Massive Oil Deposit Could Increase US reserves by 10x

Next Energy News ^ | 2-13-08 | unknown

[a real Sheila]

America is sitting on top of a super massive 200 billion barrel Oil Field that could potentially make America Energy Independent and until now has largely gone unnoticed. Thanks to new technology the Bakken Formation in North Dakota could boost America’s Oil reserves by an incredible 10 times, giving western economies the trump card against OPEC’s short squeeze on oil supply and making Iranian and Venezuelan threats of disrupted supply irrelevant.

In the next 30 days the USGS (U.S. Geological Survey) will release a new report giving an accurate resource assessment of the Bakken Oil Formation that covers North Dakota and portions of South Dakota and Montana. With new horizontal drilling technology it is believed that from 175 to 500 billion barrels of recoverable oil are held in this 200,000 square mile reserve that was initially discovered in 1951. The USGS did an initial study back in 1999 that estimated 400 billion recoverable barrels were present but with prices bottoming out at $10 a barrel back then the report was dismissed because of the higher cost of horizontal drilling techniques that would be needed, estimated

[unkus]

I am loosing all confidence in America. Sad to say, but true. I think we need some very hard knocks to wake up the spoiled, complacent,unappreciative, lazy, take everything for granted sheep.

[NormsRevenge]

at least the 10th thread posted on this very topic in the last few weeks.

—

Good!

.. and I hope to see 20 more like it in the next few weeks.

It is amazing how easily foreign suppliers of energy can tie up our own resources here at home thru subterfuge and trickery and lies... all served up by eco-front orgs and elected officials on the take.

Talk about your conspiracy of conspiracies.. they are definitely getting their monies worth any way ya cut it.;-)

[AFreeBird]

I believe Smokin Joe is working that field.

[beelzepug]

“...typical white oilmen...”

Care to elaborate on that?

[thackney]

Oil is being found at depths within the earth which are far, far below any level containing any fossil record.

Not true. All oil in production is source from sedimentary rock.

[richardtavor]

I don’t know about 200 Billion Bbls, but it is a very large play. The Bakken Shale was not explored until recently because of the lack of technology. EOG recently drilled a few wells that potentialed for 2000 bbls per day—considering the extent of the basin, it could be a very large field. In addition, the Barnett Shale in Texas, the Woodford Shale in Oklahoma and Texas, and the Fayetteville Shale in Arkansas are profitable now. Most of the source rocks in the US are being looked at as reservoirs because of rapidly advancing technology. The industry is shifting from conventional to unconvential plays. High product prices and improving drilling techniques have made that possible.

[frithguild]

Federally Listed Endangered, Threatened, and Candidate Species – 1995

Birds
Least Tern (Sterna antillarum)
Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus)
Whooping Crane (Grus americana)
Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus anatum)
Piping Plover (Charadrius melodus)
Western Burrowing Owl (Athene cunicularia hypugea)
Black Tern (Chlidonias niger)
Baird’s Sparrow (Ammodramus bairdii)
Northern Goshawk (Accipiter gentilis)
Loggerhead Shrike (Lanius ludovicianus)
Ferruginous Hawk (Buteo regalis)

Fishes
Pallid Sturgeon (Scaphirhynchus albus)
Blue Sucker (Cycleptus elongatus)
Flathead Chub (Platygobio gracilis)
Sicklefin Chub (Macrhybopsis meeki)
Sturgeon Chub (Macrhybopsis gelida)
Greater Redhorse (Moxostoma valenciennesi)
Paddlefish (Polyodon spathula)
Western Silvery Minnow (Hybognathus argyritis)
Plains Minnow (Hybognathus placitus)

Reptiles
False Map Turtle (Graptemys pseudogeographica pseudogeographica)
Eastern Short-Horned Lizard (Phrynosoma douglassii brevirostra)
Northern Sagebrush Lizard (Sceloporus graciosus graciosus)

Mammals
Black-Footed Ferret (Mustela nigripes)
Gray Wolf (Canis lupus)
Swift Fox (Vulpes velox)
Lynx (Felis lynx)
Wolverine (Gulo gulo)
Pale Townsend’s Big-Eared Bat (Plecotus townsendii pallescens)
Long-Eared Myotis (Myotis evotis)
Long-Legged Myotis (Myotis volans)
Small-Footed Myotis (Myotis ciliolabrum)

Plants
Western Prairie Fringed Orchid (Platanthera praeclara)
Hayden’s Yellow-Cress (Rorippa calycina)
Wolf’s Spike-Rush (Eleocharis wolfii)
Dakota Wild Buckwheat (Eriogonum visheri)
Handsome Sedge (Carex formosa)

Insects
Belfragii’s Chlorochroan Bug (Chlorochroa belfragii (Stal))
Regal Fritillary Butterfly (Speyeria idalia)
Tawny Crescent Butterfly (Phyciodes batesii)
Dakota Skipper Butterfly (Hesperia dacotae)

Mollusks
Elktoe (Alasmidonta marginata)
Callused Vertigo (Vertigo arthuri)

[Ingtar]

I hope there are no polar bears in North Dakota.

They are on an island in the Pacific... (LOST reference)

[goldfinch]

Sorry, we can’t do this. It would disturb the habitat of the Swahili Bucktoothed Titmouse.

I don't think that is the native habitat for the Swahili Bucktoothed Titmouse. It is prime country for the Jackalope, however, which should shutdown all attempts to drill.

[richardtavor]

Do a search on Bakken Shale, Barnett Shale, Woodford Shale, Fayetteville Shale. Hottest plays in the US at the moment.

[Emperor Palpatine]

Then the Greens need silenced.

[LearsFool]

Fine, but it might take too long. I'd like to see them cut off tomorrow if we could do so.

I'd like to see that too. I don't see how it's possible, though. (Not unless we march in Roman-style and just take their oil.) No, I think we've got to outlast them.

American energy-independence now simply means China and Russia get their Mideast oil cheaper - which is probably not in our best interest either. We've got to get to a position of greater control over the oil supply (and the food supply as much as possible), and then squeeze out and starve out the "undesirables" from power. IMHO.

[thackney]

Barnett Shale in Texas is a Natural Gas Source, not a significant source of oil. Woodford Shale and Fayetteville Shale are also a Natural Gas fields.

[shineon]

Sorry, we can’t do this. It would disturb the habitat of the Swahili Bucktoothed Titmouse.

[Jeff F]

usually takes more energy (hot water) to heat the stuff up and get it moving than is economically justified. It’s the same as trying to get the bacon grease down the trap. Hot water makes the job easy. Otherwise, pretty much impossible. Cold water (which is the case ambiently in N Dakota) = locked to whatever it’s sticking to. Please play again. The ME is wonderful for oil because it’s hotter than hell :).

If the oil is down a few thousand feet the surface temperatures won't matter - it will still be quite warm. If you need something hotter why not bring in a number of the small nuclear power plant technologies to produce steam. If nothing else, why not stick a few refurbished nuclear subs out there? These could be portable and cheap sources of a whole lot of BTU's.

The greens will scream naturally but why not answer their paranoid rantings with the argument that this is the best way for us to avoid a whole series of future Iraq style wars. This line of argument won't make them any happier but it might convince the sane in the rest of the nation to go along. In one fairly simple and inexpensive play we could undercut nearly all the enemies of this nation for decades to come.

[Joe Boucher]

No.

[ModelBreaker]

It wouldn’t matter any way. The stupid libs won’t let us get near it.

Well, there going to have a problem if it's accessible from the Indian Reservations. The indians have a lot of autonomy and Greens have a really hard time telling brown-skinned folks what to do. The revenues for the governing tribal councils from exploiting a huge oil hit will be tempting beyond belief.

So we might actually get to a bunch of this oil despite the greenies.

[Old Professer]

If this is so then look for oil to be $1,000 barrel.

[truthguy]

I don’t believe a word of this. The U.S. Continental oil reserves are at or near bone dry. I have talked to people in the oil exploration industry and they tell me there is very little cheap oil left.

[B4Ranch]

The last thing that the Carlyle Group is going to allow Bush to do is break the backs of the Saudis. Chinas need for oil will prevent the price of oil from ever dropping ‘too far’.