Bakken Shale
The Bakken shale is primarily an oil play. It straddles the US border with Canada and runs through two states – North Dakota and Montana – and two Canadian provinces – Saskatchewan and Manitoba. The US Geological Survey estimates there are 3.65 billion barrels of recoverable crude oil in the Bakken, which would make it the largest oil field in the US outside Alaska. The Bakken is located in the Williston Basin, but not all of the basin includes the Bakken.
The Sanish-Three Forks area is located below the Bakken shale zone and is potentially another new oil reservoir. Brigham Exploration Co. has been active in this area. Natural gas is also found in some parts of the Bakken. The USGS estimates there is about 2.0 trillion cubic feet of gas and another 150 million barrels of natural gas liquids. Major players in the Bakken include EOG Resources, Continental Resources, and Enerplus Resources.
Bakken Shale Map
Bakken Shale News
Devon and Chesapeake are top ranked companies in Barnett Shale production
Aug 1, 2010
Oklahoma City-based Devon Energy, the eighth-largest oil and gas producer in the United States based on total assets and stockholder equity, ranks as the top producer in Texas' Barnett Shale.
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XTO places new Bakken well on production
Jul 30, 2010
XTO Energy Inc., now a subsidiary of ExxonMobil, has concluded completion operations on the Mondak Federal #11X-14H well in the Bakken shale formation and has placed the well on production. |
ONEOK Partners to build up to $700M of NGL projects
Jul 27, 2010
ONEOK Partners LP (NYSE: OKS) plans to build nearly $595 million to $730 million of natural gas liquids (NGL) projects between now and 2013. |
Baker Huges artificial lift system boosts revenue on Bakken shale well
Jul 13, 2010
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Oasis Petroleum completes $396M IPO
Jul 13, 2010
Houston-based Oasis Petroleum Inc. completed its initial public offering of 42,000,000 common shares (48,300,000 including the exercised overallotment option) at $14.00 per common share. |
Continental increases Woodford, Bakken drilling with 2010 CAPEX increase
Jul 9, 2010
Continental Resources Inc. has increased its capital expenditure budget to $1.3 billion from $850 million to accelerate its drilling program and to increase its acreage positions in the Bakken and Woodford shale plays. |
Continental Resources ups US shale play spending to $1.3B
Jul 9, 2010
Continental Resources Inc. has increased its 2010 capital expenditure budget to from $850 million to $1.3 billion to accelerate its drilling program and to increase its acreage positions in strategic US shale plays including the Bakken, Woodford, and Niobrara. |
Voyager Oil & Gas pays Slawson $7.5M to participate in Niobrara drilling
Jun 28, 2010
Voyager Oil & Gas Inc. signed a $7.5 million exploration and development agreement with Slawson Exploration Co. Inc. to develop Slawson's 48,000 net acres in the Denver-Julesberg Basin Niobrara Formation in Weld County, Colorado. |
Bakken player Oasis Petroleum completes $396M IPO
Jun 23, 2010
Houston-based Oasis Petroleum Inc. – who has amassed a 300,000 net acreage position within the Bakken shale in North Dakota and Montana, has raised $396 million in its initial public offering. |
Northern Oil and Gas closes $100M credit facility, updates hedging activity
Jun 2, 2010
Minnesota-based Northern Oil and Gas Inc. has completed the assignment of its revolving credit facility to Macquarie Bank Ltd. from CIT Capital USA Inc., complete with an increase in the initial and maximum borrowing bases. |
Voyager adds Williston Basin acreage to target Bakken
May 17, 2010
Billings, Montana-based Voyager Oil & Gas Inc. has recently purchased acreage acreage in the Williston Basin targeting the Bakken shale. |
Total makes two oil discoveries offshore Angola
May 1, 2010
French oil major Total has made two oil discoveries offshore Angola through its subsidiary, TEPA (Block 15/06) Ltd. and its partners.
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US producers continue comeback as revenues, income rise in 4Q09
May 1, 2010
Fourth-quarter 2009 financial results for the OGJ150 group of publicly traded oil and gas producers are dramatically different from the same period in 2008 when the United States and indeed most of the world seemed to have fallen into an economic abyss.
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Samson Oil & Gas to re-enter Niobrara formation
Apr 27, 2010
Samson Oil & Gas Ltd. is looking to re-enter the Niobrara shale formation in the Denver-Julesburg Basin, Wyoming to determine its productive capacity. |
ONEOK Partners to invest over $400M in Bakken, Woodford growth projects
Apr 22, 2010
Tulsa, OK-based ONEOK Partners LP, one of the largest publicly traded master limited partnerships, plans to invest nearly $405 million to $470 million between now and the end of 2011 for projects in two shale plays, the Bakken Shale in the Williston Basin in North Dakota, and the Woodford Shale in Oklahoma. |
The “natural gas revolution” is changing global energy dynamics, including the outlook for energy security in the United States and elsewhere. In his keynote speech to the annual 31st annual CERAWeek Executive Conference in Houston, Peter Voser, CEO of Royal Dutch Shell plc, outlines what the industry and policymakers must do to ensure society fully leverages the many benefits of natural gas. He calls for well-targeted and robustly enforced regulations to ensure tight and shale gas production meets the highest standards. He also urges the industry to do a better job of listening and responding to public concerns about the environmental and operational challenges associated with gas production.
Read the full speech by Peter Voser here.
The total value of US oil and gas mergers and acquisitions increased significantly in 2011 due to continued investment in US shale plays and related infrastructure, sustained interest from foreign buyers, and private equity entrants deploying capital in the energy industry, according to an analysis of energy M&A data by PwC US. A major trend in the energy sector driving the increase in deal value throughout the year was a shift towards more investments in oil and liquid plays as natural gas prices remained depressed amid hitting a 10-year low in 2011.
Read more here.
Can the shale gas r
evolution currently taking place in the US be repeated elsewhere? Although significant volumes of unconventional gas deposits are present in Poland, France, Germany, Hungary, Sweden, Turkey, and the UK, shale gas developments are running many years behind their counterparts in the US. Skeptics have pointed out that differences in geology, taxes, public acceptance, environmental regulations and other factors in Europe vs. the US make for a tougher environment in which to develop unconventional resources.
Read the article by Bart J. A. Willigers of Palantir Solutions Ltd. here.
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