ExxonMobil Sells ND Assets to Chord Energy for $550M

North Dakota's largest oil producer will get a little bigger as it expands its footprint in the Bakken.

Chord Energy this week announced its plans to purchase $550 million worth of XTO Energy's Williston Basin assets. XTO is a subsidiary of oil giant ExxonMobil.

If the purchase goes through, Chord is set to acquire the equivalent of 10% of ExxonMobil's North Dakota production, according to state Petroleum Council President Ron Ness.

Chord did not respond to a request for comment.

A spokesperson for ExxonMobil said the company will continue to be a large operator in North Dakota.

"The state remains an important part of our long-term development strategy," the spokesperson said.

Ness said that ExxonMobil put the acreage up for sale months ago.

Companies are moving to better define what specific areas of the basin they want to focus operations in, Ness said. This allows companies to keep their equipment closer together, while operating in territory that is already familiar.

"(Companies are trying) to improve efficiency and they try to figure out where they can drill their wells and be the best served by trying to create acreage in blocks — areas where their other assets are — rather than having outlying acreage," Ness said.

The purchase lined up for Chord because it already has significant operations in the surrounding areas, Ness said.

Chord noted these advantages in a press release on Monday.

"The acquired assets are in one of the best areas of the Williston Basin and have significant overlap with Chord's existing footprint, setting the stage for long-lateral development," Chord CEO Danny Brown said in the statement.

The move comes as a wave of consolidation has happened across the oil industry, including to some companies with extensive operations in the Bakken.

Oil giants Chevron, ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips have each completed respective multibillion-dollar purchases of Hess, Pioneer Natural Resources and Marathon Oil in recent years.

Chord as a company is also evidence of the consolidation trend. The company formed in 2022 as a result of a merger between Oasis and Whiting and recently purchased Enerplus.

Ness said consolidation is making the oil industry more efficient.

"They find out they can drill just as many wells today with three rigs instead of four rigs," he said. "Obviously with lower oil prices it's all about the ability to drill these Bakken wells in the most efficient and cost-effective way possible."

Oil companies and state regulators in recent years have noted the need for more investment to address projected challenges accessing much of the oil trapped underground in northwest North Dakota. About 85% of oil in place remains inaccessible with today's technology, according to officials. This trend is unlikely to have a major impact on drilling for over a decade, however.

University of North Dakota economics professor David Flynn said it is difficult to predict what consolidation could mean for economic activity in the Bakken area. Companies with existing operations in an area would likely increase activity, while newcomers may run into some challenges, depending on their level of preparation, he said.

"The other question mark is what we mean by 'activity,'" he said. "If it is measured as oil output, it is very likely to be more activity. If it is employment we are considering, there is more variability when we look at that outcome."

Still, Flynn said he expects that under present conditions the Bakken will remain a competitive oil play.

"I think the opportunities for domestic oil production and the potential rewards are stronger than for other industries right now," he said.

Consolidation was also a topic at the North Dakota Petroleum Council's annual meeting in Watford City this week.

"More consolidation is probably more likely, it's just part of a commodity-driven business," Devon Energy CEO Clay Gaspar said on a panel.

While this has allowed companies to get more efficient, at least in the short-term, jobs have also taken a hit, Petroleum Council Chairman Todd Slawson said.

"Unfortunately, the consolidation came with reductions in workforce," he said.

© 2025 The Bismarck Tribune (Bismarck, N.D.). Visit www.bismarcktribune.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.