RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2015

RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS [Abstract]

RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS

NOTE 7     RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS

The Company is a non-operating participant in a number of wells in North Dakota that are operated by Emerald Oil, Inc. ("Emerald"), by virtue of leased acreage or working interests held by the Company in drilling units operated by Emerald.  As of December 31, 2015, such wells included 49 gross (8.1 net) producing wells.  As of December 31, 2015, Northern has incurred $86.6 million in connection with its working interest in these wells.  Until January 2, 2016, James Russell (J.R.) Reger was a director (and until March 2014 was an executive officer) of Emerald, which is a publicly-traded company.  J.R. Reger is also the brother of Northern Oil's Chief Executive Officer and director, Michael Reger.  At December 31, 2015, the Company's accounts receivable and accounts payable balances with Emerald were $1.1 million and $0.3 million, respectively.  At December 31, 2014, the Company's accounts receivable and accounts payable balances with Emerald were $2.9 million and $8.4 million, respectively.  At December 31, 2013, the Company's accounts receivable and accounts payable balances with Emerald were $4.6 million and $23.2 million, respectively.  The Company recorded total revenues of $15.3, $13.3 and $7.8 million from Emerald for the years ended December 31, 2015, 2014, and 2013, respectively.

All transactions involving related parties are approved or ratified by the Company's Audit Committee.