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The Dirty Hands Report - Oilfield, Williston, ND (2026)

06/08/2026

🔥 The Middle East Just Got Hot Again.

Iran launched missiles at Israel overnight.

Israel responded by striking an Iranian petrochemical plant this morning...the first direct energy strike on Iranian soil since the April ceasefire was brokered.

That ceasefire is done.

**WHAT IT DID TO PRICES**
Brent crude spiked 4.4% to $97.15 a barrel. WTI punched above $94 intraday before pulling back. Prices eased after Iran declared its military operations complete...but analysts are already calling crude "hugely underpriced" given how little risk premium the market is pricing in right now.

**WHAT'S KEEPING THE LID ON**
The Strait of Hormuz stays open. U.S. Navy has overwatch sitting on it. Without that presence, analysts say we're looking at $120+ crude. One chokepoint. That's the only number standing between a price spike and a full supply crisis.

**WHERE THE RIG COUNT SITS — BAKER HUGHES (LATE MAY 2026)**
Total U.S. Active Rigs: 563
Oil Rigs: 431
Gas Rigs: 124

**BY BASIN:**
• Permian Basin (TX/NM) — ~242 rigs — nearly half of all U.S. oil rigs
• Williston/Bakken (ND/MT) — 28 rigs
• Eagle Ford (South TX) — 43 rigs
• Anadarko (OK/KS) — 44 rigs
• Haynesville (TX/LA) — 58 rigs — gas-focused, climbing
• Marcellus (PA/WV) — 25 rigs
• DJ-Niobrara (CO/WY) — 9 rigs
• Utica (OH) — 12 rigs

U.S. production holding at 13.7 million barrels per day. Still 299,000 bpd above this time last year.

**THE NUMBER NOBODY'S TALKING ABOUT**
The Permian is running nearly 250 rigs...and still down from where it was a year ago. Operators aren't expanding. They're drilling longer laterals — some pushing 3 miles — pulling more oil from fewer holes. One rig today does what two did five years ago.

And Permian gas prices have gone negative $9 per mcf. More gas than the pipelines can handle. Operators are drilling for oil and essentially giving the gas away.

Every missile that flies near the Strait of Hormuz is a price floor under every basin on this list.

What are you seeing out in the field today? Drop it below. 👇

06/07/2026

Day 100.

The Strait of Hormuz is still closed.

100 days. A round number that means nothing to the people running this war and everything to the people whose jobs depend on what happens next.

The IEA called this the biggest oil supply disruption in history. Bigger than 1973. Bigger than 1979. Bigger than the Gulf War. And the rig count in North Dakota is still lower than it was a year ago.

Here's the comparison nobody's talking about...

• 1973 Arab Oil Embargo — 4.5 million barrels/day lost...prices up 300%

• 1979 Iranian Revolution — 5.6 million barrels/day lost...prices up 150%

• 1990 Gulf War — 4.3 million barrels/day lost...prices up 90%

• 2026 Hormuz Closure — 14.4 million barrels/day lost...prices up 33%

The only reason oil isn't $200 right now is the government has been draining the Strategic Petroleum Reserve at a pace never recorded in history to hold prices down. Back-to-back all-time weekly drain records. 54 million barrels gone in 5 months. That buffer is almost empty.

Macquarie Group's chief economist put one date on the clock...September 7. Labor Day.

If the strait is still closed on Labor Day...Brent goes to $130 to $150. If it drags into 2027...$200 oil.

The ceasefire was announced April 8. The strait is still closed.

Harold Hamm shut Continental's North Dakota drilling for the first time in 30 years back in January...and just reversed that call two weeks ago.

100 days. That's where we are.

What are you seeing out there right now...operators picking up the phone or still sitting on their hands?

06/05/2026

🚨 The Federal Government Opened 689,000 Acres of Alaska's Arctic Refuge for Oil Drilling Today.

Nine bids came in. Total money raised: $3.74 million.

For reference...a single Bakken well costs more than that to drill.

Here's what actually happened...

▸ 58 tracts offered across 689,000 acres

▸ Only 5 tracts got any bids at all

▸ Only 2 bidders showed up — Hex Energy and a Alaska state-run bank (AIDEA)

▸ The 2025 sale got zero bids

▸ The 2021 sale pulled $14.4 million...and most of those leases were eventually canceled

▸ CBO projected this 10-year program would generate $452 million

▸ At today's pace they'll need about 120 more sales to get there

▸ Zero major oil companies bid. Not one.

The government has been fighting in court for years to open ANWR.

Environmentalists have been fighting in court for years to block it.

Industry looked at both of them...and said no thanks.

At $90 oil with Hormuz still half-closed and the world screaming for barrels...the Arctic Refuge still can't get a Chevron or an Exxon to write a check.

That tells you something about the actual economics up there.

No roads. No infrastructure. No pipeline access. Permafrost. Polar bears. Litigation guaranteed on every lease.

The hands who'd work those fields don't exist yet...because the fields don't exist yet...and after three sales, it's not clear they ever will.

What do you think...worth drilling or just a political football at this point?

06/04/2026

🔥 NORTH DAKOTA OILFIELD JOBS — WEEK OF 6/4/26

Real openings. Real companies. No recruiter spam.

🔥 SPONSORED

1. Winch Truck Driver — North Point Transport
📍 Killdeer, ND
💰 $34/hr | Weekly W2 pay
📌 Housing + full benefits + 90-day merit raises
🔗 dhr.dirtyhandsoil.com/northpoint-winch

🔥 SPONSORED

2. Flatbed/Stepdeck Driver — North Point Transport
📍 Killdeer, ND
💰 DOE | Weekly W2 pay
📌 Housing + full benefits
🔗 dhr.dirtyhandsoil.com/northpoint-flatbed

3. CDL Sand Hauler — StateLine Services LLC
📍 Williston, ND
💰 Competitive | ASAP start
📌 Frac sand / end dump | Company housing available
🔗 dhr.dirtyhandsoil.com/stateline

4. Crude Oil Driver — Rocky Mountain Crude Oil
📍 Williston, ND
💰 $85,000–$120,000/yr
📌 CDL-A + Hazmat + Tanker | Clean MVR
🔗 dhr.dirtyhandsoil.com/rocky-mountain-crude

5. Floor Hand I — Noble Drilling LLC
📍 Williston, ND
💰 $27–$32/hr | 28 on / 14 off
📌 Entry level welcome | HS diploma + DL
🔗 dhr.dirtyhandsoil.com/noble-drilling

6. Coil Tubing Supervisor/Operator — Copper Tip Energy Services
📍 Williston, ND
💰 $28–$40/hr | 21 on / 9 off
📌 CDL required | 3 yrs coil ops exp
🔗 dhr.dirtyhandsoil.com/copper-tip

7. Shop/Ops Technician — Giant Oil Tools USA
📍 Williston, ND
💰 $25–$35/hr | OT available
📌 Downhole tool assembly | Growth track into leadership
🔗 dhr.dirtyhandsoil.com/giant-oil-tools

8. General Operator — OneCor Services LLC
📍 Williston, ND
💰 $25–$28/hr + $1,000/mo living allowance | 20 on / 10 off
📌 High-pressure pumping | CDL-A required
🔗 dhr.dirtyhandsoil.com/onecor

Full listings + apply links at dirtyhandsoil.com/jobs

06/03/2026

🚨 Bakken Crude Is Selling At A $9.50 PREMIUM Over WTI Right Now.

Your barrel is worth more than the screen price. WTI sitting at $96 today...we're getting paid above that.

Here's what the numbers show...

▸ WTI ~$96/bbl — up 3 straight sessions

▸ Bakken light sweet at Patoka: +$9.50 over Cushing WTI

▸ DAPL receipt points: +$5.60 over benchmark

▸ Six months ago that same barrel was $6.61 UNDER WTI

▸ That's a $16 swing in 6 months

The Iran war broke global supply. Buyers are scrambling for light sweet crude. We produce it. The world wants it.

Here's what it's doing to the basin...

▸ North Dakota rig count: 26 → 29 and climbing per Baker Hughes/DMR

▸ Frac crews: 7 in December → 13 today

▸ Continental Resources back to drilling — first time in 30 years they went dark

▸ US crude inventories down 3.3M barrels last week — 6th straight weekly draw per EIA

▸ DAPL final federal approval signed May 21 — that pipeline isn't going anywhere

More frac crews means more completions. More completions means more wireline. More wireline means overtime. The basin is opening again and the math finally works.

Note — operators locked 2026 budgets before this spike. Full ramp is 2027. But the window is open right now.

What's it looking like out your windshield today...let's hear those field reports.

06/02/2026

🚨 The guy who runs oil sales for the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) just said it out loud...

August could be the tipping point for prices to spike even higher.

Here's what hit the wire this morning:

▸ ADNOC's VP of Sales & Trading told a London energy conference August is the breaking point if demand recovers and the crisis holds

▸ ADNOC's own CEO said last month — full Hormuz recovery won't happen until Q1 or Q2 of 2027

▸ The International Energy Agency (IEA) warned TODAY — global stockpiles could hit critically low levels before peak summer demand

▸ The Strait isn't reopening "like a flip of a switch" — some supply chain damage takes months...others take years

▸ Americas producers — US, Argentina, Brazil — are the only ones picking up the slack right now

The field already knew this.

The world is finally catching up.

That's not a headline. That's a paycheck.

August is 8 weeks out. American oil fields don't have a slow season anymore.

What are you seeing out there...crews getting busier or still holding steady?

$🚨 189 frac crews running right now. Rigs up 6 straight weeks. And the well backlog just hit an all-time low.Depends wher...$

06/01/2026

🚨 189 frac crews running right now. Rigs up 6 straight weeks. And the well backlog just hit an all-time low.

Depends where you are and what you do. But the numbers tell a story either way.

Here's what the numbers actually show...

The US drilled-but-uncompleted well count just dropped to 4,972. The lowest ever recorded. Going back to 2013.

Here's where the major oil basins stand right now...

▸ Permian — 540
▸ Eagle Ford — 369
▸ Bakken — 247

That matters because a DUC comes online in 6 to 9 weeks. A brand new well takes 3 to 9 months. The industry's fast-response buffer is basically gone.

The Permian alone burned through 69 DUCs since February. That's the basin carrying half of US production.

At the same time the crews are maxed...

- Frac spreads up 21% since January
- Oil rigs at 429... highest since July 2025
- Diamondback running 5 completion crews through year end
- Patterson-UTI says its completion fleet is at near full utilization... and raising prices

The ceasefire market crashed oil 16% in May. But the US struck Iranian targets the same week the framework was announced. No final deal. Hormuz still not fully open. Inventory down 52 million barrels since the war started.

The market priced in peace.

The patch is still running wide open.

The buffer is empty. The clock is running.

Curious how this is actually feeling on the ground...Bakken vs Permian right now.

05/30/2026

Two of the largest American oil companies just stood on the same stage and said the same thing.

ExxonMobil SVP Neil Chapman told the Bernstein Conference Wednesday that global inventories will hit all-time lows "in two or three weeks"...and when they do, Brent crude will "shoot up to $150, $160 a barrel." Chevron CEO Mike Wirth followed him to the podium and confirmed it...the market's shock absorbers are "steadily being drawn down" and pressure accelerates into June and July.

These aren't analysts. These are the operating chiefs of the two largest US oil companies. They don't put numbers like that on the record unless the math is already there.

I've watched inventory squeezes before. When the downstream tightens this fast, the upstream feels it within weeks...more crews, more completions, more everything. The difference this time is the cushion is gone and there's nothing left to release.

Here's where the numbers actually stand:

• Hormuz has been effectively closed since February 28...20 million barrels a day offline, 20% of global supply

• The IEA released 400 million barrels from strategic reserves to cover it. That runs out at the start of August

• Global inventories dropped 246 million barrels in two months...a record collapse

• When the cushion is gone the physical price has one direction

The Bakken is already pricing it in. Bakken crude is trading at a $7 premium over WTI...the first sustained premium since Hurricane Harvey in 2017. Continental Resources just restarted drilling after their first pause in 30 years. North Dakota is running 19,639 producing wells. Every dollar WTI moves is worth $3 million a day in state revenue.

North Dakota is producing 1.142 million barrels a day right now. The all-time record is 1.52 million.

The ceiling isn't the geology.

If you're running pipe in the Permian or the Bakken right now...what does activity actually look like on your end? Are companies moving or still sitting on it?

05/28/2026

🔥 NORTH DAKOTA OILFIELD JOBS — WEEK OF 5/28/26

Real openings. Real companies. No recruiter spam.

🔥 SPONSORED

1. Winch Truck Driver — North Point Transport
📍 Killdeer, ND
💰 $34/hr | Rotation or standard
📌 Housing + full benefits
🔗 dhr.dirtyhandsoil.com/northpoint-winch

🔥 SPONSORED

2. Flatbed/Stepdeck Driver — North Point Transport
📍 Killdeer, ND
💰 DOE | Rotation or standard
📌 Housing + full benefits
🔗 dhr.dirtyhandsoil.com/northpoint-flatbed

3. Lease Operator — Chord Energy
📍 New Town, ND
💰 DOE | 8 on / 6 off
📌 Well ops & production
🔗 dhr.dirtyhandsoil.com/chordenergy

4. Equipment Operator — Liberty Energy
📍 Williston, ND
💰 $20–$35/hr | CDL A + HazMat
📌 Frac equipment
🔗 dhr.dirtyhandsoil.com/liberty-frac

5. Field Specialist — Chevron
📍 Keene, ND
💰 DOE | Midstream ops
📌 90% field
🔗 dhr.dirtyhandsoil.com/chevron-keene

6. Hot Oil Operator — Legend Hot Oil
📍 Watford City, ND
💰 $25–$33/hr | CDL A or B
📌 Hot oil truck
🔗 dhr.dirtyhandsoil.com/legend-hotoil

7. Hydro Test Supervisor — Wyoming Casing Service
📍 Dickinson, ND
💰 DOE | 3–5 yrs exp required
📌 Gas pipeline hydro testing
🔗 dhr.dirtyhandsoil.com/wyoming-casing

8. Fuel Transport Driver — Lund Oil
📍 Watford City, ND
💰 $32/hr | CDL + Tanker/HazMat
📌 Bulk fuel delivery
🔗 dhr.dirtyhandsoil.com/lund-oil

Full listings + apply links at dirtyhandsoil.com/jobs

05/25/2026

TODAY IS MEMORIAL DAY.

Thirteen Americans have been killed in Operation Epic Fury since February 28. Most of them died protecting the Strait of Hormuz...the corridor that carries 20 percent of the world's oil supply.

Their names:

● Capt. Cody A. Khork, 35 — Winter Haven, Florida

● Sgt. 1st Class Nicole Amor, 39 — White Bear Lake, Minnesota

● Sgt. 1st Class Noah Tietjens, 42 — Bellevue, Nebraska

● Sgt. Declan Coady, 20 — West Des Moines, Iowa

● Maj. Jeffrey R. O'Brien, 45 — Indianola, Iowa

● Chief Warrant Officer 3 Robert M. Marzan, 54 — Sacramento, California

● Sgt. Benjamin N. Pennington, 26 — Glendale, Kentucky

● Maj. John A. Klinner, 33 — Auburn, Alabama

● Capt. Ariana G. Savino, 31 — Covington, Washington

● Tech. Sgt. Ashley B. Pruitt, 34 — Bardstown, Kentucky

● Capt. Seth R. Koval, 38 — Mooresville, Indiana

● Capt. Curtis J. Angst, 30 — Wilmington, Ohio

● Tech. Sgt. Tyler H. Simmons, 28 — Columbus, Ohio

Thirteen names. Thirteen families. No one coming home.

The country owes them more than a cookout.

The Dirty Hands Report - Oilfield

06/08/2026

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06/05/2026

06/04/2026

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