Amazing Oil Assets of US

[John317]

3 to 4.3 Billion Barrels of Technically Recoverable Oil Assessed in North Dakota and Montana’s Bakken Formation—25 Times More Than 1995 Estimate—

Quote:

Reston, VA - North Dakota and Montana have an estimated 3.0 to 4.3 billion barrels of undiscovered, technically recoverable oil in an area known as the Bakken Formation.

A U.S. Geological Survey assessment, released April 10, shows a 25-fold increase in the amount of oil that can be recovered compared to the agency's 1995 estimate of 151 million barrels of oil.

Technically recoverable oil resources are those producible using currently available technology and industry practices. USGS is the only provider of publicly available estimates of undiscovered technically recoverable oil and gas resources.

New geologic models applied to the Bakken Formation, advances in drilling and production technologies, and recent oil discoveries have resulted in these substantially larger technically recoverable oil volumes. About 105 million barrels of oil were produced from the Bakken Formation by the end of 2007.

The USGS Bakken study was undertaken as part of a nationwide project assessing domestic petroleum basins using standardized methodology and protocol as required by the Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 2000.

The Bakken Formation estimate is larger than all other current USGS oil assessments of the lower 48 states and is the largest "continuous" oil accumulation ever assessed by the USGS. A "continuous" oil accumulation means that the oil resource is dispersed throughout a geologic formation rather than existing as discrete, localized occurrences. The next largest "continuous" oil accumulation in the U.S. is in the Austin Chalk of Texas and Louisiana, with an undiscovered estimate of 1.0 billions of barrels of technically recoverable oil.

"It is clear that the Bakken formation contains a significant amount of oil - the question is how much of that oil is recoverable using today's technology?" said Senator Byron Dorgan, of North Dakota. "To get an answer to this important question, I requested that the U.S. Geological Survey complete this study, which will provide an up-to-date estimate on the amount of technically recoverable oil resources in the Bakken Shale formation."

The USGS estimate of 3.0 to 4.3 billion barrels of technically recoverable oil has a mean value of 3.65 billion barrels. Scientists conducted detailed studies in stratigraphy and structural geology and the modeling of petroleum geochemistry. They also combined their findings with historical exploration and production analyses to determine the undiscovered, technically recoverable oil estimates.

USGS worked with the North Dakota Geological Survey, a number of petroleum industry companies and independents, universities and other experts to develop a geological understanding of the Bakken Formation. These groups provided critical information and feedback on geological and engineering concepts important to building the geologic and production models used in the assessment.

Five continuous assessment units (AU) were identified and assessed in the Bakken Formation of North Dakota and Montana - the Elm Coulee-Billings Nose AU, the Central Basin-Poplar Dome AU, the Nesson-Little Knife Structural AU, the Eastern Expulsion Threshold AU, and the Northwest Expulsion Threshold AU.

At the time of the assessment, a limited number of wells have produced oil from three of the assessments units in Central Basin-Poplar Dome, Eastern Expulsion Threshold, and Northwest Expulsion Threshold.

The Elm Coulee oil field in Montana, discovered in 2000, has produced about 65 million barrels of the 105 million barrels of oil recovered from the Bakken Formation.

Results of the assessment can be found at http://energy.usgs.gov.

For a podcast interview with scientists about the Bakken Formation, listen to episode 38 of CoreCast at http://www.usgs.gov/corecast/.

Source: http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=1911

[jandieB]

It was really amazing that North Dakota has Oil Assets to help US recover. North Dakota has been able to avoid the deadening economic bust of the recession. Six-figure paychecks are possible; just don't expect it to be simple, notes CNN. The North Dakota oil boom, centered on the Bakken oil formation, has kept the state's joblessness rate the lowest in the United States at 3.5 percent. Big oil means a large number of careers - if applicants can hack grueling hours, lack of housing and harsh winter months. North Dakota oil boom brings jobs aplenty. But, before moving in, there are things to consider. While high-paying jobs are plentiful, housing is not. Reports of thousands of workers sleeping in cars and RVs are not uncommon, as the surge in demand has made even single-bedroom apartments rent for more than $1,500 per month, if they’re even available. Two- to three-bedroom rentals go for $3,000 or more. Well, someone should start building some affordable housing for the new workers flooding in.

[olger]

Drill, baby drill! :)

[Dr. Shane]

While high-paying jobs are plentiful, housing is not.

There is a solution to that. It starts with a boom in the manufactured home business and as workers become established they will replace their mobile homes with custom-built homes. Sounds like jobs, jobs and more jobs. And this can happen all over the country. We can make $3/gallon gasoline out of coal and guarantee the price not to go up for 10 years. That means lots more refinery jobs a boom in every coal-mining town in America.

[miz3]

Drill, baby drill!

[jasd]

QR frame:

We've had new flywheel technology that could have been pumping (what was formerly declared 'unretrievable' oil) from capped wells (tens of thousands of them) for decades now. But with highly-funded and energetic 'environmentalist' groups filing lawsuits at every turn - where would we have refined it?--no refineries being built. Or for that matter, where would we have stored it?

The richest deposit of oil found in our lifetime is near Wrangle Island; yet, we bypassed Congress and gave it to the USSR. What's with that!?

What is going on? Why has our Govt made us so energy-dependent upon others - who are now, for the most part - enemies? Or, near-enemies.

We have the world's largest deposits of coal - rivaled only by China's coal deposits. Hitler conducted war with more than 70% of his energy needs supplied with oil synthesized from coal.

That technology was economically feasible then and is now almost three quarters of a century OLD!

Ehhhh, whassup, Doc? --Fudd

[Bravus]

Revelation 11:18

And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth.

[Dr. Shane]

Coal to liquid can make gasoline at $3/gallon and stabilize it for 10 years. However once we start doing that on a grand scale, OPEC will cut the bottom out of the barrel of oil and gasoline will drop to $2/gallon.

So the US government should enter into a 10-year contract with energy companies to purchase coal-to-liquid gasoline at $3/gallon. That would fuel all military, postal and other government vehicles. Gasoline may drop well below the $3 mark but with all government vehicles using domestically-produced fuel that would reduce our dependance on foreign oil and create thousands of jobs here at home.