History in North Dakota and the Bakken
Written by Fort Union from the public sources listed below; bracketed numbers refer to that list.
Company background
Petro-Hunt, L.L.C. describes itself as a privately held independent oil and gas company headquartered in Dallas, Texas, tracing its roots to the 1920s and the oil career of H.L. Hunt, and as a top-ten private liquids producer in the United States with operations in six states [1]. Its company timeline says it bought two Williston Basin fields in the 1990s as part of six strategic acquisitions, and drilled the first North Dakota medium-radius double-lateral horizontal well in 1998 [2]. The company also notes that it has never been affiliated with Petro-Hunt, Inc. of Kentucky [1]. This page covers Petro-Hunt, L.L.C. only.
Bakken development
According to the company timeline, those Williston Basin fields were developed for the Bakken and Three Forks formations starting in 2006 [2].
Independent records show Petro-Hunt working on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation early in the play. A February 2010 release from Credo Petroleum identified Petro-Hunt as operator of the Fort Berthold 148-94-17D-08-1H well in Dunn County, which flowed 1,267 barrels of oil and 1.24 million cubic feet of gas in a 24-hour test, with Credo holding a 10% working interest; the well was drilled on a 1,280-acre spacing unit to about 11,150 feet vertical depth with a 9,200-foot horizontal section [3].
The 2018 Divide County purchase
In 2018 Petro-Hunt, L.L.C. was a buyer. SM Energy's 8-K says it completed on May 30, 2018 the divestiture of its remaining Williston Basin assets in Divide County, North Dakota, to Petro-Hunt, L.L.C., for net cash proceeds of $160.9 million after adjustments, under a purchase and sale agreement dated March 28, 2018 [4].
Current footprint
The Department of Mineral Resources ranked Petro-Hunt ninth in 2026, with 9.62 million barrels (3.5% of North Dakota production) through August 2026 [5]. The Commission's active rig list, as read on October 25, 2026, showed a Petro-Hunt rig on a Billings County well, and Bakken Wire's October 15, 2026 daily summary reported a newly approved Petro-Hunt permit in Divide County [6][7]. The company's timeline also shows expansion into Texas Permian acreage in 2022 and 2023, which is outside North Dakota [2].
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.
- About Petro-Hunt — Petro-Hunt, L.L.C., read Oct 25, 2026.
- Petro-Hunt company timeline — Petro-Hunt, L.L.C., read Oct 25, 2026. Company statements.
- Credo Petroleum Bakken well update (Form 8-K exhibit 99.1) — Credo Petroleum / SEC, Feb 17, 2010.
- SM Energy Form 8-K: completion of Divide County divestiture to Petro-Hunt, L.L.C. — SM Energy / SEC, May 31, 2018.
- 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.
- 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.
- Six New Permits Approved, Three Wells Emerge from Confidential Status — Bakken Wire, Oct 15, 2026.
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.
