According to Next Energy News,
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.
If true this could potentially increase America's oil reserves tenfold, possibly cutting the cost of oil in half. It would be interesting to see what would become of the Middle East with a greatly reduced US presence. Since America's involvement in the area is blamed for every problem that exists there by Islamic extremists and America haters everywhere one can only eagerly await the paradise that will bloom once we're gone.
Amazing, world shattering stories appear with a fair degree of regularity in the news which later turn out to be less than advertised. This one would have so many positive benefits for the US that it is hard not to get excited. To put it mildly, it bears watching. More to come...
