Drilling for oil in the shale formations of Texas and North Dakota often results in the flaring of natural gas – as some of these areas are not served by natural gas pipelines. Although this practice is somewhat of an industry tradition it is drawing increasing criticism because it wastes a non-renewable energy resource, is an economic loss, produces air pollution and contributes to climate change.
More at FuelFix.com.
Five states account for over 50% of the USA’s crude oil production with production rapidly increasing in Texas and North Dakota.
More at Energy Information Administration.
Oil and natural gas production in North Dakota is at all-time highs, fueled by intense drilling activity in the Bakken Formation, Three Forks Formations and other rock units.
More at Grand Forks Herald.
Even though oil production from North Dakota’s Bakken Formation has propelled the state to new production records there is still a backlog of wells to be fracked.
More at Bloomberg.
Rising production from the Bakken Shale has propelled North Dakota up to the fourth largest oil producing state behind Texas, Alaska and California.
More at Energy Information Administration.
The Energy Information Administration reports that about 1/3 of the natural gas produced from the Bakken Formation of North Dakota is flared instead of marketed because natural gas pipelines are not present in the production area or they can not accept…
More at Energy Information Administration.
There is still more than one month remaining in 2011, but oil production in North Dakota has broken the annual record set in 2010. The state is on-target to produce about 150 million barrels.
More at FuelFix.com.
Thousands of high-paying new jobs are unfilled in North Dakota where natural gas and oil are being produced from the Bakken Formation, the Niobrara Shale and other rock units.
More at MSNBC.
Although the United States Geological Survey estimates that the Bakken Formation beneath parts of North Dakota, Montana and Canada might contain over 4 billion barrels of oil, Harold Hamm, believes that it might contain up to 24 billion barrels.
More at Wall Street Journal.
When natural gas is present in a well and no pipeline is available to move it to market or storage that gas has traditionally been flared. This practice causes concerns related to greenhouse gas production and waste.
More at New York Times.
When natural gas is present in a well and no pipeline is available to move it to market or storage that gas has traditionally been flared. This practice causes concerns related to greenhouse gas production and waste.
More at New York Times.
The Energy Policy Research Foundation has released a report titled: The Bakken Boom: An Introduction to North Dakota’s Shale Oil. Oil production from the Bakken could surpass 700,000 barrels per day within the next few years.
“U.S. Geological Survey scientists and cooperating partners are examining the potential risk to aquatic resources by contamination from saline waters produced by petroleum development in the Williston Basin of Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota.” Quoted from the USGS publication release.
In the past three years oil and natural gas production from the Bakken Formation of North Dakota and Montana has increased dramatically causing the United States Geological Survey to launch an update of its last assessment that was completed just three years ago. More at UPI.com.
According to a brief article in the Oil and Gas Journal, small successful operators in the Bakken Shale / Three Forks Shale play might be prime take-over targets.
Diverging estimates by three different organizations with significant expertise in oil and natural gas assessments leave one wondering how much oil really is in the Bakken and Three Forks Formations? Read the details on the Trib.com website.
Here are the estimates….
USGS…. 4.3 billion barrels
North Dakota Geological Survey…. 11 billion barrels
Continental Resources…. 20 billion barrels
Oil production in North Dakota has been rising rapidly over the past few years, driven by the success of the Bakken Shale. A “Chart of the Day” article on the Bloomberg.com website forecasts that the crude output of North Dakota is likely to surpass that of Alaska within the next couple of years.
