Massive Oil Deposit Could Increase U.S. Reserve by 10X

[Hazcat]

America is sitting on top of a super massive 200 billion barrel Oil Field that could potentially make America Energy Independent and until now has largely gone unnoticed. Thanks to new technology the Bakken Formation in North Dakota could boost America’s Oil reserves by an incredible 10 times, giving western economies the trump card against OPEC’s short squeeze on oil supply and making Iranian and Venezuelan threats of disrupted supply irrelevant.

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.

It was not until 2007, when EOG Resources of Texas started a frenzy when they drilled a single well in Parshal N.D. that is expected to yield 700,000 barrels of oil that real excitement and money started to flow in North Dakota. Marathon Oil is investing $1.5 billion and drilling 300 new wells in what is expected to be one of the greatest booms in Oil discovery since Oil was discovered in Saudi Arabia in 1938.

The US imported about 14 million barrels of Oil per day in 2007 , which means US consumers sent about $340 Billion Dollars over seas building palaces in Dubai and propping up unfriendly regimes around the World, if 200 billion barrels of oil at $90 a barrel are recovered in the high plains the added wealth to the US economy would be $18 Trillion Dollars which would go a long way in stabilizing the US trade deficit and could cut the cost of oil in half in the long run.


http://www.nextenergynews.com/news1/next-energy-news2.13s.html

[jerry]

If the tree huggers don't put a stop to it like they did the the Alaskan oil fields this will good.

[saltydogbk]

The Tree Huggers won't let us drill in Alaska, off the coast of Florida, or build wind turbines.  what they want is for us to cook food over cow dung, the cows of course being protected by PETA.  PC is gonna kill me.....

[Rastus]

Ok guys...I'll take the heat I'm in the oil production business.  But here is the dirty little secret...the oil companies do not want the price as high as it is...and we aren't getting that 100-110 dollars per barrel free and clear.  In brief:

1.  Clinton put oil on the commodities market....thanks.  Whilst we were getting $80--$85 a barrel the speculators drove it to the $110 that the refiners bought that you paid.
2.  Oh yeah, 42 gallons in a barrel.....do that math versus the pump.
3.  On average, 20% of what we produce goes to the mineral owner (hint...hint...who is the biggest...U.S. Govt.).  So on that $80...it leaves...$64...still a lot of money.
4.  Wait...severance tax on oil...about 12.5%...so off $80 it leaves us with $54...a lot of money.
5.  But wait....more tax..ad valorem tax, transport fees (sort of like on your phone bill...). state income taxes, local fees, etc. etc....knock off another $10 of that so....$44 left...still a lot of money.
6.  Costs us...oh say a cheap producer....$10 a barrel on the stripper stuff we have left..some more some less...$34 a barrel..and this cost doesn't change come rain, shine or price and it pays all of the bills and stuffs our pockets.....
7.  Still a lot of money and remember that's off the $80 we don't get the $110....the useless ass middle man business major slug get's that $30 sitting in a high rise eating fancy lunches and I've buried two of my friends I worked offshore with due to mishaps.
8.  OK...leaves a lot of money.  Typical well?  Oh call it $1,000,000 to drill and set up...that will get you about 100,000 barrels so it costs us about $10 to make that $34 so it's not $34 it's $24.  Still a lot of money..
9.  To clear that $24 a barrel...well you've got to produce that well about 8 years so not a bad return at $80 (not $110...remember) a barrel if the price stays up....if it drops, well most of us will make it as the taxes are %'s and slide but not all will make it. 
10.  Wait, I forgot...not every well is a keeper.  Let's say we drill two to get one good one...well now that means another $1,000,000 with nothing for it so..ooops we lost another $10 a barrel down to $14.
11.  I love this business.  I really do...but this, though generalized with approximations is a accurate representation.

Biggest problem right now.  The worthless $.  All oil has been traded in $'s...Arabs buy goods in Euros, Yuans, Marks, etc.

If the $ was on a one to one basis with the Euro the oil price they got would be $55 a barrel...but ooops...it's $1.58 to get a Euro so....they had to increase the price to keep buying power.

Also...we almost had a run on banks like in 1929 last weekend.  D

Did ya'll notice?

[Hazcat]

Rastus,

While I believe your thoughts the weak dollar does not explain it all.

If your numbers are correct then oil should be selling for 86.9 a barrel  (1.58 x 55).

In any case we need to become less dependent on imported oil.  We have this new deposit, Alaska, Florida, and oil shale in Wyoming (I think that's the place).  This along with alternative sources should be aggressively pursued, IMO.

[Sponsor]

[Rastus]

Rastus,

While I believe your thoughts the weak dollar does not explain it all.

If your numbers are correct then oil should be selling for 86.9 a barrel  (1.58 x 55).

It was quick...but did you consider the commodities market? 

[Hazcat]

It was quick...but did you consider the commodities market? 

That and futures speculators are IMO, the biggest problem.

[CurrieS103]

Ratus,

Doesn't the dozens of different blends you have to produce play into the equation also?

[Pathfinder]

All of the above, thanks for the info Rastus.

Has anyone noticed how the gummint has "allowed" certain markets to be controlled by a select, secret few? The cattle market was disconnected between the cow and the grocery store over 20 years ago, controlled by a handful of now very wealthy speculators (the proverbial "middle men"). Same with gas - anyone else know that the pump price has nothing to do with the actual price of oil required to produce it? It is all tied to spot speculation prices on a day-to-day basis.

These and other activities (tin foil hat alert) are some of the reasons why I believe the fix is in, national and international economics will control the next generation of Americans and other world denizens and nothing will be allowed to stand in its way. That's why the Mexican border is not closed, just part of the plan. And does anyone here remember voting to allow that damned credit rating to control your life?

Just thinking out loud. 

[tombogan03884]

That and futures speculators are IMO, the biggest problem.

I work for a Cooperation that makes medical devices, Vein harvesters, Biopsy snippers, Stents etc. This facility had $22 MILLION in profits last year, in the last 2 or 3 years they have done away with profit sharing, Christmas bonuses, and insurance costs for employees continue to climb, meanwhile they can afford to lay out $750,000 per facility, to switch to a new record keeping software, while they tell the workers that they are striving to be a "Top 100 Employer". Where did that $22 Million go ? The investors. I have no problem with the capitalist system, but I was under the impression that Capitalists got increased profits from increased sales, not by flogging them out of the workers who are earning them their money.