The Big Picture
March 12, 2013
If you’re painting by numbers, the Bakken shale presents an impressive portrait.
Geographic size of Bakken Shale: 25,000 square miles in North
Dakota, Montana, Saskatchewan and Manitoba.
2011 ranking among U.S. oil fields: 14th (and rising).
Proven reserves: Between 19-24 billion barrels using most
recent technology (that only recovers a maximum of 15 percent of
reserves). Experts predict rapid advances in recovery technology,
however. Above the Bakken lies the Tyler formation, with one
billion barrels of recoverable oil; underneath the Bakken lies the
Three Forks formation, which may contain two billion barrels of
recoverable oil.
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