alclark
01-27-2008, 11:06 PM
January 26, 2008
Bakken and Torquay Formations - A Saudi Arabia of oil under Saskatchewan, North Dakota, South Datkota, Montana and Manitoba (http://nextbigfuture.com/2008/01/bakken-and-torquay-formations-saudi.html)
The Bakken oil formation is possibly the largest conventional oil discovery in Canada since 1957. (http://beta.stockhouse.com/Community-News/2007/December/21/Saskatchewans-red-hot-Bakken-oil-formation) If this oil formation plays out toward the higher end of size and recoverability then it will change the geopolitics of oil and the economies of the United States and Canada. If a lot of the oil proves difficult to recover now, new technologies could still drastically improve the percent recoverable. The motivation to pull out another 100 billion barrels would be $9 trillion at todays prices.
Estimates are anywhere from a conservative 25 billion barrels of oil in place, to a high estimate by the United States Geological Survey of 400 billion barrels of oil in the Bakken formation (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bakken_Formation). Not only is the oil plentiful, but it's high quality too, 41 degree light sweet crude. The Bakken formation is a formation of black shale, siltstone, and sandstone. The formation lies beneath the Mississippian formation, Saskatchewan's current source of light sweet crude. The Bakken formation is situated beneath southeastern Saskatchewan, southwestern Manitoba, and North Dakota.In 2007, EOG Resources out of Houston (http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/ftproot/features/ngshock.pdf), Texas reported that a single well it had drilled into an oil-rich layer of shale below Parshall, North Dakota is anticipated to produce 700,000 barrels of oil.The resources of the Bakken Formation are defined by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) as unconventional “continuous-type” oil resources. This means the hydrocarbons within the Bakken have not accumulated into discrete reservoirs of limited areal extent. With new horizontal drilling and completion technology taken into account, the technically recoverable resource base for the entire Bakken Formation is potentially much larger.http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2317/2221941981_fb6324f220.jpg?v=0
Isopach map (http://www.answers.com/topic/isopach-map?cat=technology) of the Bakken formation in Saskatchewan, Canada (Map of the areal extent and thickness variation of a stratigraphic unit; used in geological exploration for oil and for underground structural analysis)
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2250/2222720508_e83b1917ae.jpg?v=0
The Williston Basin covers approximately 300,000 square miles over parts of North Dakota, South Dakota, and Montana and parts of the adjacent Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba. The Bakken formation can be encountered throughout the Williston Basin.
Application of new drilling and completion technology has begun to unlock new potential in this legacy basin. There is speculation that the total resource in the play could be in the billions of barrels.Hydrocarbon Potential of the Bakken and Torquay Formations,
Southeastern Saskatchewan by L.K. Kreis and A. Costa (http://www.mogulenergy.com/pdf/EGYPT_hydrocarbon.pdf)
Much of the oil reservoired within the Bakken shale likely resides in a network of enhanced porosity and permeability related to microfractures.
• Upper and Lower Bakken shales showing anomalously high resistivity values in southeastern Saskatchewan suggest that they are saturated with oil that has either been generated in place or has migrated into these locations.
• Basement structures, such as those associated with the Brockton-Froid lineament, and compactional features in regions of Middle Devonian salt dissolution may control fractures that serve as primary migration pathways for Bakken-sourced oils into possible plays in the Bakken and Torquay formations.
• The relatively low permeability of Bakken and Torquay reservoirs are likely best exploited through horizontal wells.
• A large untested and poorly evaluated rock volume remains in the Bakken and Torquay formations of southeastern Saskatchewan, within which there may be significant potential for finding new oil.Porosities in the Bakken average about 5%, and permeabilities are very low, averaging 0.04 millidarcies—much lower than typical oil reservoirs. However, the presence of horizontal fractures makes the Bakken an excellent candidate for horizontal drilling techniques in which a well drills along the extent of the rock layer, rather than punching a hole vertically through it. In this way, many thousands of feet of oil reservoir rock can be penetrated in a unit that reaches a maximum thickness of only about 140 feet. Production is also enhanced by artificially fracturing the rock.http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2331/2222745122_fe7828929e.jpg?v=0Oils with an API gravity of 40 to 45 (http://ergobalance.blogspot.com/2007/11/new-brazilian-oil-field-tupi.html) have the highest market price and those with values outside this range sell for less. Above an API gravity of 45, the molecular chains become shorter and are less valuable to a refinery. Crude oil classified as light, medium or heavy, on the following basis:
Light crude oil has an API gravity of above 31.1 °.
Medium oil has an API gravity in the range 22.3 ° and 31.1 °.
Heavy oil has an API gravity less than 22.3.
http://nextbigfuture.com/2008/01/bakken-and-torquay-formations-saudi.html
If the 400 billion barrel estimate is true, that would put the US in 2nd for global oil reserves (behind the middle east), and 1st for single country (ahead of the Saudis).
But what about the hybrids maaaaaan...
Bakken and Torquay Formations - A Saudi Arabia of oil under Saskatchewan, North Dakota, South Datkota, Montana and Manitoba (http://nextbigfuture.com/2008/01/bakken-and-torquay-formations-saudi.html)
The Bakken oil formation is possibly the largest conventional oil discovery in Canada since 1957. (http://beta.stockhouse.com/Community-News/2007/December/21/Saskatchewans-red-hot-Bakken-oil-formation) If this oil formation plays out toward the higher end of size and recoverability then it will change the geopolitics of oil and the economies of the United States and Canada. If a lot of the oil proves difficult to recover now, new technologies could still drastically improve the percent recoverable. The motivation to pull out another 100 billion barrels would be $9 trillion at todays prices.
Estimates are anywhere from a conservative 25 billion barrels of oil in place, to a high estimate by the United States Geological Survey of 400 billion barrels of oil in the Bakken formation (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bakken_Formation). Not only is the oil plentiful, but it's high quality too, 41 degree light sweet crude. The Bakken formation is a formation of black shale, siltstone, and sandstone. The formation lies beneath the Mississippian formation, Saskatchewan's current source of light sweet crude. The Bakken formation is situated beneath southeastern Saskatchewan, southwestern Manitoba, and North Dakota.In 2007, EOG Resources out of Houston (http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/ftproot/features/ngshock.pdf), Texas reported that a single well it had drilled into an oil-rich layer of shale below Parshall, North Dakota is anticipated to produce 700,000 barrels of oil.The resources of the Bakken Formation are defined by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) as unconventional “continuous-type” oil resources. This means the hydrocarbons within the Bakken have not accumulated into discrete reservoirs of limited areal extent. With new horizontal drilling and completion technology taken into account, the technically recoverable resource base for the entire Bakken Formation is potentially much larger.http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2317/2221941981_fb6324f220.jpg?v=0
Isopach map (http://www.answers.com/topic/isopach-map?cat=technology) of the Bakken formation in Saskatchewan, Canada (Map of the areal extent and thickness variation of a stratigraphic unit; used in geological exploration for oil and for underground structural analysis)
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2250/2222720508_e83b1917ae.jpg?v=0
The Williston Basin covers approximately 300,000 square miles over parts of North Dakota, South Dakota, and Montana and parts of the adjacent Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba. The Bakken formation can be encountered throughout the Williston Basin.
Application of new drilling and completion technology has begun to unlock new potential in this legacy basin. There is speculation that the total resource in the play could be in the billions of barrels.Hydrocarbon Potential of the Bakken and Torquay Formations,
Southeastern Saskatchewan by L.K. Kreis and A. Costa (http://www.mogulenergy.com/pdf/EGYPT_hydrocarbon.pdf)
Much of the oil reservoired within the Bakken shale likely resides in a network of enhanced porosity and permeability related to microfractures.
• Upper and Lower Bakken shales showing anomalously high resistivity values in southeastern Saskatchewan suggest that they are saturated with oil that has either been generated in place or has migrated into these locations.
• Basement structures, such as those associated with the Brockton-Froid lineament, and compactional features in regions of Middle Devonian salt dissolution may control fractures that serve as primary migration pathways for Bakken-sourced oils into possible plays in the Bakken and Torquay formations.
• The relatively low permeability of Bakken and Torquay reservoirs are likely best exploited through horizontal wells.
• A large untested and poorly evaluated rock volume remains in the Bakken and Torquay formations of southeastern Saskatchewan, within which there may be significant potential for finding new oil.Porosities in the Bakken average about 5%, and permeabilities are very low, averaging 0.04 millidarcies—much lower than typical oil reservoirs. However, the presence of horizontal fractures makes the Bakken an excellent candidate for horizontal drilling techniques in which a well drills along the extent of the rock layer, rather than punching a hole vertically through it. In this way, many thousands of feet of oil reservoir rock can be penetrated in a unit that reaches a maximum thickness of only about 140 feet. Production is also enhanced by artificially fracturing the rock.http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2331/2222745122_fe7828929e.jpg?v=0Oils with an API gravity of 40 to 45 (http://ergobalance.blogspot.com/2007/11/new-brazilian-oil-field-tupi.html) have the highest market price and those with values outside this range sell for less. Above an API gravity of 45, the molecular chains become shorter and are less valuable to a refinery. Crude oil classified as light, medium or heavy, on the following basis:
Light crude oil has an API gravity of above 31.1 °.
Medium oil has an API gravity in the range 22.3 ° and 31.1 °.
Heavy oil has an API gravity less than 22.3.
http://nextbigfuture.com/2008/01/bakken-and-torquay-formations-saudi.html
If the 400 billion barrel estimate is true, that would put the US in 2nd for global oil reserves (behind the middle east), and 1st for single country (ahead of the Saudis).
But what about the hybrids maaaaaan...