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Bakken Oil Rush
The Bakken Oil Field of North Dakota is the hottest oil play going in the U.S. at this time. The amount of oil is enormous and the oil companies are rushing to Bakken to get involved.
Bakken Oil
How Bakken oil is Recovered
Peak oil is arriving and oil and gas prices are going through the roof.
But, all is not lost! Just when it looked like no new giant oil fields would be found, three giant fields are found in a short time. Two of the giant oil fields ae located offshore Brazil. These will be covered in a future lens. The subject of this lens is the Bakken oil field now being developed in North Dakota (extends into Montana, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan.)
The Bakken oil field has been know to exist for over 50 years but the oil could not be economically recovered with technology that previously existed.
The recent oil price increases have provided the stimulus to develop the necessary oil field technology for recovery of the Bakken formation oil.
Amount of Oil In Bakken.
Bakken field oil reserves have been estimated to be from about 3 billion barrels all the way up to 500 billion barrels. Obviously, the final amount of oil recovered will depend largely on the price of oil which seems destined to keep rising.
Bakken Technology.
The Bakken formation oil-bearing formation has been compared to an oreo cookie. Two miles below the surface, two thin parallel shale layers have sandwiched between them a thin layer of dolomite. The dolomite appears to contain most of the oil.
The oil is recovered by, first, drilling down vertically for two miles to where the "oreo" formation is located. Then, horizontal drilling takes over. The horizontal drilling moves along the dolomite layer for a distance as much as two miles from the well. Fracturing technology is then used to crack open the dolomite and, then, proppants (sand or beads) are injected to hold the fractures open. The oil then flows easily to the surface where it is recovered.
The horizontal drilling technology and the fracturing techniques developed to extract the Bakken oil is a tribute to American ingenuity at its best.
Keep up the good works, folks! We are going to need this type of engineering if we are to hold off the peak oil disaster looming just over the horizon.
Bakken Oil Companies.
Some of the oil companies that have rushed to Bakken to get in on the big oil strike are: EOG (probably the leading company), Marathon, XTO (just jumped into Bakken), Brigham Exploration, Northern Oil & Gas, Whiting, Continental Resources, St. Mary Land & Exploration and Kodiak Oil & Gas Company.
The stocks of many of the above oil companies are soaring due to their involvement in Bakken.
But, all is not lost! Just when it looked like no new giant oil fields would be found, three giant fields are found in a short time. Two of the giant oil fields ae located offshore Brazil. These will be covered in a future lens. The subject of this lens is the Bakken oil field now being developed in North Dakota (extends into Montana, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan.)
The Bakken oil field has been know to exist for over 50 years but the oil could not be economically recovered with technology that previously existed.
The recent oil price increases have provided the stimulus to develop the necessary oil field technology for recovery of the Bakken formation oil.
Amount of Oil In Bakken.
Bakken field oil reserves have been estimated to be from about 3 billion barrels all the way up to 500 billion barrels. Obviously, the final amount of oil recovered will depend largely on the price of oil which seems destined to keep rising.
Bakken Technology.
The Bakken formation oil-bearing formation has been compared to an oreo cookie. Two miles below the surface, two thin parallel shale layers have sandwiched between them a thin layer of dolomite. The dolomite appears to contain most of the oil.
The oil is recovered by, first, drilling down vertically for two miles to where the "oreo" formation is located. Then, horizontal drilling takes over. The horizontal drilling moves along the dolomite layer for a distance as much as two miles from the well. Fracturing technology is then used to crack open the dolomite and, then, proppants (sand or beads) are injected to hold the fractures open. The oil then flows easily to the surface where it is recovered.
The horizontal drilling technology and the fracturing techniques developed to extract the Bakken oil is a tribute to American ingenuity at its best.
Keep up the good works, folks! We are going to need this type of engineering if we are to hold off the peak oil disaster looming just over the horizon.
Bakken Oil Companies.
Some of the oil companies that have rushed to Bakken to get in on the big oil strike are: EOG (probably the leading company), Marathon, XTO (just jumped into Bakken), Brigham Exploration, Northern Oil & Gas, Whiting, Continental Resources, St. Mary Land & Exploration and Kodiak Oil & Gas Company.
The stocks of many of the above oil companies are soaring due to their involvement in Bakken.
Amazon has Great Oil Books Covering the Energy Crisis
Hot, Flat, and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution--and How It Can Renew America
Amazon Price: $16.77 (as of 12/02/2008) 
The First Billion Is the Hardest: Reflections on a Life of Comebacks and America's Energy Future
Amazon Price: $17.79 (as of 12/02/2008)
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