North Dakota gives an operator one year to flare. After that the well must be capped, connected or equipped, or the producer owes royalty on the gas being burned. Here is the statute, how to check your own well for free, and an honest account of how much this is still worth.
This is a real right, it is written into statute, and most North Dakota mineral owners have never heard of it. It is also worth much less today than it was ten years ago, and we would rather tell you that at the top than let you find out at the bottom.
N.D.C.C. section 38-08-06.4 is titled "Flaring of gas restricted, imposition of tax, payment of royalties." Its structure is simple:
An operator can be excused from this by obtaining an exemption from the Industrial Commission on the ground that connecting the well is economically infeasible. The standard is in N.D.A.C. 43-02-03-60.2: the direct cost of connecting and operating the connection over the life of the well must exceed what the operator is likely to receive for the gas, less production taxes and royalties, and the operator may add ten percent for cost of money and overhead.
You are allowed to be heard on that application. Under N.D.A.C. 43-02-03-88.1, exemption applications are advertised and set for hearing, and any interested party may appear to oppose or comment, or file written comments received by 5:00 p.m. on the last business day before the hearing.
A page like this is usually written to make you angry. Here is the actual picture.
North Dakota's gas capture goal, set by Commission order, has been 91 percent since 1 November 2020. In the Director's Cut published 20 August 2026, covering June 2026 production, statewide capture was 95.5 percent and Bakken capture was 95.7 percent. The industry is running about four and a half points ahead of the goal.
And when we looked at four 2026 NDIC hearing dockets, in April, May, June and July, we found no flaring exemption applications at all. A decade ago those dockets carried them routinely. Four dockets is a strong indication rather than a census, but the direction is unmistakable.
One more distinction worth holding onto, because it is easy to blur: the capture goal is not the source of the royalty obligation. Missing the goal does not by itself trigger a royalty under 38-08-06.4. The goal is enforced against the operator through production restrictions and civil penalties. The royalty obligation comes from the statute and the one year clock, independently.
So: if you have a well that came online in the last few years, this is probably not your issue. If you have an older well, or a well in a corner of the basin where gathering never arrived, it is worth ten minutes.
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Reports post roughly a month and a half after the reporting month closes, so the most recent month you can see is always a little behind.
One caution on step three. Gas minus Gas Sold combines flared gas with gas legitimately burned on the lease for fuel. It is a flag, not a finding. We could not confirm that a separate flared-only volume is published per well for free, so treat the gap as the start of a question rather than the answer to one.
The route here is not a lawsuit against your operator as a first step. The mechanism the statute builds is a petition to the Industrial Commission, and the Commission determines the value of the flared gas.
Before any of that, North Dakota gives you something most states do not. The North Dakota Royalty Oversight Program, run out of the Department of Agriculture, is an independent royalty ombudsman. It responds to a mineral owner within two business days, keeps your identity confidential, and is free. It will not take up matters already in regulatory review or in litigation, or issues older than six years. Call (701) 328-5110, option 1, or email [email protected].
Also ask your operator for the statement North Dakota already requires them to give you. See the ownership interest statement.
We pull North Dakota production records every week. We will run the gas against the gas sold, check the first production date against the one year clock, and tell you whether there is anything there. Free, no obligation, and we will tell you when the answer is nothing.
Ask a Landman Get a Free ValuationStatute and rules quoted from N.D.C.C. 38-08-06.4, N.D.A.C. 43-02-03-60.2 and N.D.A.C. 43-02-03-88.1. Capture figures from the NDIC Director's Cut published 20 August 2026 for June 2026 production. Berlin Royalties is a mineral buyer and a landman shop in Tulsa, not a law firm. This is general information about a statute, not advice about your well, and a claim worth real money is worth an attorney.