Bakken
The Bakken Gears Up For Its Second Decade
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A decade into North Dakota’s shale fracking boom, the state consistently produces one million barrels of oil per day. Now, officials here look to double production.
Inside Energy (https://insideenergy.org/tag/bakken/)
A decade into North Dakota’s shale fracking boom, the state consistently produces one million barrels of oil per day. Now, officials here look to double production.
The decade-long shale fracking boom in North Dakota sent the population of oil patch communities soaring. They built up their public services to accommodate the newcomers, but now many of these cities are tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars in debt. They’re looking for stable funding to pay back their loans while hoping all the newcomers choose to stay.
Officials in North Dakota want the U.S. Geological Survey to put out a new estimate for how much oil is available in its shale plays — all in the hope that a higher figure will draw greater investment to the state.
Thunderstorms are a regular occurrence on the prairie, but when they roll through oil country, they can wreak havoc hitting wastewater disposal sites.
A surge in production in the Permian Basin of west Texas—-already the nation’s highest producing oilfield — is extracting more crude oil than refiners in Texas can handle. But now, producers in the Permian have new outlets for that oil with economic implications hundreds of miles away from the flatlands of west Texas. Based on crude oil export projections, port officials say they expect to add 5000 direct and indirect jobs in 2017.
“This is not a bubble, this is real growth,” said vessel traffic controller Mike Stineman, as he scanned real time navigation charts indicating vessel traffic at the port. Radio chatter between vessels, the Coast Guard and the Vessel Control Center provided a non-stop soundtrack of the the pulse of the port. A longtime ban on U.S. crude exports was lifted last year.
After a big downturn since mid-2014, oil prices have been better the last year for drillers. Not great, but better, and high enough that oil companies are expanding their operations here in the US. Of all the problems to have, though, companies aren’t getting as much oil out of the ground as they want because they can’t find enough workers for their highly paid jobs.
The oil industry is emerging from a two-year slump in crude prices that led to layoffs and a drop in production. A recent move by OPEC helped ensure the recovery continues, albeit slowly.
Natural gas service exists in big cities, but in rural America there are vast gaps where it does not reach. A small North Dakota town is looking for a way to bring in natural gas service.
Inside Energy is working on a documentary about the Dakota Access Pipeline controversy and tribal sovereignty issues raised by the Standing Rock Sioux. Does the current system of tribal consultation work for tribes? Does it work for energy infrastructure projects? Stay tuned for a full treatment of these issues. In the meantime, here’s a short look at some of the concerns from both sides.