By Dave Thompson
Bismarck, ND – The US Geological Survey says it will have an assessment on the amount of oil that is recoverable from the Bakken Shale formation in the Williston Basin ready sometime in 2008.
And a USGS official says that assessment will change -- depending on the technology.
A preliminary assessment showed there could be up to 500-billion barrels of oil in the Bakken. The researcher who came up with that died before his work could be reviewed.
Senator Byron Dorgan hosted a meeting in Bismarck between the oil industry and the Geological Survey. The Survey's associate director for geology -- Patrick Leahy -- outlined the technical process for the assessment. But he says the key is to determine how much oil can be recovered -- using today's technology.
"Now what that means is technology changes," said Leahy. "Horizontal drilling has made the Bakken look much more attractive. So the assessments aren't done -- and as technology changes, the numbers change."
Oil industry officials say -- while drilling has increased in the Williston Basin -- there's a lot more development potential, based on what that assessment says.
"We're still in the development stage," said North Dakota Petroleum Council executive director Ron Ness. "We're trying to determine the technology that could make it work."