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Home Front: Culture Wars
North Dakota - The New Oil Mecca
2011-01-03
North Dakota is now looking at the possibility of 700,000 barrels of oil a day within the next four to seven years.

Federal and state estimates had pegged North Dakota's portion of the Bakken shale and underlying Three Forks-Sanish oil formations in western North Dakota at about 5 billion barrels of oil, using current horizontal drilling technology. Helms said that estimate has more than doubled based on drilling success and current production rates. "We're starting to see indications that we could reasonably get 11 billion barrels," Helms said.

The drilling technology has cut the amount of time needed to complete a well from 65 days in 2008 to about 25 days.

North Dakota has about 5,300 producing oil wells. About 2,000 of those have spudded in just more than three years, aimed at the Bakken and Three Forks. About 95 percent of rigs drilling in North Dakota are aimed at those formations, and 99 percent of them hit oil, while nine of 10 are profitable, Helms said.

Ron Ness, president of the North Dakota Petroleum Council, said about 650 new wells were drilled in 2010. He and Helms expect up to 2,000 new wells in 2011, which would double the number of Bakken and Three Forks wells to date.
Keep the enviro-wiennies out of ND and the stupid federal courts as well and we might actually have some good, cheap energy available.
Posted by:DarthVader

#7  Nice news, but pales in comparison to US Net imports of 9,226,000 barrels a day as of 12/30/2010.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418   2011-01-03 20:26  

#6  Hard to imagine Larry Hagman in a TV show called Dickinson. At least I visited before it went big time.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble   2011-01-03 20:14  

#5  LOL, so odd to see a news story on where I am and what I'm doing. I'm in North Dakota right now on a rig drilling down into the Three Forks. Most likely this is where I'll be for the next few years as well. Halliburton Sperry Drilling is really ramped up to work on this area. It does tend to be cold and 'going to town' doesn't quite mean the same thing when the town has a listed population of 35 people.

Still, it's fun and profitable up here, I enjoy my work as an MWD and there's tons of snow and ice. I could do without the -35 degree wind chill when it's already -14.
Posted by: Silentbrick - Lost Drill Bit Division - Halliburton   2011-01-03 19:28  

#4  there are formations like the Bakkan in Australia and France (yes, really, France - its called the Paris formation)

probably there are others yet to be fully explored and appraised

American technology will be used in those places.
Posted by: lord garth   2011-01-03 18:45  

#3  Obama wants higher gas prices. It will encourage conservation, reduce CO2 emissions, lower the oceans, save the penguins, and bring the dawning of a new era of peace, prosperity, and kumbaya. Also, damage the economy and increase unemployment.
Posted by: CincinnatusChili   2011-01-03 18:29  

#2  Light crude closed at $91.55 a bbl today, and is expected to reach $100 bbl before too long. Already, some are suggesting gasoline in the $4-$5/gal range.

Hopefully there will be godawful political pressure put on those weeners to open up domestic production.
Posted by: Anonymoose   2011-01-03 18:04  

#1  Keep the enviro-wiennies out of ND and the stupid federal courts

... and the Obama administration.
Posted by: CincinnatusChili   2011-01-03 17:26  

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