# Northern Oil and Gas

Northern Oil and Gas is an Exploration and Production (Non-Operated) based in Minnetonka, United States.

## Overview

- **Organization type:** Exploration and Production (Non-Operated)
- **Headquarters:** Minnetonka, United States
- **Region:** North America
- **Address:** Minnetonka, MN, United States
- **Founded:** 2007
- **Assets under management:** Undisclosed
- **Website:** northernoil.com
- **LinkedIn:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/northern-oil-and-gas

## Regulatory record

- **Reports private funds:** No

## About

Northern Oil & Gas is a private equity firm based in Minnetonka, US. It focuses on a Natural Resources strategy. The firm oversees approximately $1 billion in assets with a team of 24 staff, including 2 investment professionals.

## Sectors

- Energy Transition & Renewables

## People

- Nicholas O'Grady — Chief Executive Officer
- Adam Dirlam — President

## Questions

### Who runs investment and acquisition decisions at Northern Oil and Gas?

CEO Nicholas O'Grady and President Adam Dirlam lead the firm's acquisition and portfolio strategy. The lean organization relies on a technical team that evaluates well-level economics, working with a network of operators and land professionals to source and underwrite non-operated working interest packages across key basins. The dual leadership structure, formalized in September 2023, is designed to accelerate deal flow while maintaining the firm's historically disciplined underwriting standards.

### How does Northern Oil and Gas source its deals?

The firm employs a ground-game acquisition strategy — building working interest positions through direct negotiation with landowners, smaller operators, and mineral-rights holders, rather than relying exclusively on auction-brokered packages. This approach allows NOG to aggregate interests in high-quality wells at a discount to marketed process valuations. Larger, brokered transactions supplement this activity, as seen with the $2 billion in deals completed in 2021 that expanded its Permian and Mississippi Lime exposure.

### What distinguishes Northern Oil and Gas from an operating E&P company?

NOG is a non-operator — it purchases minority working interests in wells and relies on its operating partners (including Continental Resources, ExxonMobil, and ConocoPhillips) to manage drilling, completion, and day-to-day production. This results in a structurally lower cost structure, no capital-overrun risk, and the ability to scale or contract the portfolio without maintaining an internal rig fleet or service contracts. The trade-off is reduced control over development timing.

### Which basins does Northern Oil and Gas focus on, and why?

The firm concentrates on three basins: the Williston (Bakken), the Permian (Midland and Delaware sub-basins), and the Appalachian (Marcellus/Utica). These are North America's highest-return onshore plays with decades of remaining drilling inventory. The focus is weighted toward oil and liquids-rich targets, which provide higher margins than dry-gas assets and align with NOG's objective of generating free cash flow for acquisition reinvestment and shareholder returns.

### Does Northern Oil and Gas participate in fund commitments or only direct deals?

NOG structures its investments entirely as direct working-interest acquisitions rather than through fund commitments to third-party managers. There are no carried interest or management fee layers between the company and the underlying well economics. When the firm enters a new basin or deal, it underwrites each well individually and owns the interest directly on its balance sheet, giving shareholders transparent, asset-level exposure.

### How does Northern Oil and Gas manage the cyclical nature of oil and gas prices?

The firm maintains a hedge book covering a portion of its projected production to protect acquisition payback periods and support its dividend program. Its counter-cyclical acquisition philosophy — buying interests when commodity prices decline and operators need liquidity — has historically allowed NOG to build its asset base at lower entry costs. Low leverage and a lean general and administrative cost structure further buffer earnings volatility relative to levered E&P operators.

### What is Northern Oil and Gas's approach to energy transition risk?

NOG targets low-cost, low-decline oil basins that are positioned at the bottom of the global cost curve, which management believes will remain economic across a range of long-term demand scenarios. The firm has not branched into renewable-energy or carbon-capture projects, and its public communications frame the strategy as providing the hydrocarbons required during a multi-decade transition rather than attempting to diversify into non-core energy technologies.

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Last updated: 2026-06-03T20:00:00.000Z

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