This article speaks of pure politics. Like the monkeying around with the Census data, the unemployment numbers, jobless benefits, Obamacare enrollments, etc., the administration has no integrity and will use, what should be impartial federal agencies, for their political ends. I see this as cover for the green lobby for when a Republican occupies the White House and begins pushing California to expand production in the Monterey fields. About 8 years ago, in about the only good thing he did, Senator Dorgan of North Dakota went toe-to-toe with the Geological Survey agency to get them to release a study by a geologist who died years before the release of the study. Of course the study has the Bakken at a recoverable oil potential many times higher than the Geological Survey. For some reason they resisted for years releasing the study. The CEO of Continental Oil kept claiming the Bakken had over 200 billion barrels of recoverable oil and he was busy buying up leases and drilling. In my mind the Geological Survey held on to the study to suppress development of the oil and only released it in response to Walter Hamm’s claims and efforts of Senator Dorgan.
Even the NDGS estimates were greater than the USGS one, and although people could accuse the State of trying to promote development, the numbers were based on production estimates from existing wells, projected to likely hotspots and a relatively narrow corridor of anticipated thermal maturity.
Those estimates proved to be pessimistic, too.
I have no problem with the NDGS nor the NDIC (North Dakota Industrial Commission--Oil and Gas Division) on that.
They have to be careful not to hype a play or they, like the USGS could lose credibility, and that is no place to be.