The Associated Press reports that the Bakken Shale formation has produced its billionth barrel of crude oil, based upon data from the states of North Dakota and Montana, as well as IHS Inc. and several oil drilling companies.
According to these groups, North Dakota has produced 852 million barrels of crude, while Montana has produced 151 million barrels. Tracking of production dates back to 2000, when drilling first began in Montana. Nearly two-thirds of this volume has been produced in the last three years.
One particular company in our Energy Investor portfolio estimated there to be up to 45 billion barrels of recoverable oil in the Bakken formation. The USGS says an average of 8 billion barrels of crude and natural gas remains undiscovered.
Fracking’s Dirty Little Secret
A lot of Americans would be hard-pressed to even tell you what fracking is, much less explain what the big deal about it is. There’s one thing that you need to know. We’re addicted to cheap energy, and fracking is a gateway drug.
