Could SD have the biggest oil deposit in the US?
Is South Dakota sitting on the biggest oil deposit in the country? Early next month, a government report will be released with details on what could be the largest oil field ever discovered in the U.S., and part of it is in northwestern South Dakota. With oil prices at $100 a barrel, the report will come as an incredible piece of good news for the entire country, and especially for the upper Great Plains. What's called the Bakken formation is a geological region that stretches from Canada, into western North Dakota, eastern Montana, and northwestern South Dakota. It was known to contain oil for a long time, but it wasn't known how much. But, coming in April, the U.S. Geological Survey is expected to release a report saying that the Bakken formation contains somewhere between 150 and 500 billion barrels of oil. That's astounding, considering that would be more than ten times the amount of oil on Alaska's North Slope, and an amount that could equal or exceed the oil reserves under Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabian reserves are estimated at about 260 billion barrels. That amount of oil, contained within the boundaries of the United States, would have huge implications for international politics and for the domestic economy. Economist John Quinn says, "Because currently we're producing about 8 and a half million barrels a day. We're consuming 16 and a half million barrels a day. That means we have an increasing dependence on foreign oil. Any discovery, and particularly one in this area will be of enormous significance." Oil was first discovered in the Bakken formation in the 1950s. So, if it was known that the Bakken formation contained oil, why did it take so long to find out how much? The answer is that it took 21st century technology to give us the first hint the amount of the oil. It also gave us the first cost-effective ways to get it out. Now I'm told that the Bakken formation is very thin, running about 4 to 5 thousand feet below the surface. If you drill vertically you risk punching right through it and coming up with nothing. But if you come in from the side; horizontally, you increase your chances of running into those pockets of oil. Oil wells using the new technology are already producing encouraging results. A new well sunk last year near Parshall, North Dakota is already making millionaires out of the ranchers living nearby. Officials with the U.S. Geological Survey are being very tight-lipped about the details of the up-coming report. There's obviously a lot riding on news with implications as far-reaching as this. And it's expected that the USGS may actually underplay the amount of oil that's there. But, if the Bakken oil fields produce anywhere near the estimates, it could be an economic bonanza for the northern plains, and for South Dakota. Says John Quinn, "There's going to be oil wells, pipelines, construction in the greater region, enormous construction. And all of this will have an impact on the larger area." Now it's important to keep in mind that it will be years before any of this has an economic impact. The wells have to be drilled, the pipelines have to be built, the refineries have to be built. But if the reports are true, what's lying beneath the plains of western North Dakota and northwestern South Dakota could hold an enormous economic potential for the future.
Is South Dakota sitting on the biggest oil deposit in the country? Early next month, a government report will be released with details on what could be the largest oil field ever discovered in the U.S., and part of it is in northwestern South Dakota. With oil prices at $100 a barrel, the report will come as an incredible piece of good news for the entire country, and especially for the upper Great Plains. What's called the Bakken formation is a geological region that stretches from Canada, into western North Dakota, eastern Montana, and northwestern South Dakota. It was known to contain oil for a long time, but it wasn't known how much. But, coming in April, the U.S. Geological Survey is expected to release a report saying that the Bakken formation contains somewhere between 150 and 500 billion barrels of oil. That's astounding, considering that would be more than ten times the amount of oil on Alaska's North Slope, and an amount that could equal or exceed the oil reserves under Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabian reserves are estimated at about 260 billion barrels. That amount of oil, contained within the boundaries of the United States, would have huge implications for international politics and for the domestic economy. Economist John Quinn says, "Because currently we're producing about 8 and a half million barrels a day. We're consuming 16 and a half million barrels a day. That means we have an increasing dependence on foreign oil. Any discovery, and particularly one in this area will be of enormous significance." Oil was first discovered in the Bakken formation in the 1950s. So, if it was known that the Bakken formation contained oil, why did it take so long to find out how much? The answer is that it took 21st century technology to give us the first hint the amount of the oil. It also gave us the first cost-effective ways to get it out. Now I'm told that the Bakken formation is very thin, running about 4 to 5 thousand feet below the surface. If you drill vertically you risk punching right through it and coming up with nothing. But if you come in from the side; horizontally, you increase your chances of running into those pockets of oil. Oil wells using the new technology are already producing encouraging results. A new well sunk last year near Parshall, North Dakota is already making millionaires out of the ranchers living nearby. Officials with the U.S. Geological Survey are being very tight-lipped about the details of the up-coming report. There's obviously a lot riding on news with implications as far-reaching as this. And it's expected that the USGS may actually underplay the amount of oil that's there. But, if the Bakken oil fields produce anywhere near the estimates, it could be an economic bonanza for the northern plains, and for South Dakota. Says John Quinn, "There's going to be oil wells, pipelines, construction in the greater region, enormous construction. And all of this will have an impact on the larger area." Now it's important to keep in mind that it will be years before any of this has an economic impact. The wells have to be drilled, the pipelines have to be built, the refineries have to be built. But if the reports are true, what's lying beneath the plains of western North Dakota and northwestern South Dakota could hold an enormous economic potential for the future.
