The field was discovered in 2006 by Michael Johnson and sold the play to EOG Resources, which drilled, and now operates, most of the wells.
Over the years, oil companies had drilled a number of dry holes through the oil-bearing Bakken shale at Parshall.
Believing that he might have another Elm Coulee on the east side of the basin, except with a different trapping mechanism, he and a partner leased a large land position, and made a deal for EOG to drill it.
Oil well drilling spread north, south, and west over a wide area, and soon extended Bakken oil production well beyond the boundaries of Parshall Field as defined by the North Dakota Industrial Commission.
Through March 2013, the field has produced 65 million barrels of oil and 30 billion cubic feet of natural gas, from more than 200 wells.