Bakken Oil Shale Among the Largest Ever
The Bakken oil shale formation was discovered in 1951, but recovering the oil only became economically feasible with the development of "fracking" technology and rising oil prices.
Extracting oil from shale rock formations becomes profitable when global oil prices are above $60 a barrel. Oil has been over $100 a barrel for months, and many experts believe it will only go higher in the months and years ahead.
And while oil shale deposits have been discovered in many parts of the United States, the Bakken oil shale formation is among the largest ever found.
Harold Hamm, CEO of Continental Resources Inc. (NYSE: CLR), a major player in the Bakken oil shale boom, told The Wall Street Journal last October that his company believes the formation holds 24 billion barrels of oil.
That figure doubles the proven oil reserves in the United States.
"Bakken is almost twice as big as the oil reserve in Prudhoe Bay, Alaska," Hamm said."We expect our reserves and production to triple over the next five years."
But unlike the mature fields of Prudhoe Bay, production in the Bakken oil shale region is still ramping up.
In the years leading up to 2005, production in the Bakken region was about 100,000 barrels a day. By February of this year, production had jumped to 494,000 barrels a day, a five-fold increase.
According to a recent study by Advanced Resources International, Bakken oil shale production will surpass 1 million barrels a day in 2015, eventually peaking at about 1.45 million barrels a day in 2020.
Housing for Bakken Shale
