Posted on 05/01/2013 4:43:18 PM PDT by Ron C.
Edited on 05/01/2013 4:46:39 PM PDT by Admin Moderator. [history]
Energy companies are lining up for their shot to drill in the Dakotas and Montana after a new government report revealed that a massive geological formation stretching across the states contains twice the oil and three times the amount of natural gas than was originally believed.
While the new estimate is drawing smaller companies to the game, the larger players like Schlumberger, Halliburton and Continental Resources are pushing forward with ambitious multi-year plans to stake their claim in the industry.
Continental recently announced a five-year plan to triple its production by 2017. The company’s growth is based on success in North Dakota and Montana as well as in parts of Oklahoma.
The dash to drill follows news from the government on how much more oil and natural gas there is to tap.
"Environmental groups have long objected to the practice and say it pollutes the groundwater and kills crops and livestock. They also argue that fracking releases heat-trapping methane gas into the air."
The left isn’t going to like the US being free of Middle East oil.
Matt Damon is paid by the UAE to keep the US mired in endless Middle East wars.
They say that like it's a bad thing.
Twice the oil, three times the natural gas.
I was going to post this. But you beat me to it.
Well my home town is doing great with the drilling there pretty much completed.
The downtown is completely refurbished....people moving back, industry too..etc...it’s growing again! Just beautiful...
It’s quite amazing how for a time your ccommunity has to endure the trucks etc...the arguing of contracts and who’s going to get what....but in the end it’s a huge jumpstart to communities who were dying....
Despite the “disruption” to a community everybody makes money....I’ve seen businesses increase and grow....housing being built...and all has worked very well.
My home town now is a place to live people would be proud to live in...in fact even some of the drillers plan to relocate there!
Our little old town has become a huge trailer park, housing is either unavalible or just too expensive. Houses and apartments that were renting for 4 to 5 hundred a month have now doubled over the last 3 years. On the west end of town we have people living in coverted shipping containers. We sit right on top of the Cline Shale here in the Permian Basin and we’re drilling like crazy. We’re a little town of about 20,000 that now has over 30,000 working and living here.
Why don't I believe this claim? Because any fracking company that would let valuable methane escape -- rather than trapping it for use or for sale -- would need a new manager and a new business plan.
I know Israel has been discovering similar windfalls, but it would be interesting to know where else on earth these fields are being discovered? The ‘Arab Street’ cannot be happy with these finds.
I’m not sure to the extent they are still doing this but it use to be common practice. However, many times companies would burn it off, hense the flames you see on some of the oil pumps. Methane is far more expensive to capture and transport.
An Article from FoxNews.com on this.
I see you posted in another thread on this topic today (about the Dakota fields...)
http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/bakken/index
That will take you to many different threads on the Bakken area related oil production.
Hydraulic Fracturing is done after the drilling but before the well is completed. There is often no gathering equipment or associated pipeline in place to capture and use at that time.
Thanks!
BUT.....this is temporary while the drilling takes place....roads get beat up too with the truck traffic...but as they begin to finish up then they redo the road's and the community side streets etc.
We have a beautiful downtown now...complete with fancy light-posts, new brick and trees, and benches along the sidewalks. Plus all the buildings refurbished...it's really quaint and great walking through the town now.
So hang in there...good things a coming!
BTW that’s about the size of my home town too...
The geology is more or less simple. This stuff is buried off every ancient river delta ( think Mississippi or Amazon for example) and at the flood plain of every ancient mountain range. The old Rockies buried the Dakota formation around 65 million years ago. Same is true with the ancient Appalations. It’s mostly just a matter of depth and , as with the Gulf of Mexico, if you drill below the depth where oil can exist——you find gas. From 15,000 to 18,000 feet straight down is the transition zone. You can’t miss it.
I have heard Cline is a HUGE shale play.Baken shale is like 30ft thick were as the Cline "Play" is something like 300ft thick.
The problem is there is so much gas that the oil companies don't have enough pipelines or storage to contain it. Right now they are "flaring"(burning) it off until new pipelines come online..
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