geology McAfee SECURE sites help keep you safe from identity theft, credit card fraud, spyware, spam, viruses and online scams

Geology News
Bakken Shale Current Events


Bakken Boom in Western North Dakota
February 14, 2013 | Fox Business

The jobless rate in the 12 North Dakota counties over the Bakken Formation is less than 2% and employers are having a very difficult time attracting talented workers – even though the population of these counties is growing rapidly.

Most Popular: 12/03 to 12/09
December 11, 2012 | Geology.com

1500-Year Arctic Atmospheric Cycle

Voyager 1 Enters a New Region of Deep Space

Flaring Gas in North Dakota

Superstorm Sandy and Sea Level Rise

Most Accurate Gravity Map of the Moon

Compensation for Island Nations Suffering from Sea Level Rise

History of the Hope Diamond

Flaring Gas in North Dakota
December 7, 2012 | NASA

Northwestern North Dakota has one of the lowest population densities in the United States; however, this night lights image from NASA shows the area has hundreds of points of illumination. Many of these lights are Bakken Formation oil wells where natural gas that does not have a pipeline to market is being flared. Flaring is common practice in the oil and gas industry although many object to the practice.

USA as World’s Top Oil Producer
November 15, 2012 | FuelFix.com

With enormous oil and gas potential in dozens of shale plays, the United States could become the world’s leading oil producer by 2020.

Proppants from North Dakota Kaolinite?
October 16, 2012 | Inforum.com

The North Dakota Geological Survey has published a new map of kaolinite deposits. Some of these might be useful for manufacturing the proppant beads that could be used instead of frac sand in the hydraulic fracturing process. The oil and gas industry is currently using millions of pounds of proppants in every horizontal well that is drilled.

Bakken Crude Oil Production is Rising
August 17, 2012 | Energy Information Administration

North Dakota’s oil production averaged 660 thousand barrels per day (bbl/d) in June 2012, up 3% from the previous month and 71% over June 2011 volumes. Driving production gains is output from the Bakken Formation in the Williston Basin, which averaged 594 thousand bbl/d in June 2012, an increase of 85% over the June 2011 average. The Bakken now accounts for 90% of North Dakota’s total oil production.” Quoted from the Energy Information Administration.

AASG on Hydraulic Fracturing
August 12, 2012 | Association of American State Geologists

“After decades of hydraulic fracturing-related activity there is little evidence if any that hydraulic fracturing itself has contaminated fresh groundwater. No occurrences are known where hydraulic fracturing fluids have moved upward from the zone of fracturing of a horizontal well into the fresh drinking water.” Quoted from the Association of American State Geologists statement.

Rising Production in the Bakken Formation
August 6, 2012 | Platts.com

Oil and gas production in North Dakota has been rising steadily as the Bakken Formation is being developed. North Dakota is now the #2 oil-producing state and production continues to rise.

Bakken Crude to Louisiana by Barge?
July 29, 2012 | FoxBusiness

Kirby Corporation has been shipping crude oil produced from the Bakken Formation of North Dakota and Montana down the Mississippi River by barge.

Truthland
July 20, 2012 | Truthland@YouTube

The natural gas industry has prepared a movie, “Truthland”, that responds to the HBO movie “Gasland”.

Water Quality Where Hydraulic Fracturing is Used
July 13, 2012 | United States Geological Survey

The United States Geological Survey has published: “Water Quality Studied in Areas of Unconventional Oil and Gas Development, Including Areas Where Hydraulic Fracturing Techniques are Used, in the United States.”

North Dakota Needs Pipelines
June 19, 2012 | CNBC

Record amounts of oil and natural gas are being produced in North Dakota. However, about 1/3 of the natural gas is being flared because of inadequate pipelines to carry the gas to market. This article explains why the state needs more pipelines to develop the resource efficiently.

North Dakota: Pronghorn Formation
May 29, 2012 | Grand Forks Herald

In western North Dakota a sandy rock unit known as the Pronghorn Formation, located below the Bakken Formation and above the Three Forks Formation, is yielding oil from horizontal wells.

Rouge Fractures
April 30, 2012 | Durham University

“The chances of rogue fractures due to shale gas fracking operations extending beyond 0.6 kilometres from the injection source is a fraction of one percent, according to new research led by Durham University. The analysis is based on data from thousands of fracking operations in the USA and natural rock fractures in Europe and Africa.” Quoted from the Durham University press release.

Objections to Natural Gas Flaring
April 10, 2012 | FuelFix.com

Drilling for oil in the shale formations of Texas and North Dakota often results in the flaring of natural gas – as some of these areas are not served by natural gas pipelines. Although this practice is somewhat of an industry tradition it is drawing increasing criticism because it wastes a non-renewable energy resource, is an economic loss, produces air pollution and contributes to climate change.

State Crude Oil Trends
March 19, 2012 | Energy Information Administration

Five states account for over 50% of the USA’s crude oil production with production rapidly increasing in Texas and North Dakota.

Hydraulic Fracturing Isn’t the Problem
February 21, 2012 | University of Texas at Austin

“Hydraulic fracturing of shale formations to extract natural gas has no direct connection to reports of groundwater contamination [...] many problems ascribed to hydraulic fracturing are related to processes common to all oil and gas drilling operations, such as casing failures or poor cement jobs.” Quoted from the University of Texas at Austin press release.

North Dakota Sets Records for Oil and Natural Gas in 2011
February 15, 2012 | Grand Forks Herald

Oil and natural gas production in North Dakota is at all-time highs, fueled by intense drilling activity in the Bakken Formation, Three Forks Formations and other rock units.

Dry Shale Gas Production Trends
February 13, 2012 | Energy Information Administration

The EIA Natural Gas Weekly Update has an interesting graph that tracks the month-by-month dry gas production growth from various shale gas fields in the United States. For example, it shows that production from the Haynesville Shale started to increase significantly in early 2009 and continued until today the Haynesville is the most prolific dry gas producer.

Fracking Backlog in North Dakota
January 20, 2012 | Bloomberg

Even though oil production from North Dakota’s Bakken Formation has propelled the state to new production records there is still a backlog of wells to be fracked.

Declining Royalty Payments from Natural Gas Wells
January 3, 2012 | Geology.com

Many property owners are very surprised when the royalties that they receive from a natural gas well on their property decline sharply. They are learning about production decline curves.

Activity in the Bakken Formation
January 3, 2012 | Globe and Mail

Lynn Peterson, CEO of Kodiak Oil & Gas gives an overview of current activity in the United States portion of the Bakken Formation.

Every day you can find links to several earth science news topics right here. Bookmark this page and visit often. You can also receive our news for free by RSS feed or in a daily email message.





Homeowners InsuranceHomeowners Insurance usually does not cover damage caused by floods, landslides, earthquakes and other geohazards.
frac sandFrac Sand is a high-purity silica sand used in hydraulic fracturing to enhance the flow of oil and gas from tight rock units.
Diamond formationDiamonds from Coal? Diamonds form under a variety of conditions that rarely involve coal as a source of carbon.
fluorescent mineralsFluorescent Minerals glow with spectacular colors when illuminated in the dark with an ultraviolet lamp.
Uses of heliumHelium is a byproduct of the natural gas industry. Its most important use is in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machines.
Canada diamond minesCanada Diamond Mines: Canada is the third largest producer of gem-quality diamonds in the world.
Utica shaleUtica Shale: New wells in eastern Ohio prove that the Utica Shale will be a major source of natural gas and natural gas liquids.
Green River fossilsSpectacular Fossils of the Green River Formation. Some of the world's best-preserved fossil fish from an intermountain lake.
OpalOpals: Gem quality opal is one of the most spectacular gemstones. A single stone can flash with every color of the spectrum.
NovaruptaMost Powerful Eruption of the 20th Century: People in Juneau heard the volcanic blast - over one hour after it occurred.



News content contributed by
© 2005-2013 Geology.com. All Rights Reserved.
Images, code and content of this website are property of Geology.com. Use without permission is prohibited. Pages on this site are protected by Copyscape.