Posted on 06/20/2006 12:48:09 PM PDT by saganite
A geologist who estimated the Bakken formation in western North Dakota has far more oil than the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge died before other scientists could authenticate his study.
Leigh Price, a scientist with the U.S. Geological Survey, published a study in 1999 that estimates the Bakken shales formation, which underlies much of several western and northwestern counties, may hold up to 400 billion barrels of oil.
By comparison, the Arctic refuge oil reserve is estimated at 16 billion barrels.
Now, Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., is pushing the federal agency to complete scientific work on Price’s paper as part of a national inventory of the nation’s oil resources.
The Bakken formation is being developed to some extent in North Dakota, but with better success so far on the Montana side of the formation.
Recently, Marathon Oil, a major national and international oil developer, acquired 200,000 mineral acres from Billings to McKenzie counties and plans to drill as many as 300 wells into the Bakken in the next five years.
The company has leased office space in Dickinson and is being closely watched in hopes the expertise and knowledge it brings to bear on the field can unlock the key to successful production from the Bakken.
Price died in 2000 and his study was never peer reviewed, or compared to other studies of the Williston Basin.
Dorgan said the study could have major implications for future oil development in the state.
“If some of the estimates about the Bakken Shale are anywhere near accurate, there may be substantial new oil production in North Dakota’s future,” Dorgan said. “This could create a new, long-term boost to North Dakota’s economy and help move our country toward energy independence. I think USGS has an obligation to put the completion of this study on the fast track.”
Lynn Helms, director of the State Oil and Gas Division, said U.S. Geological Survey credibility coupled with Price’s original estimate could bring major oil activity into North Dakota, along with federal research dollars.
Helms said the state agency supports an estimate of around 200 billion barrels in the Bakken formation, still a huge number.
Patrick Leahy, acting director of the federal Geological Survey, said because of recent interest in Price’s report he has directed the agency to review Price’s conclusions and release appropriate data.
In the meantime, Leahy said it would be irresponsible for Price’s study to be disseminated. It is posted on the state Energy and Environmental Research Center’s Web site.
Leahy said the 2000 Energy Policy and Conservation Act, and amendments, call for creating a scientific inventory of all national oil reserves.
He said the next formal study and inventory of oil and gas in North Dakota’s Williston Basin — the overriding formation that includes the Bakken — is scheduled for 2007-08.
Leahy said the Bakken formation and Williston Basin inventory can’t be accelerated without disrupting other inventories that are well under way.
He said the estimates in Price’s study were not found with the same methods developed for the Energy Policy and Conservation Act inventory.
Saganite
PSIntegrated Analysis of the Bakken Petroleum System,
U.S. Williston Basin
By
Jack Flannery1 and Jeff Kraus2
Search and Discovery Article #10105 (2006)
Posted May 23, 2006
*Poster presentation, at AAPG Annual Convention, Houston, Texas, April 10-12, 2006 (with adaptation for HTML version)
Click to view posters in PDF format.
Poster 1 (3.6 mb) Poster (4.3 mb) Poster (3.4 mb)
1Tethys Geoscience, Denver Colorado
2Formerly Tethys Geoscience, Denver Colorado, currently ExxonMobil, Houston Texas (jeffrey.u.kraus@exxonmobil.com)
Abstract
As much as 300 billion barrels of oil have been generated from Upper Devonian-Lower Mississippian Bakken shales in the U.S. Williston Basin. Recent industry activity has been focused on the middle Bakken siltstone trend in Richland County, Montana. Operators there are enjoying impressive success rates from wells that test 500 barrels of oil per day, on average. Horizontal drilling, completion, and fracturing technology are generally credited with opening up the historically disappointing play. Companies are now extending the play in to other parts of the Basin. Future success will rely largely upon developing a thorough understanding of the play as it is currently being exploited and, especially, upon using that understanding to identify key geologic controls of Bakken prospectivity that can be capitalized on elsewhere.
Regional structure and isopach maps, along with geochemical, thermal, and rock properties data, are used to construct a three-dimensional thermal and fluid flow model of the basin. The model provides unique insight into the evolution of the Bakken petroleum system and allows us to predict reservoir quality, source maturation, and volumes of oil expelled and currently trapped within the middle Bakken. Integration and spatial analysis of modeled results, regional maps, and measured data shed light upon the fundamental geologic variables and relationships that control Bakken prospectivity. Key factors include maximum reservoir temperature, stratigraphic architecture, and small-scale porosity development. We interpret potential for additional middle Bakken exploration downdip from the current siltstone play where the middle Bakken thickens and becomes sandier.
http://www.searchanddiscovery.com/documents/2006/06035flannery/index.htm
I am very sorry, Sen. Dorgan, but as a member of the Demagogic Party surely you know that no further development of our domestic energy sources may be allowed under any circumstances!! Just think of all the precious land that will be disturbed if your proposal is pursued. No, no, forget about any oil reserves you think may be lying around beneath your pristine state and concentrate upon ending energy usage as we know it....... i.e., modern civilization. That is your duty as a leading member of the Demagogic Party. Thank you.
</liberal>
If this is true (and I remain skeptical) the rats will think up some reason why we can't drill it.
Are there caribou to stop the discovery ?
No caribou, but lots of deer and wide open spaces.
I used to live in ND. I loved that place.
Why do I get the feeling maybe Durgan owns land around there???...
Elk, I think.
It's unfortunate Dorgan was even mentioned in this article since that's what all posters have locked onto here. The real importance of this article is in the huge estimated size of the reserves believed to be there. Formerly those oil formations weren't accessible but new drilling technology could provide the US with a huge new source of domestic oil.
Or, more likely, he wants to get them federally protected so NO drilling would be allowed.....
How soon until an endangered lichen or something is found to be growing in this area?
Drilling has been going on in this geologic formation for years. There's no way this oil will be locked up in some new reserve when the precedent has already been set. That would be analogous to preventing new drilling in West Texas. What this article points out is the new technology that unlocks previously unavailable oil.
Maybe this is why Dorgan was against ANWR. But he would look really foolish if he talked about the primacy of Alaska's precious environment and then let drilling take place (and bring dollars to) his home state.
Thanks for an intelligent reply to the post! You would think it's a Dorgan article.
From other info on the current play I gather the new technology discussed involves horizontal drilling and new fracture techniques that release the oil where older drilling methods failed. If true this find alone will make Alaska look small.
As for Dorgan's interest, he would be able to bring new investment and jobs to his state, stand up for oil exploration (in the right areas) and be able to say he was right to vote against opening up ANWR since this find would dwarf it.
"Dorgan said the study could have major implications for future oil development in the state."
No, Byron, I would think that your own, and your own Party's opposition to the oil industry and to the exploitation of American oil resources will assure that this oil never sees the LIGHT OF DAY!
Comparing apples to oranges. Alaska also has vast deposits of oil shale, coal, natural gas, and firewood.
The Canadian Geese will trip over the pipeline as they walk across the border.
If a relatively high price is sustained, wouldn't the more advanced methods make sense to use?
Also, I wonder if the "big oil tax breaks" riduculed in press were in fact incentives to make just these investments. I figured it was best to ask an "industry person", since it so hard to tell from the hysterical anti-Bush press accounts.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.