The Bakken Oil Formation is the largest physical size oil field in the world. 30% in Saskatchewan Canada, A part in Montana but the main part is in North Dakota.
Being revised up in reserve size constantly we now see figures it could hold over 100 billion barrels of oil, and some say could be up to 125.
Anwar in Alaska is similar large reserve size but Anwar is Federal government land (wild life refuge,) and has up to 10 Billion barrels of oil but has drilling banned by the Obama Administration environmental department currently and has been for some time.
Much to dismay of Alaskans whose northern slope wells are down to less than half earlier days and pipe line is running too little oil to stay warm for trip in winter...
There are 6,000 active wells operating currently in the Bakken, located in Montana and North Dakota.
The pace is to be drilling over 2,100 annually in North Dakota and eastern Montana, all on privately owned land and Indian reservations.
Bitter cold winters make the drilling season much shorter then almost anywhere else in the country.
Estimates are it will take over 50,000 wells to tap the field and at 2100 a year it sounds like a 20 year boom. Wells are expected to produce 20 to 40 years with possibly a "refracking" along the way.
This field is shale that requires fracking to make it work. This is a layer of rock that does not give up its oil easily and there is no looking for the traditional oil strike hitting a pool of oil.
In the traditional well if you did not hit pooled oil you could recover no oil and the well was referred to as a dry hole.
Most of this oil is in a layer of sediment that has been cracked every which way from millions of years of seismic activity.
The cracks are tightly together and the oil does not seep out into pools as it does in fields of conventional oil layers were the trick is to hit an area of pooled oil leaks thru cracks that have come together.
Fracking uses high pressure water or propane gel, together with silica sand pressures cracks apart over and around a 7,000 foot long horizontal pipe.
Liquid with sand under high pressure forces water and sand into the cracks.
The water is withdrawn and leaves sand to hold the cracks open so oil or natural gas can escape.
Fracking has been used extensively only from 89 on, though invented in 1949 and initially used only in vertical wells covering only the thickness of the shale layer. Now holes are made all around all sides of the 7 thousand foot long horizontal pipe. Fracturing and leaving sand in the cracked shale. Most wells are in shale 2 miles below the surface.
The first horizontal drilling with fracking happened in Texas in 2002. Horizontal wells in North Dakota now go as far as 7,000 feet horizontally.
Technical improvements have resulted in increased production even on established wells, in North Dakota year to year.
North Dakota is on nearly flat farm and rangeland, but has a very harsh winter that cuts the drilling season. 6,000 plus wells operating. Texas in contrast has 14,000 shale wells drilled and is drilling 5,000 annually, in just one of several shales, with drilling weather all year around.
North Dakota has winters with 40 degrees below zero thus the drilling season is short.
Just one of the several Texas shale areas Eagle Ford, produces 1.4 million barrels a day.
Total U.S. production from these new fracking wells on shale is replacing many dollars worth of foreign oil.
Texas has a total of many more new fracking wells annually because of year around drilling weather. More new wells then Bakken but Bakken is higher production per well.
U.S. Consumption now reported at 5.6 Million barrels North Dakota less than half the Texas figure but expected to surpass Texas current figures in a few years of drilling. *(however, Texas has many more new fracking fields coming on line.) so Bakken may never catch up.
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North Dakota Now supplying nearly 10% of U.S. Oil production.
In the United States the government owns or controls 70% of Oil shale land. (Gas shale is a separate issue)
Wyoming and Colorado are the next big Oil Fracking states, but unfortunately mostly Federal controlled land.
Montana and South Dakota (private land) will soon be more involved in the Bakken oil boom.
The large number of wells drilled in Montana Bakken shale earlier, many had the amount of oil produced by each well drop off rapidly so drilling moved more to North Dakota were wells seemed to sustain full production longer. Montana drilling now will likely be concentrated closer to ND border.
The Keystone XL (Canada built) U.S. North to South, planned pipeline to Houston refinery area.(currently delayed by Obama) is crucial for North Dakota, South Dakota and Montana wells, In addition to Canada oil sands production it was to also transport this U.S. North Dakota Montana oil out to refineries in Houston to replace far east oil.
The keystone xl oil pipeline construction from Canada to Houston, reviewed for over three years and okayed by the U.S. State Department was delayed til after the election by Obama, was important to North Dakota and Eastern Montana Wells.
TransCanada, the pipeline sponsor is reported to have had a commitment to carry 100,000 barrels of oil per day from North Dakota, to Houston refineries, equivalent of 500 truckloads per day or 17 million truck miles per year. Cost would have been as much as ten dollars per barrel less than currently having to pay for railroad transport. Local pipe lines to Trans Canada were planned and under way.
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Canadian Keystone Pipeline Stalled by Obama Would Have Carried North Dakota Oil.
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North Dakota Proposed pipe line Connection to Canadian Sponsored Stalled Keystone Pipe To Houston Refineries.
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New Lights from Flared Natural Gas at 6,000 Wells
Pic of ND Space Bakken Lights in Red Where Not there in 92?
See Additional Space ND pics
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