Massive Oil Deposit Could Increase US reserves by 10x

[Fish]

America is sitting on top of a super massive 200 billion barrel Oil Field that could potentially make America Energy Independent and until now has largely gone unnoticed. Thanks to new technology the Bakken Formation in North Dakota could boost America’s Oil reserves by an incredible 10 times, giving western economies the trump card against OPEC’s short squeeze on oil supply and making Iranian and Venezuelan threats of disrupted supply irrelevant.
In the next 30 days the USGS (U.S. Geological Survey) will release a new report giving an accurate resource assessment of the Bakken Oil Formation that covers North Dakota and portions of South Dakota and Montana. With new horizontal drilling technology it is believed that from 175 to 500 billion barrels of recoverable oil are held in this 200,000 square mile reserve that was initially discovered in 1951. The USGS did an initial study back in 1999 that estimated 400 billion recoverable barrels were present but with prices bottoming out at $10 a barrel back then the report was dismissed because of the higher cost of horizontal drilling techniques that would be needed, estimated at $20-$40 a barrel.
It was not until 2007, when EOG Resources of Texas started a frenzy when they drilled a single well in Parshal N.D. that is expected to yield 700,000 barrels of oil that real excitement and money started to flow in North Dakota. Marathon Oil is investing $1.5 billion and drilling 300 new wells in what is expected to be one of the greatest booms in Oil discovery since Oil was discovered in Saudi Arabia in 1938.
The US imported about 14 million barrels of Oil per day in 2007 , which means US consumers sent about $340 Billion Dollars over seas building palaces in Dubai and propping up unfriendly regimes around the World, if 200 billion barrels of oil at $90 a barrel are recovered in the high plains the added wealth to the US economy would be $18 Trillion Dollars which would go a long way in stabilizing the US trade deficit and could cut the cost of oil in half in the long run.

http://www.nextenergynews.com/news1/...news2.13s.html

[Torplexed]

What! Flat, frigid and featureless North Dakota has something of value under it?

I dunno. This almost sounds too good to be true. Sorta like being broke and finding $800 stuffed between the cushions of that old sofa in the basement.:hmm:

[JSLTIGER]

To give this discovery a sense of scale: Saudi Arabia, sitting on the largest deposits of oil in the world have 260 billion bbls of proven reserves, or 24% of the world's prior known supply. 200-500 billion bbls could put the US at the front of the oil exporting nations (assuming we don't use it all ourselves first).

[MothBalls]

Originally Posted by JSLTIGER

200-500 billion bbls could put the US at the front of the oil exporting nations (assuming we don't use it all ourselves first).

The US would probably give half of it away.

The US gives away billions every year in foreign aid to countries that never pay it back, or use the money to fertilize poppy fields to grow heroin that gets sold in America. Wouldn't be so bad if that aid was in food or medical supplies, but the give away weapons and cash.

At the same time we have thousands of homeless veterans, our education system is bottom of the barrel, seniors can't afford to turn on their heaters, the list goes on. I wish they would stop those floodgates and pay attention to the homeland. After they fix things here, then consider helping others.

If the oilfield is there and viable, the fatcats will still find an excuse to keep oil at $100 per barrel and the money flowing to the oil companies.

[geetrue]

Originally Posted by MothBalls

The US would probably give half of it away.

If the oilfield is there and viable, the fatcats will still find an excuse to keep oil at $100 per barrel and the money flowing to the oil companies.

So true it hurts ...

[Herr_Pete]

ahwel! thats america going to chuck the whole green idea now! MORE OIL!

[Onkel Neal]

Originally Posted by Torplexed

What! Flat, frigid and featureless North Dakota has something of value under it?

I dunno. This almost sounds too good to be true. Sorta like being broke and finding $800 stuffed between the cushions of that old sofa in the basement.:hmm:

and a Playboy magazine!

[bradclark1]

Now all I have to do is figure out a way to be a part of it so I can take a chunk of that change. I know! We can start an oil company and go against Marathon Oil or I could get a loan from the government of 17 billion dollars to build a refinery close by. It cost 15 to build one and the other two is for me and for bribes and such.:hmm:

[FIREWALL]

Originally Posted by bradclark1

Now all I have to do is figure out a way to be a part of it so I can take a chunk of that change. I know! We can start an oil company and go against Marathon Oil or I could get a loan from the government of 17 billion dollars to build a refinery close by. It cost 15 to build one and the other two is for me and for bribes and such.:hmm:

Quick ! You can bribe me for a $ million. :p

[Jimbuna]

So will this mean cut price oil for not only America but also her allies

[STEED]

Originally Posted by jimbuna

So will this mean cut price oil for not only America but also her allies

What here in England! Get out of town your pulling my leg. :rotfl:

[Jimbuna]

Originally Posted by STEED

What here in England! Get out of town your pulling my leg. :rotfl:

Your probably right.....our government get it cheaper but don't drop the price and keep the extra money

[bradclark1]

Just look for Exon/Mobil to make even bigger profits.

[Onkel Neal]

Originally Posted by jimbuna

So will this mean cut price oil for not only America but also her allies

Hopefully, or at least, fewer increases in price and less dependence on foriegn oil from the ME and the Socialist Republic of Venezuela :hmm:

I did a search on the topic but found few results.... one would think this is BIG news, yes?

[seafarer]

Actually, considering that 50-70% of all the world's oil ever discovered is still sitting in the ground, we have lots of reserves, in theory. But, since extraction technology craps out after about a third or less has been withdrawn, we need totally new technologies to just extract what we already know is there.

Even if this new report is right about the 200 billion barrels, we only know how to extract, what, 50-60 billion barrels of it (at best)?