners may find the same operator listed under legacy names such as Oasis Petroleum North America, Whiting Oil and Gas or Enerplus Resources USA in state records; the daily permit reports we summarize still use those names. Owner decks, division orders and payment history can differ by legacy entity, so quote the owner number and well name when you call.
Relevant news and sources
The sources this history was drawn from, in the order they are first cited. Links were checked when this page was built.
- Chord Energy Corporation Form 10-K for fiscal year 2022 — SEC, filed Feb 28, 2023.
- Director's Cut, October 2026: Top 10 oil producers in ND (slide 18) — ND Department of Mineral Resources, Oct 20, 2026. Year-to-date oil production through August 2026.
- Chord Energy Corporation Form 10-K for fiscal year 2025 — SEC, filed Feb 26, 2026.
- Chord Energy Announces Strategic Acquisition of Williston Basin Assets — Chord Energy / PR Newswire, Sep 15, 2025.
- Chord Energy and Enerplus Complete Combination, Creating Premier Williston-Focused E&P Company — Chord Energy / PR Newswire, May 31, 2024.
- Chord Energy Announces Divestiture of Non-Operated Marcellus Assets — Chord Energy / PR Newswire, Sep 16, 2026.
- North Dakota oilfield activity expected to rise in second half of year, regulator says — Reuters via BOE Report, Aug 20, 2026.
- Active Drilling Rig List — ND Department of Mineral Resources, read Oct 25, 2026. Live page that changes daily; counts quoted here are as read on Oct 25, 2026.
- CHRD 2Q26 Earnings Presentation — Chord Energy, Aug 2026.
- Q2 2026 Earnings Calls: Chord Goes Back to the Well — RBN Energy, Aug 10, 2026.
- Chord Energy invests in MaverickX shale recovery technology — World Oil, May 20, 2026.
Related items in the Fort Union news feed
Logos are trademarks of their respective owners and are used here only to identify each company; their use does not imply affiliation with or endorsement by Fort Union Minerals. Ranking basis: 2026 year-to-date oil production through August, million barrels; source: North Dakota Department of Mineral Resources, Director's Cut (October 20, 2026), slide 18.
Chord Energy