The Bakken Formation Helps Increase U.S.
Proved Reserves of Oil
This Week In Petroleum for January 28, 2009 noted that North Dakota had the Nation’s third largest increase in proved reserves of crude oil in 2007, 70 million barrels (17 percent). Most of this increase came from development of the Bakken Formation. What is the Bakken Formation and why does it matter?
What is the Bakken Formation?
The Bakken Formation contains a major onshore unconventional oil resource in Montana, North Dakota, and Saskatchewan, Canada. It has three distinct layers, called members. Two of these (the Upper and Lower Members) are shales, while the Middle Member is an interbedded zone of various rocks. The Bakken shales produce a light oil that is generally desirable because it offers a high yield of gasoline and other key petroleum products. Proved oil reserves in Montana and North Dakota grew from 831 million barrels in 2006 to 892 million barrels in 2007. (Proved reserves are the estimated quantities that can be produced with reasonable certainty from known reservoirs under existing economic and operating conditions.)
Bakken Formation
