Horizontal Directional Drilling Contractor in North Dakota
North Dakota is Bakken crude, frozen ground, and big Missouri River crossings, right next door to our Minnesota base. NCDD runs maxi rigs and large diameter crossings here, close to home.
North Dakota runs on the Bakken. The Williston Basin moves enormous volumes of crude, gas, and produced water, and the gathering, transmission, and gas-capture lines that serve it have to cross the Missouri, the Yellowstone, rail, and highways without disturbing the surface. Where open trenching isn't an option, that work goes to horizontal directional drilling, the only kind of work NCDD bids.
What makes North Dakota hard is a mix of frozen ground and sticky shale. Eastern North Dakota is glacial till and the flat Red River valley, the west runs into Pierre shale and the Fort Union formation under the oil patch, and winter brings frost that runs deep and stays for months. We're a Minnesota company, so cold-weather drilling is in our bones, and we tool and plan for clay, shale, and frozen ground alike.
What Makes Drilling in North Dakota Different
North Dakota pairs a booming oil patch with frozen ground and major river crossings. This is what the work demands up here.
The Bakken Oil Patch
The Williston Basin drives constant demand for crude, gas, and water gathering plus transmission crossings around Williston, Watford City, and Dickinson. Large diameter gathering and transmission is our lane: maxi rigs, pipe up to 56 inches.
Shale, Till & Sticky Clay
Western North Dakota runs into Pierre shale and Fort Union sediments, while the east is glacial till and Red River valley clay that turns to gumbo when wet. We plan fluid programs and bore paths for ground that swells, sticks, and shifts.
The Missouri & Lake Sakakawea
The Missouri River, Lake Sakakawea, the Yellowstone, and the Red River of the North define the state's major crossings. Getting under them cleanly is drill work, and drill work is what we're here for.
Deep Frost & Permitting
North Dakota frost runs deep and the season is short, so we plan crossings, pits, and fluid around frozen ground, the kind of cold-weather work a Minnesota crew does every winter. Crossings clear ND DEQ, the Department of Water Resources, and federal USACE Section 404 review.
Where We Drill in North Dakota
Next door to our Minnesota shop and covered border to border.
North Dakota HDD: Common Questions
Does NCDD do horizontal directional drilling in North Dakota? +
Yes, and it's a short haul. We're a Minnesota HDD contractor one state over, we cover North Dakota from the Bakken to the Red River Valley, and we work 29 states in total. We drill, and that's the business.
Can NCDD handle North Dakota's frozen ground and shale? +
Yes. As a Minnesota company we plan crossings around deep frost and short seasons, and we tool for Pierre shale, Fort Union sediments, and sticky Red River valley clay.
Does NCDD serve the Bakken oil patch? +
Yes. We drill crude, gas, and produced-water gathering and transmission crossings across the Williston Basin, up to 56-inch large diameter pipeline using our maxi rig fleet.
Does NCDD cross the Missouri River in North Dakota? +
Yes. We drill crossings under the Missouri, Lake Sakakawea, the Yellowstone, and the Red River, designed to clear ND DEQ and USACE permitting.
Got a North Dakota crossing, a Bakken gathering line, a Missouri River transmission pipe, a crossing where open-cut isn't an option? Call your neighbors. We're one state over in Minnesota, the maxi rigs are close, and cold, frozen ground is our regular season.
Other States We Drill In
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Talk to us today about your next horizontal directional drilling project.