New Study of Recoverable Oil in ND Urged

New Study of Recoverable Oil in ND Urged

Tuesday, April 05, 2011
Grand Forks Herald, N.D.
by  Chuck Haga

As North Dakota marks the 60th anniversary of the discovery of oil in the Williston Basin, Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., has announced he'll host a meeting in Bismarck later this month with leaders of the U.S. Geological Survey to urge a new study of recoverable oil reserves in the region.

A 2008 USGS study identified more than 2 billion barrels of recoverable oil in the basin's Bakken Formation and said there is evidence of much more in place.

Oil companies operating in North Dakota have told the senator they believe that the area holds "significantly more recoverable reserves," and Hoeven conveyed that belief to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar when he appeared recently before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

At that hearing, Hoeven urged Salazar to support a new study, calling it "a real opportunity," according to a statement released today by Hoeven's office.

Salazar agreed and said he would follow up on the study proposal, according to the statement.

The meeting on April 28 will be at the Bismarck State College Energy Center and will include technical discussions between USGS scientists and industry geologists and engineers, Hoeven said.

The USGS will need updated information from oil companies operating in North Dakota -- production curves, recovery rates, the use of new technologies and any new geological analyses -- to determine whether a new study is warranted, Hoeven said.

"Timely updates are an important part of attracting investments not only in new oil development but also in the associated development needed to support growing communities," he said. "It will help bring oil resource development to oil companies, but it will also help bring infrastructure, housing, restaurants and other service businesses."

Ed Murphy, state geologist at the North Dakota Geological Survey in Grand Forks, said a new study would be appropriate because "there have been so many more wells dug since 2008," and the industry has made big advances in hydraulic fracturing. "So much more information has been generated," he said.

Sixty years ago, on April 4, 1951, that a well operated by Amerada Corp. struck oil south of Tioga in northwestern North Dakota.

According to records maintained by the North Dakota Industrial Commission, the oil industry has produced 1.85 billion barrels since the discovery on Clarence Iverson's wheat farm.

Earlier state estimates indicated that at least twice that amount remains untapped in the Bakken and the Three Forks formation below it. The Bakken shale formation has received most of the attention recently, but it has accounted for just 11 percent of the crude recovered in the state so far. Close to half of the oil pumped from the basin since 1951 has come from the Madison formation.