PORKER
Well-known member
Oil News , Checking
The Oil Sheiks of the Dakota's
- Thread starter PORKER
- Start date
PORKER
Well-known member
Peak Oil Lie - US Has
Utterly Giant Oil Reserves
Various Sources
2-25-9
The U.S. Geological Service issued a report in April ('08) that only scientists and oil men knew was coming, but man was it big. It was a revised report (hadn't been updated since '95) on how much oil was in this area of the western 2/3 of North Dakota, western South Dakota, and extreme eastern Montana...
The Bakken is the largest domestic oil discovery since Alaska 's Prudhoe Bay, and has the potential to eliminate all American dependence on foreign oil. The Energy Information Administration (EIA) estimates it at 503 billion barrels. Even if just 10% of the oil is recoverable...at $107 a barrel, we're looking at a resource base worth more than $5.3 trillion.
"When I first briefed legislators on this, you could practically see their jaws hit the floor. They had no idea." says Terry Johnson, the Montana Legislature's financial analyst.
"This sizable find is now the highest-producing onshore oil field found in the past 56 years." reports, The Pittsburgh Post Gazette. It's a formation known as the Williston Basin, but is more commonly referred to as the 'Bakken.' And it stretches from Northern Montana, through North Dakota and into Canada. For years, U. S. oil exploration has been considered a dead end. Even the 'Big Oil' companies gave up searching for major oil wells decades ago. However, a recent technological breakthrough has opened up the Bakken's massive reserves.... and we now have access of up to 500 billion barrels. And because this is light, sweet oil, those billions of barrels will cost Americans just $16 PER BARREL!
That's enough crude to fully fuel the American economy for 41 years straight.
2. And if THAT didn't throw you on the floor, then this next one should - because it's from two YEARS ago!
U. S. Oil Discovery - Largest Reserve In The World!
Stansberry Report Online - 4-20-6
Hidden 1,000 feet beneath the surface of the Rocky Mountains lies the largest untapped oil reserve in the world. It is more than 2 TRILLION barrels. On August 8, 2005 President Bush mandated its extraction. In three and a half years of high oil prices none has been extracted. With this motherload of oil why are we still fighting over off-shore drilling?
They reported this stunning news: We have more oil inside our borders, than all the other proven reserves on earth. Here are the official estimates:
* 8 times as much oil as Saudi Arabia
* 18 times as much oil as Iraq
* 21 times as much oil as Kuwait
* 22 times as much oil as Iran
* 500 times as much oil as Yemen
- and it's all right here in the Western United States.
HOW can this BE?
HOW can we NOT BE extracting this?
Because the environmentalists and others have blocked all efforts to help America become independent of foreign oil! Again, we are letting a small group of people dictate our lives and our economy....WHY?
James Bartis, lead researcher with the study says we've got more oil in this very compact area than the entire Middle East - more than 2 TRILLION barrels untapped. That's more than all the proven oil reserves of crude oil in the world today, reports The Denver Post.
Don't think 'OPEC' will drop its price - even with this find? Think again! It's all about the competitive marketplace, - it has to. Think OPEC just might be funding the environmentalists?
Got your attention/ire up yet? Hope so. Now, while you're thinking about it .... and hopefully angry, do this:
3. Pass this along. If you don't take a little time to do this, then you should stifle yourself the next time you want to complain about gas prices .. because by doing NOTHING, you've forfeited your right to complain.
Want the hard data? Go here...
http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=1911
Utterly Giant Oil Reserves
Various Sources
2-25-9
The U.S. Geological Service issued a report in April ('08) that only scientists and oil men knew was coming, but man was it big. It was a revised report (hadn't been updated since '95) on how much oil was in this area of the western 2/3 of North Dakota, western South Dakota, and extreme eastern Montana...
The Bakken is the largest domestic oil discovery since Alaska 's Prudhoe Bay, and has the potential to eliminate all American dependence on foreign oil. The Energy Information Administration (EIA) estimates it at 503 billion barrels. Even if just 10% of the oil is recoverable...at $107 a barrel, we're looking at a resource base worth more than $5.3 trillion.
"When I first briefed legislators on this, you could practically see their jaws hit the floor. They had no idea." says Terry Johnson, the Montana Legislature's financial analyst.
"This sizable find is now the highest-producing onshore oil field found in the past 56 years." reports, The Pittsburgh Post Gazette. It's a formation known as the Williston Basin, but is more commonly referred to as the 'Bakken.' And it stretches from Northern Montana, through North Dakota and into Canada. For years, U. S. oil exploration has been considered a dead end. Even the 'Big Oil' companies gave up searching for major oil wells decades ago. However, a recent technological breakthrough has opened up the Bakken's massive reserves.... and we now have access of up to 500 billion barrels. And because this is light, sweet oil, those billions of barrels will cost Americans just $16 PER BARREL!
That's enough crude to fully fuel the American economy for 41 years straight.
2. And if THAT didn't throw you on the floor, then this next one should - because it's from two YEARS ago!
U. S. Oil Discovery - Largest Reserve In The World!
Stansberry Report Online - 4-20-6
Hidden 1,000 feet beneath the surface of the Rocky Mountains lies the largest untapped oil reserve in the world. It is more than 2 TRILLION barrels. On August 8, 2005 President Bush mandated its extraction. In three and a half years of high oil prices none has been extracted. With this motherload of oil why are we still fighting over off-shore drilling?
They reported this stunning news: We have more oil inside our borders, than all the other proven reserves on earth. Here are the official estimates:
* 8 times as much oil as Saudi Arabia
* 18 times as much oil as Iraq
* 21 times as much oil as Kuwait
* 22 times as much oil as Iran
* 500 times as much oil as Yemen
- and it's all right here in the Western United States.
HOW can this BE?
HOW can we NOT BE extracting this?
Because the environmentalists and others have blocked all efforts to help America become independent of foreign oil! Again, we are letting a small group of people dictate our lives and our economy....WHY?
James Bartis, lead researcher with the study says we've got more oil in this very compact area than the entire Middle East - more than 2 TRILLION barrels untapped. That's more than all the proven oil reserves of crude oil in the world today, reports The Denver Post.
Don't think 'OPEC' will drop its price - even with this find? Think again! It's all about the competitive marketplace, - it has to. Think OPEC just might be funding the environmentalists?
Got your attention/ire up yet? Hope so. Now, while you're thinking about it .... and hopefully angry, do this:
3. Pass this along. If you don't take a little time to do this, then you should stifle yourself the next time you want to complain about gas prices .. because by doing NOTHING, you've forfeited your right to complain.
Want the hard data? Go here...
http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=1911
the report cited says this much oil:
The USGS estimate of 3.0 to 4.3 billion barrels of technically recoverable oil has a mean value of 3.65 billion barrels.
We use about 23 million per day (when the economy is good), so 10 days is 230 million, 100 days is 2.3 billion and 1000 days or around 3 years is 23 billion.
Correct me if I am wrong but his numbers don't add up.
The USGS estimate of 3.0 to 4.3 billion barrels of technically recoverable oil has a mean value of 3.65 billion barrels.
We use about 23 million per day (when the economy is good), so 10 days is 230 million, 100 days is 2.3 billion and 1000 days or around 3 years is 23 billion.
Correct me if I am wrong but his numbers don't add up.
hypocritexposer
Well-known member
Tex, those are the numbers I figured too. I think in his article he did not quote "technically recoverable" (I usually just estimate 1Billion/50 days)
So on the high end of 4M, then 200 days worth!
I find the $16/barrel for extraction low too. Extraction of continuous Oil formations are more expensive than conventional oil.
So on the high end of 4M, then 200 days worth!
I find the $16/barrel for extraction low too. Extraction of continuous Oil formations are more expensive than conventional oil.
hypocritexposer
Well-known member
RobertMac
Well-known member
Obama working to bring back $4.00 gas prices...this time it will get there much slower...per his desire!!!!!!!!!!!hypocritexposer said:
PORKER
Well-known member
Give me a corn powered pickup.
PORKER
Well-known member
Discovered: 200 trillion cubic feet of natural gasJames Lewis WSJ
Good news for America undermines the green energy agenda. The Wall Street Journal reports a huge new discovery of natural gas --- a fossil fuel so clean even liberals can stand it.
"CADDO PARISH, Shreveport La. [b]-Right in the middle of Ranch Country- A massive natural-gas discovery here in northern Louisiana next to Texas [/b]and Oklahoma heralds a big shift in the nation's energy landscape. After an era of declining production, the U.S. is now swimming in natural gas."
"Even conservative estimates suggest the Louisiana discovery -- known as the Haynesville Shale, for the dense rock formation that contains the gas -- could hold some 200 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. That's the equivalent of 33 billion barrels of oil, or 18 years' worth of current U.S. oil production. Some industry executives think the field could be several times that size.
Move OVER North Dakota !!!!!!!
... Huge new fields also have been found in Texas, Arkansas and Pennsylvania. One industry-backed study estimates the U.S. has more than 2,200 trillion cubic feet of gas waiting to be pumped, enough to satisfy nearly 100 years of current U.S. natural-gas demand."
Maybe we can Ranch a little cheaper .
Good news for America undermines the green energy agenda. The Wall Street Journal reports a huge new discovery of natural gas --- a fossil fuel so clean even liberals can stand it.
"CADDO PARISH, Shreveport La. [b]-Right in the middle of Ranch Country- A massive natural-gas discovery here in northern Louisiana next to Texas [/b]and Oklahoma heralds a big shift in the nation's energy landscape. After an era of declining production, the U.S. is now swimming in natural gas."
"Even conservative estimates suggest the Louisiana discovery -- known as the Haynesville Shale, for the dense rock formation that contains the gas -- could hold some 200 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. That's the equivalent of 33 billion barrels of oil, or 18 years' worth of current U.S. oil production. Some industry executives think the field could be several times that size.
Move OVER North Dakota !!!!!!!
... Huge new fields also have been found in Texas, Arkansas and Pennsylvania. One industry-backed study estimates the U.S. has more than 2,200 trillion cubic feet of gas waiting to be pumped, enough to satisfy nearly 100 years of current U.S. natural-gas demand."
Maybe we can Ranch a little cheaper .
PORKER
Well-known member
Bakken Wells Producing BIGTIME
Wells completed in the first quarter of 2009 averaged 489 barrels of oil equivalent per day in their initial seven-day production test, said Jeff Hume, COO.
The most prolific, the Parrish 1-35H, in McKenzie County, produced 795 barrels of oil per day. Three more rigs, near the border of Williams and Divide counties, produced between 603 and 648 barrels of oil per day.
"We are very pleased with these strong results," Hume said.
One company-operated Middle Bakken completion in the first quarter, the Rossow 1-10H in Divide County, produced 329 barrels of oil equivalent per day in its initial seven-day test.
The company has also participated in five more well completions in McKenzie County, since the beginning of the second quarter. Two of these were company-operated wells that targeted the Three Forks/Sanish zone. The Merton 1-3H, which produced 912 barrels of oil equivalent per day, and the George 1-18H, which produced 896 barrels of oil equivalent per day in their initial seven-day test periods..
The other three wells were drilled by ConocoPhillips. targeting the Middle Bakken zone and were some of ConocoPhillips' strongest wells to date in the region, said Hume, ranging between 1,085 barrels of oil equivalent per day to 886 barrels of oil equivalent per day.
The company has another test underway, the Mathistad 2-35H, which should further confirm the separation of the Bakken and Three Forks/Sanish zones.
Wells completed in the first quarter of 2009 averaged 489 barrels of oil equivalent per day in their initial seven-day production test, said Jeff Hume, COO.
The most prolific, the Parrish 1-35H, in McKenzie County, produced 795 barrels of oil per day. Three more rigs, near the border of Williams and Divide counties, produced between 603 and 648 barrels of oil per day.
"We are very pleased with these strong results," Hume said.
One company-operated Middle Bakken completion in the first quarter, the Rossow 1-10H in Divide County, produced 329 barrels of oil equivalent per day in its initial seven-day test.
The company has also participated in five more well completions in McKenzie County, since the beginning of the second quarter. Two of these were company-operated wells that targeted the Three Forks/Sanish zone. The Merton 1-3H, which produced 912 barrels of oil equivalent per day, and the George 1-18H, which produced 896 barrels of oil equivalent per day in their initial seven-day test periods..
The other three wells were drilled by ConocoPhillips. targeting the Middle Bakken zone and were some of ConocoPhillips' strongest wells to date in the region, said Hume, ranging between 1,085 barrels of oil equivalent per day to 886 barrels of oil equivalent per day.
The company has another test underway, the Mathistad 2-35H, which should further confirm the separation of the Bakken and Three Forks/Sanish zones.
PORKER
Well-known member
North America's Best-Kept Oil Secret
Let Wall Street lose their shirts in the Canadian Oil Sands.
You see, while many companies operating in the Oil Sands are in a full backpedal, the focus is shifting to a brighter spot on the energy horizon... one that 99.9% of investors will completely miss out on.
The Bakken Oil Formation.
Fact is, the Saskatchewan side of the massive Bakken deposit has seen 36 straight months of production growth.
And with the Bakken's 4 billion-plus barrels of recoverable oil, we're just getting started.
What's more-- A new floor's being established at this very moment with oil at $60+ a barrel. And unlike the Alberta oil sands--which needs $80 a barrel to turn a profit--these Bakken plays are money in your pocket at half that price.
So if you're on board with the price of oil going higher (and you'd better believe it is), there's never been a better time to get in on the ground floor of our Bakken stock plays.
Energy & Capital editor Keith Kohl has put together a new report to help investors discover why the Bakken basin will play a decidedly crucial role in North American oil production for years to come... and exactly how to position yourself for the next round of profits.
Let Wall Street lose their shirts in the Canadian Oil Sands.
You see, while many companies operating in the Oil Sands are in a full backpedal, the focus is shifting to a brighter spot on the energy horizon... one that 99.9% of investors will completely miss out on.
The Bakken Oil Formation.
Fact is, the Saskatchewan side of the massive Bakken deposit has seen 36 straight months of production growth.
And with the Bakken's 4 billion-plus barrels of recoverable oil, we're just getting started.
What's more-- A new floor's being established at this very moment with oil at $60+ a barrel. And unlike the Alberta oil sands--which needs $80 a barrel to turn a profit--these Bakken plays are money in your pocket at half that price.
So if you're on board with the price of oil going higher (and you'd better believe it is), there's never been a better time to get in on the ground floor of our Bakken stock plays.
Energy & Capital editor Keith Kohl has put together a new report to help investors discover why the Bakken basin will play a decidedly crucial role in North American oil production for years to come... and exactly how to position yourself for the next round of profits.
hypocritexposer
Well-known member
Porker, where are you getting your information? Oilsands production does not need $60+ to turn a profit.
they would have been broke along time ago, if that was the case.
A
Anonymous
Guest
hypocritexposer said:
hypocritexposer
Well-known member
Some will be higher profit due to oil content in the sands, or efficiency.
I believe all the newer projects that are on the go, or starting up, are going to be using the same technology that EnCana uses at Foster Creek. (steam injection)
So the overall cost of extracting the oil from the bitumen is dropping. $20/barrel isn't a bad profit.
The $40 is the figure I had heard.
PORKER
Well-known member
World's Biggest Oil Reserves
In S-N Dakota, E Montana
7-7-9
The U.S. Geological Service issued a report in April ('08) that only scientists and oil men knew was coming, but man was it big. It was a revised report (hadn't been updated since '95) on how much oil was in this area of the western 2/3 of North Dakota; western South Dakota; and extreme eastern Montana ..... check THIS out:
The Bake is the largest domestic oil discovery since Alaska 's Purdah Bay, and has the potential to eliminate all American dependence on foreign oil. The Energy Information Administration (EIA) estimates it at 503 billion barrels.. Even if just 10% of the oil is recoverable... at $107 a barrel, we're looking at a resource base worth more than $5.3 trillion.
'When I first briefed legislators on this, you could practically see their jaws hit the floor. They had no idea..' says Terry Johnson, the Montana Legislature's financial analyst.
'This sizable find is now the highest-producing onshore oil field found in the past 56 years.' reports, The Pittsburgh Post Gazette. It's a formation known as the Williston Basin, but is more commonly referred to as the 'Bake.' And it stretches from Northern Montana, through North Dakota and into Canada . For years, U.S. oil exploration has been considered a dead end. Even the 'Big Oil' companies gave up searching for major oil wells decades ago. However, a recent technological breakthrough has opened up the Bakken's massive reserves.... and we now have access of up to 500 billion barrels. And because this is light, sweet oil, those billions of barrels will cost Americans just $16 PER BARREL!
1. That's enough crude to fully fuel the American economy for 2041 years straight.
2. And if THAT didn't throw you on the floor, then this next one should - because it's from TWO YEARS AGO!
U. S. Oil Discovery- Largest Reserve in the World! Stansberry Report Online - 4/20/2006
Hidden 1,000 feet beneath the surface of the Rocky Mountains lies the largest untapped oil reserve in the world. It is more than 2 TRILLION barrels. On August 8, 2005 President Bush mandated its extraction. In three and a half years of high oil prices none has been extracted. With this motherload of oil why are we still fighting over off-shore drilling?
They reported this stunning news: We have more oil inside our borders, than all the other proven reserves on earth.
Here are the official estimates:
- 8-times as much oil as Saudi Arabia
- 18-times as much oil as Iraq
- 21-times as much oil as Kuwait
- 22-times as much oil as Iran
- 500-times as much oil as Yemen
- and it's all right here in the Western United States.
HOW can this BE? HOW can we NOT BE extracting this? Because the environmentalists and others have blocked all efforts to help America become independent of foreign oil! Again, we are letting a small group of people dictate our lives and our economy.....WHY?
James Bartis, lead researcher with the study says we've got more oil in this very compact area than the entire Middle East - more than 2 TRILLION barrels untapped. That's more than all the proven oil reserves of crude oil in the world today, reports The Denver Post.
Don't think 'OPEC' will drop its price - even with this find? Think again! It's all about the competitive marketplace - it has to.. Think OPEC just might be funding the environmentalists?
Got your attention/ire up yet? Hope so!
Now, while you're thinking about it .... and hopefully P.O'd, do this:
3. Pass this along. If you don't take a little time to do this, then you should stifle yourself the next time you want to complain about gas prices .. because by doing NOTHING, you've forfeited your right to complain.
Now, I just wonder what would happen in this country if every one of you sent this to every one in your address book.
This is all true. Check it out at the link below. GOOGLE it or follow this link. It will blow your mind.
http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=1911
In S-N Dakota, E Montana
7-7-9
The U.S. Geological Service issued a report in April ('08) that only scientists and oil men knew was coming, but man was it big. It was a revised report (hadn't been updated since '95) on how much oil was in this area of the western 2/3 of North Dakota; western South Dakota; and extreme eastern Montana ..... check THIS out:
The Bake is the largest domestic oil discovery since Alaska 's Purdah Bay, and has the potential to eliminate all American dependence on foreign oil. The Energy Information Administration (EIA) estimates it at 503 billion barrels.. Even if just 10% of the oil is recoverable... at $107 a barrel, we're looking at a resource base worth more than $5.3 trillion.
'When I first briefed legislators on this, you could practically see their jaws hit the floor. They had no idea..' says Terry Johnson, the Montana Legislature's financial analyst.
'This sizable find is now the highest-producing onshore oil field found in the past 56 years.' reports, The Pittsburgh Post Gazette. It's a formation known as the Williston Basin, but is more commonly referred to as the 'Bake.' And it stretches from Northern Montana, through North Dakota and into Canada . For years, U.S. oil exploration has been considered a dead end. Even the 'Big Oil' companies gave up searching for major oil wells decades ago. However, a recent technological breakthrough has opened up the Bakken's massive reserves.... and we now have access of up to 500 billion barrels. And because this is light, sweet oil, those billions of barrels will cost Americans just $16 PER BARREL!
1. That's enough crude to fully fuel the American economy for 2041 years straight.
2. And if THAT didn't throw you on the floor, then this next one should - because it's from TWO YEARS AGO!
U. S. Oil Discovery- Largest Reserve in the World! Stansberry Report Online - 4/20/2006
Hidden 1,000 feet beneath the surface of the Rocky Mountains lies the largest untapped oil reserve in the world. It is more than 2 TRILLION barrels. On August 8, 2005 President Bush mandated its extraction. In three and a half years of high oil prices none has been extracted. With this motherload of oil why are we still fighting over off-shore drilling?
They reported this stunning news: We have more oil inside our borders, than all the other proven reserves on earth.
Here are the official estimates:
- 8-times as much oil as Saudi Arabia
- 18-times as much oil as Iraq
- 21-times as much oil as Kuwait
- 22-times as much oil as Iran
- 500-times as much oil as Yemen
- and it's all right here in the Western United States.
HOW can this BE? HOW can we NOT BE extracting this? Because the environmentalists and others have blocked all efforts to help America become independent of foreign oil! Again, we are letting a small group of people dictate our lives and our economy.....WHY?
James Bartis, lead researcher with the study says we've got more oil in this very compact area than the entire Middle East - more than 2 TRILLION barrels untapped. That's more than all the proven oil reserves of crude oil in the world today, reports The Denver Post.
Don't think 'OPEC' will drop its price - even with this find? Think again! It's all about the competitive marketplace - it has to.. Think OPEC just might be funding the environmentalists?
Got your attention/ire up yet? Hope so!
Now, while you're thinking about it .... and hopefully P.O'd, do this:
3. Pass this along. If you don't take a little time to do this, then you should stifle yourself the next time you want to complain about gas prices .. because by doing NOTHING, you've forfeited your right to complain.
Now, I just wonder what would happen in this country if every one of you sent this to every one in your address book.
This is all true. Check it out at the link below. GOOGLE it or follow this link. It will blow your mind.
http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=1911
kolanuraven
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jul 27, 2005
- Messages
- 10,917
I have a buddy, an ex-paleontologist-now geologist for Occidental Petro, said this Bakken is HUGE....HUGE....HUGE.....HUGE!!!
He said it would be a hard to job to extract....but it could be done if planning was done BEFORE...not on the " fly".
He said it would be a hard to job to extract....but it could be done if planning was done BEFORE...not on the " fly".
PORKER
Well-known member
North Dakota could have a huge new oil field
By JAMES MacPHERSON – 1 day ago
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — Dozens of fruitful wells beneath the rich Bakken shale in North Dakota continue to fuel a hunch among oilmen and geologists that another vast crude-bearing formation may be buried in the state's vast oil patch.
Lynn Helms, director of the state Department of Mineral Resources, said recent production results from 103 newly tapped wells in the Three Forks-Sanish formation show many that are "as good or better" than some in the Bakken, which lies two miles under the surface in western North Dakota and holds billions of barrels of oil.
"I think it's a big deal and we're pretty fired up about it," Helms said.
Companies have reported some Three Forks wells recovering more than 800 barrels daily, considered decent by Bakken standards.
Denver-based Whiting Petroleum Corp. has drilled two wells in the Three Forks formation, with one that recorded more than 1,000 barrels of oil a day, said John Kelso, a company spokesman.
"We are excited about Three Forks but it's early on in the play," Kelso said. "I do know a lot of companies are redirecting focus from the Bakken to Three Forks."
Whiting has one Bakken well that recorded more than 4,000 barrels a day last year, thought to be a record for the formation and about double the highest Three Forks well drilled to date.
Kelso said Whiting's primary focus at present is on the Bakken. The company has more than 300,000 acres under lease in North Dakota.
"With the turbulence in crude oil prices, we've kind of backed off Three Forks for the Bakken," Kelso said. "We will very likely get after Three Forks in 2010, depending on oil prices.
The Bakken formation encompasses some 25,000 square miles within the Williston Basin in North Dakota and Montana. The U.S. Geological Survey has called it the largest continuous oil accumulation it has ever assessed.
The Three Forks-Sanish formation is made up of sand and porous rock directly below the Bakken shale. But geologists don't know whether the Three Forks-Sanish is a separate oil-producing formation or if it catches oil that flows from the Bakken shale above.
Fort Worth, Texas-based XTO Energy Inc. has reported to the state that one of its Three Forks wells pulled more than 2,100 barrels a day. An ETO Energy spokeswoman said the company does not comment on its operations publicly.
State and industry officials are conducting a study to determine whether the Three Forks is a unique reservoir. The plan is to compare results from closely spaced wells, one aiming for the Three Forks, and the other at the Bakken. Researchers will look at pressure changes in the formations to determine if they are connected.
Results from the study could be ready later this year, officials say. It already is spurring some speculation that the state has billions of barrels more in oil reserves.
"Eventually it could equal the Bakken, which is remarkable, and that's an understatement," Helms said.
"Is it the same or is it a separate formation? I think everybody is hoping for the latter," Harms said. "That could literally double the potential we have — a Bakken 2, if you will."
Kelso, of Whiting Petroleum, said his company's drilling activity shows that Three Forks likely is a separate formation. He said core samples taken from the Bakken and Three Forks show more hydrocarbons in the latter.
"From the core samples, Three Forks looks better for us than the Bakken," he said.
Promising production results from the Three Forks could mean that companies that come up empty in the Bakken could use existing leases to drill in the same area for Three Forks oil.
Geologists say the Three Forks-Sanish is typically about 250 feet thick. Julie LeFever, a geologist with the state Geological Survey in Grand Forks, has studied the Bakken for two decades. She believes oil found in the Three Forks-Sanish has come from the Bakken over millions of years.
"It's probably all the same source system. The reservoir may or may not be unique," she said. "We're still trying to figure out what makes the whole formation tick."
"It's another target," LeFever said. "If the Bakken doesn't pay, maybe the Three Forks will."
Most companies working in the state's oil patch continue to focus solely on the Bakken, said Ron Ness, president of the North Dakota Petroleum Council, a Bismarck-based group that represents about 160 companies.
"I think it's a huge deal," Ness said of the emerging Three Forks play. "But it is still vastly unknown and overshadowed by the urgency to develop the Bakken."
Donald Kessel, vice president of Houston-based Murex Petroleum Corp., said his company was among the first to get a producing well in the Bakken in North Dakota about four years ago. The company now has 26 producing wells in the Tioga and Stanley areas of northwestern North Dakota.
Kessel believes that not all of the Three Forks is laden with oil.
"Right now, we're doing Bakken, and in those areas it doesn't look like the Three Forks is going to work," he said.
"With Three Forks, you have got to find a sweet spot where it develops," Kessel said. "It is not sandwiched like the Bakken between two shales producing oil."
Oilmen and others had known for years that the Bakken held oil. High oil prices and demand in the past few years spurred technology enough to begin tapping it.
Kessel said techniques learned from the Bakken are now being used at other oil shales in the U.S. and internationally. But he said advances in technology have slowed with lower oil prices that have idled drill rigs.
"Technology is not moving at the same pace because there are fewer well bores to do it at," Kessel said.
State geologist Ed Murphy said researchers will know more about the characteristics and potential of the Three Forks formation once more wells are tapped into it.
"One-hundred wells is not that many wells when you're trying to look at overall trends," Murphy said. "Everyone will feel a lot safer with 100 or 200 more wells down the road."
Drilling and well completion technology developed for the Bakken formation likely also could be used in the half-dozen formations above the Bakken and the dozen or so that reach 4,000 feet below it, he said.
Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
By JAMES MacPHERSON – 1 day ago
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — Dozens of fruitful wells beneath the rich Bakken shale in North Dakota continue to fuel a hunch among oilmen and geologists that another vast crude-bearing formation may be buried in the state's vast oil patch.
Lynn Helms, director of the state Department of Mineral Resources, said recent production results from 103 newly tapped wells in the Three Forks-Sanish formation show many that are "as good or better" than some in the Bakken, which lies two miles under the surface in western North Dakota and holds billions of barrels of oil.
"I think it's a big deal and we're pretty fired up about it," Helms said.
Companies have reported some Three Forks wells recovering more than 800 barrels daily, considered decent by Bakken standards.
Denver-based Whiting Petroleum Corp. has drilled two wells in the Three Forks formation, with one that recorded more than 1,000 barrels of oil a day, said John Kelso, a company spokesman.
"We are excited about Three Forks but it's early on in the play," Kelso said. "I do know a lot of companies are redirecting focus from the Bakken to Three Forks."
Whiting has one Bakken well that recorded more than 4,000 barrels a day last year, thought to be a record for the formation and about double the highest Three Forks well drilled to date.
Kelso said Whiting's primary focus at present is on the Bakken. The company has more than 300,000 acres under lease in North Dakota.
"With the turbulence in crude oil prices, we've kind of backed off Three Forks for the Bakken," Kelso said. "We will very likely get after Three Forks in 2010, depending on oil prices.
The Bakken formation encompasses some 25,000 square miles within the Williston Basin in North Dakota and Montana. The U.S. Geological Survey has called it the largest continuous oil accumulation it has ever assessed.
The Three Forks-Sanish formation is made up of sand and porous rock directly below the Bakken shale. But geologists don't know whether the Three Forks-Sanish is a separate oil-producing formation or if it catches oil that flows from the Bakken shale above.
Fort Worth, Texas-based XTO Energy Inc. has reported to the state that one of its Three Forks wells pulled more than 2,100 barrels a day. An ETO Energy spokeswoman said the company does not comment on its operations publicly.
State and industry officials are conducting a study to determine whether the Three Forks is a unique reservoir. The plan is to compare results from closely spaced wells, one aiming for the Three Forks, and the other at the Bakken. Researchers will look at pressure changes in the formations to determine if they are connected.
Results from the study could be ready later this year, officials say. It already is spurring some speculation that the state has billions of barrels more in oil reserves.
"Eventually it could equal the Bakken, which is remarkable, and that's an understatement," Helms said.
"Is it the same or is it a separate formation? I think everybody is hoping for the latter," Harms said. "That could literally double the potential we have — a Bakken 2, if you will."
Kelso, of Whiting Petroleum, said his company's drilling activity shows that Three Forks likely is a separate formation. He said core samples taken from the Bakken and Three Forks show more hydrocarbons in the latter.
"From the core samples, Three Forks looks better for us than the Bakken," he said.
Promising production results from the Three Forks could mean that companies that come up empty in the Bakken could use existing leases to drill in the same area for Three Forks oil.
Geologists say the Three Forks-Sanish is typically about 250 feet thick. Julie LeFever, a geologist with the state Geological Survey in Grand Forks, has studied the Bakken for two decades. She believes oil found in the Three Forks-Sanish has come from the Bakken over millions of years.
"It's probably all the same source system. The reservoir may or may not be unique," she said. "We're still trying to figure out what makes the whole formation tick."
"It's another target," LeFever said. "If the Bakken doesn't pay, maybe the Three Forks will."
Most companies working in the state's oil patch continue to focus solely on the Bakken, said Ron Ness, president of the North Dakota Petroleum Council, a Bismarck-based group that represents about 160 companies.
"I think it's a huge deal," Ness said of the emerging Three Forks play. "But it is still vastly unknown and overshadowed by the urgency to develop the Bakken."
Donald Kessel, vice president of Houston-based Murex Petroleum Corp., said his company was among the first to get a producing well in the Bakken in North Dakota about four years ago. The company now has 26 producing wells in the Tioga and Stanley areas of northwestern North Dakota.
Kessel believes that not all of the Three Forks is laden with oil.
"Right now, we're doing Bakken, and in those areas it doesn't look like the Three Forks is going to work," he said.
"With Three Forks, you have got to find a sweet spot where it develops," Kessel said. "It is not sandwiched like the Bakken between two shales producing oil."
Oilmen and others had known for years that the Bakken held oil. High oil prices and demand in the past few years spurred technology enough to begin tapping it.
Kessel said techniques learned from the Bakken are now being used at other oil shales in the U.S. and internationally. But he said advances in technology have slowed with lower oil prices that have idled drill rigs.
"Technology is not moving at the same pace because there are fewer well bores to do it at," Kessel said.
State geologist Ed Murphy said researchers will know more about the characteristics and potential of the Three Forks formation once more wells are tapped into it.
"One-hundred wells is not that many wells when you're trying to look at overall trends," Murphy said. "Everyone will feel a lot safer with 100 or 200 more wells down the road."
Drilling and well completion technology developed for the Bakken formation likely also could be used in the half-dozen formations above the Bakken and the dozen or so that reach 4,000 feet below it, he said.
Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
PORKER
Well-known member
American Oil & Gas increases ownership in Bakken
American Oil & Gas Inc. has increased its working interest in the 87,000 gross acre Goliath project in the Bakken from 50% to 95% in roughly 63,000 net acres located in Williams and Dunn Counties, ND through two separate transactions - one with Teton Energy Corp. and the other with privately-held Evertson Energy Partners.
American purchased Teton Energy Corp.'s interests in the Goliath project, which comprised approximately 14,900 net undeveloped acres, Teton's 25% ownership in the Champion 1-25H well, 17% ownership in the Viall 1-30 well, 6% ownership in the Solberg 32-2 well, and Teton's interest in seven gross (approximately .12 net) producing Bakken wells for $900,000 in cash.
American also closed on an acreage exchange at Goliath with Evertson Energy Partners which resulted in American receiving approximately 11,600 net acres and Evertson receiving a 50% working interest in the Champion 1-25H well, a 34% working interest in the Viall 1-30 well, an 11.9% working interest in the Solberg 32-2 well and American's rights to formations below the Three Forks in four 640 acre sections.
American now controls roughly 60,000 net undeveloped acres at Goliath, a 25% working interest in the Champion 1-25H well, a 17% working interest in the Viall 1-30 well, a 6% working interest in the Solberg 32-2 well and an interest in seven gross (approximately .36 net) other producing Bakken wells.
"The Bakken play in the Williston Basin of North Dakota and Montana remains one of the most active and prolific oil areas in North America," stated Pat O'Brien, CEO of American. "This activity is supported by strong economic returns at current oil prices and a US Geological Survey assessment in 2008 that estimated the Bakken formation holds over three billion barrels of technically recoverable oil."
Source:Oil & Gas Financial Journal
American Oil & Gas Inc. has increased its working interest in the 87,000 gross acre Goliath project in the Bakken from 50% to 95% in roughly 63,000 net acres located in Williams and Dunn Counties, ND through two separate transactions - one with Teton Energy Corp. and the other with privately-held Evertson Energy Partners.
American purchased Teton Energy Corp.'s interests in the Goliath project, which comprised approximately 14,900 net undeveloped acres, Teton's 25% ownership in the Champion 1-25H well, 17% ownership in the Viall 1-30 well, 6% ownership in the Solberg 32-2 well, and Teton's interest in seven gross (approximately .12 net) producing Bakken wells for $900,000 in cash.
American also closed on an acreage exchange at Goliath with Evertson Energy Partners which resulted in American receiving approximately 11,600 net acres and Evertson receiving a 50% working interest in the Champion 1-25H well, a 34% working interest in the Viall 1-30 well, an 11.9% working interest in the Solberg 32-2 well and American's rights to formations below the Three Forks in four 640 acre sections.
American now controls roughly 60,000 net undeveloped acres at Goliath, a 25% working interest in the Champion 1-25H well, a 17% working interest in the Viall 1-30 well, a 6% working interest in the Solberg 32-2 well and an interest in seven gross (approximately .36 net) other producing Bakken wells.
"The Bakken play in the Williston Basin of North Dakota and Montana remains one of the most active and prolific oil areas in North America," stated Pat O'Brien, CEO of American. "This activity is supported by strong economic returns at current oil prices and a US Geological Survey assessment in 2008 that estimated the Bakken formation holds over three billion barrels of technically recoverable oil."
Source:Oil & Gas Financial Journal
A
Anonymous
Guest
My son was just in Williston last week-- and he said you can't even find a pup tent to live in...No houses- motels are full- as the oil activity is picking up again.... 
PORKER
Well-known member
At least one part of the country is Booming ! They should buy a bunch of empty and foreclosed houses here in Mich. and ship them to the Bakken oil area.
mwj
Well-known member
Porker have they gave a figure on how much water it will take to recover this oil :?
Seems to me that it could be a huge stumbling block.
Seems to me that it could be a huge stumbling block.