About the Bakken Shale Formation


The Bakken Shale: Key to American Energy Independence.

The Bakken Shale Formation is one of 15 oil producing formations in the Williston Basin that stretches throughout Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota. The Bakken Formation itself covers weastern N.Dakota, N. Eastern Montana and continues into Canada

Made up of three layers of oil and natural gas bearing shale rock as much as 10,000 feet thick in some places, the Bakken Shale oil fields have produced over 111 million barrels of oil over the last 50 years. A 2008 USGS report estimates the Bakken Shake contains 3.65 billion barrels of recoverable oil which is equivalent to between 7 and 10 times the known American resources. This is up from a 1990 estimate of 151 million in 1995 largely due to improved recovery techniques like "Fracturing" which uses pressurized material called "Proppant" to fracture the shale and hold the fracture open while the oil drains from it into the well head. This technique along with horizontal drilling has awakened an oil field that otherwise might be past it's useful life. 

If recovery techniques continue to improve as expected the estimated oil content of this valuable field may rise to as much as 8 billion barrels or between 14 and 24 times the known American oil resources. Currently producing 75k  barrels per day from 951 wells, and climbing steady, the Bakken Shale continues to increase in production. The value of this formation also includes as much as 3 trillion cubic liters of natural gas as well as liquid natural gas.

Drilling rig owners and operators are currently experiencing a shortage of labor and are willing to pay top dollar (some estimates say 80k per year) for oil field workers of all types.