Posted on 01/02/2011 5:10:05 PM PST by Titus-Maximus
APNewsBreak: ND oil patch may double production APNewsBreak: Officials say North Dakota's oil patch poised to double production ap
* Share * retweet * Email * Print
James Macpherson, Associated Press, On Sunday January 2, 2011, 3:30 pm EST
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) -- Government and industry officials believe North Dakota's oil patch contains more than twice the amount of oil previously estimated and that the state's already record crude production will double within the decade.
If the forecast is correct, North Dakota could leapfrog in a few years from the fourth-biggest oil producing state to No. 2, trailing only Texas.
"It's a pretty rosy picture," said Lynn Helms, director of the North Dakota Department of Mineral Resources. "We have a huge amount of drilling still in front of us."
Helms said the state currently is pumping about 350,000 barrels of crude per day and was on pace to produce about 110 million barrels in 2010, up from 79.7 million last year and more than double the amount produced less than three years ago.
Record rig activity pushed by strong crude prices and refinements in drilling technology could result in North Dakota seeing a twofold increase in production. The drilling technology alone has cut the amount of time needed to complete a well from 65 days in 2008 to about 25 days.
"We are now looking at the possibility of 700,000 barrels a day and we see that coming in the next four to seven years," Helms said.
At that rate, North Dakota would surpass California and Alaska based on those states' current production, said Steven Grape, the domestic reserves project manager for the U.S. Department of Energy's information administration.
(Excerpt) Read more at finance.yahoo.com ...
Use the resources in this country. Create jobs and wealth and stop giving money to terrorist states.
What is wrong with that message Barack? Just tell the climate left to shut up and go march in China. See how they respond!
Williston Basin. If we don’t get it, Canada will.
peak oil going strong
But that cannot be true, the sky is falling crowd will not be pleased.
Watch for Obama and that basturd Salazar try to kill this!
How long until obamster’s epa sues to shut them down?
“Without the ability to handle the increase, it’s still just crude oil in the ground.”
Check out a map of major pipelines in the US. Linking up N. Dakota to one or more of these is a simple matter.
http://www.neb-one.gc.ca/clf-nsi/rpblctn/spchsndprsnttn/2005/cndnl/cndnl-eng.html
So long as liberals are in charge, I just don’t see it moving forward in any meaningful way.
A newly approved pipeline will take the crude to all the way to Texas.
If it wasn’t for the Bakken we’d all be walkin.
Hmm, this will make Byron Dorgan and Kent Conrad even *more* important. I wonder how this development will affect their positions on energy issues and things like cap-and-trade.
Just how much will all that oil money affect North Dakota? Will its unpleasantness of its climate overwhelm its attractive prosperity as a large oil producer?
Hmm, this will make Byron Dorgan and Kent Conrad even *more* important. I wonder how this development will affect their positions on energy issues and things like cap-and-trade.
Just how much will all that oil money affect North Dakota? Will its unpleasantness of its climate overwhelm its attractive prosperity as a large oil producer?
Dorgan retired.
North Dakota is hereby designated a national park. No drilling.
North Dakota’s problem is it doesn’t have mountains like Montana.
I think that most Americans do not appreciate the exponential growth in oilfield technology over the last ten years. There are now three recognizable oilshale deposits in the Williston Basin, and if one acesses the North Dakota office of energy devolopment you will find the number of wells now under construction is staggering. All the oil majors are at work there, and they are using new techniques to drill three or four wells from the same pad. Simultaneously, there are real developments underway in the Eagle Ford in Texas and, if the the US Govt will get out of the way, there is real promise in the Niobrara find in the eastern Rockies as well as the Marcellus shale in western Pennsylvania. 2011 should be a banner year for the American oil industry.
New pipelines are planned from ND to Texas...the solution seeming to be expanding refineries in Texas, instead of building new ones in the midwest. They explored building a refinery here in Kansas; but, the regulatory environment was too fluid.
There are projects currently in engineering design phase for expansions, as well as several pipelines.
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.