Murex Petroleum Corporation released 450 barrels of produced water and 10 gallons of crude oil at its Hoiby 4-31 SWD site in Burke County, North Dakota, the state's Oil and Gas Division said in a notice dated August 5, 2026. An SWD site is a well used to dispose of the salty wastewater that comes up with oil and gas production. The spill happened at the site, about 12.5 miles west of Powers Lake, on August 5.
Murex recovered 400 barrels of the produced water and 5 gallons of the crude oil that same day. A North Dakota Oil and Gas inspector visited the site and will monitor any further cleanup.
Federal and state law requires operators to report a spill of any material that could pollute water, air or soil. North Dakota logs these notifications through its Unified Spill Reporting System, at spill.nd.gov.
