Have we been fooled again? Oh Bamn it all.

[AngelinaCatHub]

Reston, VA - North Dakota and Montana have an estimated 3.0 to 4.3 billion barrels of undiscovered, technically recoverable oil in an area known as the Bakken Formation.
A U.S. Geological Survey assessment, released April 10, shows a 25-fold increase in the amount of oil that can be recovered compared to the agency's 1995 estimate of 151 million barrels of oil. Technically recoverable oil resources are those producible using currently available technology and industry practices. USGS is the only provider of publicly available estimates of undiscovered technically recoverable oil and gas resources.
New geologic models applied to the Bakken Formation, advances in drilling and production technologies, and recent oil discoveries have resulted in these substantially larger technically recoverable oil volumes. About 105 million barrels of oil were produced from the Bakken Formation by the end of 2007.
The USGS Bakken study was undertaken as part of a nationwide project assessing domestic petroleum basins using standardized methodology and protocol as required by the Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 2000.
The Bakken Formation estimate is larger than all other current USGS oil assessments of the lower 48 states and is the largest "continuous" oil accumulation ever assessed by the USGS. A "continuous" oil accumulation means that the oil resource is dispersed throughout a geologic formation rather than existing as discrete, localized occurrences. The next largest "continuous" oil accumulation in the U.S. is in the Austin Chalk of Texas and Louisiana, with an undiscovered estimate of 1.0 billions of barrels of technically recoverable oil.
"It is clear that the Bakken formation contains a significant amount of oil - the question is how much of that oil is recoverable using today's technology?" said Senator Byron Dorgan, of North Dakota. "To get an answer to this important question, I requested that the U.S. Geological Survey complete this study, which will provide an up-to-date estimate on the amount of technically recoverable oil resources in the Bakken Shale formation."
The USGS estimate of 3.0 to 4.3 billion barrels of technically recoverable oil has a mean value of 3.65 billion barrels. Scientists conducted detailed studies in stratigraphy and structural geology and the modeling of petroleum geochemistry. They also combined their findings with historical exploration and production analyses to determine the undiscovered, technically recoverable oil estimates.
USGS worked with the North Dakota Geological Survey, a number of petroleum industry companies and independents, universities and other experts to develop a geological understanding of the Bakken Formation. These groups provided critical information and feedback on geological and engineering concepts important to building the geologic and production models used in the assessment.
Five continuous assessment units (AU) were identified and assessed in the Bakken Formation of North Dakota and Montana - the Elm Coulee-Billings Nose AU, the Central Basin-Poplar Dome AU, the Nesson-Little Knife Structural AU, the Eastern Expulsion Threshold AU, and the Northwest Expulsion Threshold AU.
At the time of the assessment, a limited number of wells have produced oil from three of the assessments units in Central Basin-Poplar Dome, Eastern Expulsion Threshold, and Northwest Expulsion Threshold.
The Elm Coulee oil field in Montana, discovered in 2000, has produced about 65 million barrels of the 105 million barrels of oil recovered from the Bakken Formation.
Results of the assessment can be found at http://energy.usgs.gov.

http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=1911

[frogger]

I'm not fooled. The US has more oil than all of the middle east combined. So does Russia.

[AngelinaCatHub]

I'm not fooled. The US has more oil than all of the middle east combined. So does Russia.

My question is: Why will this government not let us have it? Why are we bound to paying Mid East. Why can't we become energy independent and let the Mid East and South America eat their oil. Why are we not eating our corn but making ethanol that is highly inefficient and can ruin your engine? Why do we not get rid of the spark plug engine and burn a lessor product such as diesel or soybean oil. More efficient and multi fueled. All military vehicles are now diesel multi fueled, why can't we be? The big question is "Why".

If free market reined, and the tree huggers chained, this Country would have nearly free abundance of fuel for pennies. 'Hub

[Overmylimit]

They have always known we have vast reserves, my Son in Law is in the Air Force and he said it common knowledge. He seems to think that we are not tapping into it in case a Global war breaks out and are supplies from other Countries are cut off, at that point we would have our own.

[frogger]

If free market reined, and the tree huggers chained, this Country would have nearly free abundance of fuel for pennies. 'Hub

And therein lies the problem. Always follow the money 'Hub. Always.

I'll have to give you my real opinion in person, for that conversation would create massive turmoil on this forum.

[RuthCB]

Come on people.. always check snopes before posting stuff like this.

http://www.snopes.com/politics/gasoline/bakken.asp

Now who is being fooled?

[RuthCB]

And another source for the skeptical

http://www.factcheck.org/2009/03/us-offshore-oil-reserves/

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This is one of those internet things that people pass on to prove some sort of preconceived notion, or political viewpoint. It doesn't matter if it isn't true, as long as it backs up ones point of view.

[Faust]

Come on people.. always check snopes before posting stuff like this.

http://www.snopes.com/politics/gasoline/bakken.asp

Now who is being fooled?

Thanks for doing the leg work!

[DeadManCrawling]

There is potentially, far more oil than in Bakken, a little further west. At least, according to snopes, in another report on that same page.

One of the things people do, I think, that hurts us, as a country: selfishness and greed. Especially on a personal level.

"Why the hell are we paying so much to the Mideast, when we have ALL THAT OIL OUT WEST?"

"Why can't WE have cheap oil, we have tons of it," and so on.

Technical reasons aside (it's not all that accessible), there are very good reasons to leave that oil exactly where it is, even in the face of rising prices. One day, oil WILL run out in the countries we primarily buy from now. And when it does, WE will not have exhausted ours. I think that is a lesson learned the hard way, back when oil boomed and then busted in TX and other southwestern states.

If we use it now, it won't be there in the future. We probably could have cheap oil NOW, but would leave none for our kids or grandkids. I can pay a little extra now if it means there is some for them in the future.

Also, the Middle East will run dry eventually. From a political/societal view, I see that as inevitable. When they do, we will still have a little time to finish our move to a better, hopefully cleaner, source of energy.

At that point, if we have untouched reserves (a little at Bakken, potentially much more further west), we hold more cards than our potential enemies.

Yes, that means we cannot drive a hundred thousand miles a year just because it amuses us to do so. What's wrong with that? Do we all need to throw tantrums like children because we can only take one trip to Yellowstone this year?

If we have it, I think it is best to preserve it at almost any cost. The future isn't that far off, and it may be a lot less bright than where we are now.

[justbroke]

Drill baby. Drill!

(This was pure humor and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the poster.)

[frogger]

I can see justbroke from my backporch.

[Faust]

I can see justbroke from my backporch.

Justbroke is from Russia then?

[Mi Bankruptcy]

They may have oil.. but are they able to refine it quickly? I am in total agreement with DMC. Why not by theirs and when it runs out (It will) tranfer the wealth back to us (U.S)

[WhatMoney]

If free market reined, and the tree huggers chained, this Country would have nearly free abundance of fuel for pennies. 'Hub

Actually no, you have it backwards. The extraction costs of shale and Bakken oil reservoirs is many times that of Saudi Arabia. Oil production in North Dakota and eastern Montana IS increasing but the only incentive for this is $80/bbl and higher oil prices. You want cheap gas and oil, move to Venezuela, where you can enjoy the Socialist state, or Saudi Arabia, although you will need to change your religion.

Note when Oil prices dropped in the late 1990's, the number of oil rigs operating in ND dropped to ZERO. Capitalists don't drill if they can't make a profit. The US will have all the oil it wants as long as the price remains high. Extracting from the oil shale will raise the price/bbl even higher.

North Dakota is in an economic boom from increased oil drilling and production that should continue for at least another 10 years.

From the Bismark, ND Tribune:

March 31, 2010
North Dakota topped the century mark in the number of active oil rigs this week for the first time since February 1982.

There were 103 active rigs as of Wednesday. The state is still below the all-time high of 146 rigs that came in October 1981, said Ron Ness, president of the North Dakota Petroleum Council. Ness said the numbers are a positive for the future of the North Dakota oil industry.

During the fall and winter months, estimates had the rig count approaching 125. Now some estimates put the rig count as high as 150. On average, each rig requires in the neighborhood of 70-80 workers to operate and get online. If the rig count reaches anywhere from the 125-150 range, western North Dakota is looking at an influx of a few thousand workers. The Bakken Formation is an oil-rich, expansive underground rock formation that spans over 200,000 square miles underneath North Dakota, Montana and Saskatchewan.

There are roughly 4,500 producing oil wells in North Dakota with about 1,000 new wells that came into production in the past two years. So each oil rig is drilling about 5 new wells each year.

North Dakota ranks fourth in the nation in crude oil production at about 250,000 barrels a day coming out of the ground, but that could increase dramatically with companies tapping into a new formation, the Three Forks-Sanish, that lies beneath the Bakken Formation.

Lynn Helms, director of the state’s oil and gas division, said operators are predicting another 20 rigs by the middle of 2010. “It’s a big milestone,” Helms said. “We haven’t been at this number of rigs in 28 years.”

As good as things are now, estimates are North Dakota’s oil production could hit 300,000 to 400,000 barrels a day and sustain that level for 10 to 15 years, Helms said.

Helms said in a recent Bloomberg Business Week article, the new projection comes on the heels of recent discoveries by companies like Continental Resources Inc. The Bakken Formation contributed to a 7.5 percent gain in U.S. crude output in 2008, Bloomberg reported. Helms said the Three Forks-Sanish has the potential to produce at least half as much oil as the Middle Bakken. He said the 4.3 billion barrel projection by the USGS does not include the Three Forks-Sanish formation.

Ness said improvements in technology have allowed rigs to be more productive and efficient with the advent of horizontal drilling. “That’s the real story,” he said. Ness said that one of today’s rigs is able to do the same amount of drilling as eight older rigs in about one-third of the time.

Whether or not that will hold, Ness said, is anyone’s guess, given the volatility of the market. Oil closed in trading at $82.09 a barrel Wednesday. Helms said for oil companies it’s a good price that will allow them to invest more in drilling here.

In November 1998, Ness said, there were 98 rigs working in the state when the price plummeted and the market went south. By April, that number dropped to 32, and by 1999, there were none.

The latest boom has been a boon to the state economy, with estimates putting the number of direct and indirect jobs per rig at around 122, he said. Ness said there are around 12,000 people working in oil industry in North Dakota today with room for growth. He said North Dakota Job Service alone had 800 job listings in the industry.

“We are reaching new peaks every day,” he said. “We anticipate we can see another 25 percent increase.”

Ness said last year, $527 million was paid into the state treasury in oil, gas and production taxes. “It’s a pretty incredible story for North Dakota,” he said.

He said there are in the neighborhood of 170 oil companies working in the state and many of them will be in Bismarck in May for the Williston Basin Petroleum Conference. Ness said registrations have topped 1,000 and 72 separate speakers are scheduled for the event.

The U.S. Geological Survey estimates the formation to hold as much as 4.3 billion barrels of recoverable oil in North Dakota and Montana.

North Dakota’s production could account for more than 7.5 percent of nationwide oil output, according to the Bloomberg report.

Helms said the Three Forks-Sanish has the potential to produce at least half as much oil as the Middle Bakken. He said the 4.3 billion barrel projection by the USGS does not include the Three Forks-Sanish formation.

“That obviously adds a lot of options to the drilling and production potential,” Helms said. “We’re expecting a 50 percent production increase from where we are at today. We’re going to be working on this another 10 years.”

So if you can't find work in FL, CA, or MI, they are looking for oil workers in ND...
.

[Logan]

If free market reined, and the tree huggers chained, this Country would have nearly free abundance of fuel for pennies. 'Hub

In theory you are correct but reality says otherwise. If the market reigned my 150K a year job would be outsourced to the Chinese so that the managers and the shareholders would become rich and leave the rest of us with nothing.

There is a reason why the rich are getting richer and the middle class are getting poorer in this country and most of it has to do with the free market.

Logan

BTW....I used to agree with you but working for a fortune 500 company and seen what the managers take and the safety shortcuts made so that the managers can take have convinced me otherwise!