Over 3 billion bbl of recoverable oil found in abandoned geologic formation
From the
Kansas City StarNorth Dakota and eastern Montana can now boast of having the largest known oil accumulation in the lower 48 states, but the petroleum industry will have to drill deep and spend lavishly to get to it.
The U.S. Geological Survey reported Thursday that an estimated 3 billion to 4.3 billion barrels of undiscovered crude oil could be tapped, using current technology, from a massive expanse of underground shale known as the Bakken Formation.
The findings represent a 25-fold increase in the potential supply of “technically recoverable” oil since the Geological Survey last studied the region in 1995. Since then, advancements in drilling and the spiraling price of crude have generated a heightened interest in squeezing oil out of the formidable Bakken.
“It’s not a silver bullet” in the nation’s quest for energy independence, said Brenda Pierce, who coordinates the agency’s energy resources program. “But it’s very substantial…It’s the largest of this type of oil deposit that we’ve ever assessed.”
The Bakken Formation encompasses some 25,000 square miles in North Dakota, Montana, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. A federal geologist in 2000 calculated that as many as 500 billion barrels of oil were trapped between layers of shale 10,000 feet deep, but the difficulty of reaching it has dogged oil producers for decades.
“It is very tough oil,” said geologist Julie LeFever of the North Dakota Geological Survey. “But it’s a starting point” for increased development of oil fields.
“I think the estimate of 3 and a half billion barrels is reasonable and what we can expect from today’s technology,” she said.I think regulars know what my stand on this is.
