Montana Produces Nearly 78,000 Barrels of Oil Per Day
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Jul 23, 2026
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Montana Produces Nearly 78,000 Barrels of Oil Per Day
As of the latest available data (week ending July 17, 2026), Montana has 3 active oil drilling rigs. All three are drilling for oil in the Williston Basin of northeastern Montana:
2 rigs in Roosevelt County
1 rig in Richland County
How much oil is Montana producing?
Montana's oil production has been climbing steadily over the past several years. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the state is currently producing about 78,000 barrels of crude oil per day (based on the latest monthly production data released in June 2026).
For perspective:
Year
Average Production
2020
~52,000 barrels/day
2021
~52,000 barrels/day
2022
~56,000 barrels/day
2023
~62,000 barrels/day
2024
~73,000 barrels/day
2025/Latest
~78,000 barrels/day
Where does the oil come from?
More than half of Montana's oil now comes from the Bakken Formation in Richland and Roosevelt counties.
The remainder comes from older conventional fields scattered across eastern Montana.
While 3 rigs may seem like a small number, modern horizontal rigs can drill many more wells and produce far more oil than rigs from 10 or 20 years ago. That's one reason Montana's production has increased even though the rig count remains relatively low.
Montana Top ten oil producing counties
Based on the latest available production data (2026), these are Montana's top 10 oil-producing counties:
Rank
County
Approx. Monthly Oil Production
1
Richland County
~1.25 million barrels
2
Roosevelt County
~730,000 barrels
3
Sheridan County
~177,000 barrels
4
Fallon County
~16,000–45,000 barrels
5
Blaine County
~16,000–20,000 barrels
6
Carbon County
~17,000–18,000 barrels
7
McCone County
~10,000–15,000 barrels
8
Toole County
~8,000–10,000 barrels
9
Prairie County
~5,000–8,000 barrels
10
Valley County
~4,000–6,000 barrels
A few observations
Richland and Roosevelt counties dominate Montana oil production, accounting for well over 80% of the state's crude oil output. Their production comes largely from the Bakken and Three Forks formations that extend west from North Dakota.
Counties like Fallon, Blaine, Carbon, and Sheridan have long-established oil fields that continue to produce steadily but at much lower volumes.
Valley County still has active production, though it's modest compared with the Bakken counties. It also remains one of Montana's stronger natural gas producers.
For comparison, North Dakota produces roughly 1.2–1.3 million barrels of oil per day, while Montana produces about 78,000 barrels per day—meaning North Dakota pumps roughly 15–16 times more oil than Montana. Much of that difference is due to the far larger extent of the Bakken development on the North Dakota side of the state line.
