POSTED BY: Nomen (March 17, 2008 12:57 PM)
This sounds like good news for a change as long as it isn't all shipped out of the country. I am so tired of reading about this self inflicted subprime mess. I commented 8 months ago that $3 gas was putting a tremendous financial strain on the average American. After buying food and paying higher utility bills there just wasn't any money left to pay more than the minimum on credit cards or loans. None of the so called experts even seemed to notice until it became historical data on their graphs and people had began defaulting on their loans. The average person could see a recession coming months ago because there was no way to go but deeper into debt. If our government would work to get gas back to $2/gal. in the short term for the poor and middle class and immediately work to increase mileage standards on new cars and the development of new technologies, it would be more of a boost to the economy than bailing out all the greedy lenders. Every financial CEO should have to give back his bonuses and stock options for causing this mess.

POSTED BY: Max \Doubt (March 17, 2008 06:42 PM)
Nomen, While fuel prices are certainly higher, I doubt they are the reason for the sub-prime mess. If one has managed to overextend himself to the point where a gallon of gas will cause bankruptcy, then who's fault is it really? I have lost my job and my wife is currently studying for a career change. Through all this, I have not missed one mortgage payment. I have zero income. I still pay my bills on time. I don't complain about the seemingly high gas prices. (The cost of gas is so high because the dollar is so low! Couple that with an enormous appetite for oil and oil speculation and you get higher fuel costs. To think we pay the most for oil is borderline ridiculous. Europeans get robbed, not to mention the Japanese.) The sub prime mess is not solely the fault of lenders. Rising interest rates, uneducated real estate speculators (not investors, they've been out of the market for a while) and good old fashioned, greedy Americans are mostly responsible. The American dream has proven to be empty. Many, like myself, are tired of hearing how the government (and the taxpayers) of this nation should bail out overextended borrowers. If you are overextended now, no amount of money can help you. You see Nomen, if the government were to make mortgage payments for Americans, then they would find other ways to waste their money. This is the true American dream.

POSTED BY: Phil (March 17, 2008 07:05 PM)
I agree with Nomen about returning to $2 gas to get the economy going again in the short term. The North Dakota oil could buy us a little more time for auto manufacturers and the general public to switch to more fuel efficient cars. The mid to lower income folks can't afford to just trade in for an expensive new hybrid and give away their present vehicle in response to these rapidly increasing gas prices. If the price of energy continues to shoot up at the current rate, in another six months, we will be talking about a global economic depression rather than just a recession.

POSTED BY: Dan Shackelford (March 17, 2008 10:15 PM)
We can't process enough of our oil to stave off this huge price changes. What a line. I'm sure Cheney and Bush prob. have very little to gain from all this. Sheesh. And those CEOs of those financial corps, I'm sure they were driven to the middle class after their companies fallout. hah We wish. Instead of 'stickin' it to the man', the rules stick it to the workers and their families while 'the man' rides into the sunset. We hope you're proud of him George. Welcome to the great American dream.

POSTED BY: Clifford J. Wirth (March 18, 2008 10:30 AM)
Because U.S. oil production is dropping rapidly, this field will not make up for declining production. And the U.S. faces major problems due to expected global production decline, as documented in a report found by Googling "peak oil associates".

POSTED BY: David (March 18, 2008 11:25 AM)
This article is very misleading. The Bakken field is shale oil (note the less than honest "locked away in rocks" description). It's not just a matter of drilling down getting a Texas type gusher. No one has yet found an economic way to produce oil from shale in any volume.

POSTED BY: Tom (March 18, 2008 12:06 PM)
"EOG Resources alone figures it can produce 80 million barrels of oil from its Bakken field." That may sound like a lot, but the U.S. consumes 20 million barrels of oil per day. So that is only 4 days worth, presumably recovered over a long period of time.

POSTED BY: Bill (March 18, 2008 12:57 PM)
I don't care how much crude oil we find, you still have to refine it and that's OUR fault for not building the refineries to produce the by products of the crude.

POSTED BY: shastatodd (March 18, 2008 02:29 PM)
"Many, like myself, are tired of hearing how the government (and the taxpayers) of this nation should bail out overextended borrowers. If you are overextended now, no amount of money can help you. " I guess corporate welfare (like the Bear Stearns bailout) is ok but a public bailout is not. Give me a break!

POSTED BY: Iconoclast421 (March 18, 2008 02:53 PM)
This is just ridiculous. We're talking about a maximum production of 100,000 bpd after 2 years of rapid development and billions of dollars in capital investment. It wont even offset the decline in texas production! It would cost half a trillion dollars to drill enough wells to meet the needs of the US.

POSTED BY: Jim Ostroff (March 18, 2008 07:29 PM)
Reducing gas pump prices to $2/gal. "in the short term" is a pipe dream. Our market system isn't perfect, but it reflects supply/demand realities. Prices are $3-plus because oil prices have nearly doubled in the last year. Federal price controls would mean gasoline shortages and higher prices, as we've seen time and again. Longer term, gas pump prices can be reined in, but it's up to consumers. Many gas-sipping passenger cars--not econoboxes-- are available today, but most consumers still opt for SUVs. A lack of refining capacity is a problem. The last new plant opened in 1976. Plans for new ones have been stymied by fierce opposition by communities and environmental groups. Don't be taken in by those claiming 'peak oil' is at hand. No one can say whether this will occur in 10 years, or 100. Oil companies are more cautious than ever about spending $1 on new E&P activities and have better techs than ever to boost the chances for finding and producing sizeable amounts of oil from "new finds." The large-scale of activities in the Bakken Play by oil companies indicates there is a high probability of producing great volumes of oil from this area. It is believed that most of the oil is trapped in what amounts to continuous pools as much as two miles underground.

POSTED BY: Doomer\'84 (March 20, 2008 10:35 PM)
Hahaha, many of these guys are right. I keep telling people to prepare for the powerdown. Nothing will save our needs, not for everyone, the dieoff will begin soon. I swear if these optimists would just wake up and see they are in denial. Our children will die as a result of no more Oil. Yet no one can see this, clearly. We need more realist. BTW, here is a great site to understand and prepare for the coming collapse www.lifeaftertheoilcrash.net. He's got it spot on. Just about, though he doesn't really talk about the dieoff that WILL happen. Sightful and full of FACTS! Dare to refute it, I dare!

POSTED BY: TJ (March 21, 2008 03:41 PM)
If this oil does, in fact, exist it's just a bandaid. It will still run out eventually, as all oil will. Instead of dumping money into a way of life that cannot be sustained, that money should be put into alternative energies like wind, water and solar energy it sure would be nice to already have those in place when the proverbial sh*t hits the fan and oil is scarce for real.

POSTED BY: ken faught (March 31, 2008 06:07 PM)
Doomer '84 is dead wrong. energy is always available at a price. When the oil is gone, our children will pay for the next more expensive option until it is gone. Their grandchildren will move on to another even more expensive option.

POSTED BY: Rick (April 02, 2008 09:02 PM)
I am nearly 50 years old and the media has reported we are "running out of oil" since my father was born. We have only exploited 30% of our oil reserves and have enough for the next 50 years or more if we stop letting the Sierra Club run our energy policy and DRILL! More Drilling, More Refineries and More Nuclear Plants NOW!!!!

POSTED BY: Jeff (April 02, 2008 10:12 PM)
TJ, We will have alternative energy, probably sooner than later. Hydrogen cars, NOT Ethonol, etc. So what is the big deal producing as much of our OWN OIL for the next X number of years until we fine tune the alternatives. It would solve a lot of our problems, but you I suspect (eviromentalists), liberals, and too many conservatives can't figure that out. You all just complain about HIGH Gas prices and refuse to look at one of the solutions. We will not run out of oil, our alternatives will kick in way before that ever happens. Wake Up.

POSTED BY: Joe Kingsgate (April 02, 2008 11:15 PM)
Environmentalists won't be happy until lack of energy swallows the economy into recession. Solar, wind, biofuels, follow the yellow brick road. Democrats are delusional and naive.

POSTED BY: mb (April 03, 2008 12:12 AM)
This article was wonderful news... And I would like to remind others to please think positively… We simply must repair our old, broken, and burdensome way of thinking which fails to realize that replacement technology will be a process by which many will rely upon at least four or five sources... Instead of the one or two, we’ve grown accustomed to. A positive out-look is essential in order to overcome fossil dependence. We're a very successful and entrepreneurial country who has always followed through when we need to. And alternative energy will be just another successful chapter, in our history.

POSTED BY: Eyecare (April 03, 2008 04:55 AM)
I'm living in Germany where the price of Super Plus gas for my car costs around €1.46/liter that roughly translates to around $8.76/gallon at today's conversion rate. Somehow the Germany economy seems to be surviving. Perhaps it's because many of them tend to use smaller, more fuel efficient cars. Perhaps it's because they rely considerably more than we do on public forms of transportation. Interestingly, the cost for a barrel of oil are similar for both our countries. The higher cost for gas in Germany is primarily from their added taxes on fuel. Perhaps if we taxed gas more heavily in the US it would wean us off of these large, fuel wasting cars we seem to think we need?

POSTED BY: JS (April 03, 2008 07:09 AM)
Nice, TJ. Since Marathon is there right now, it probably exists. By the way, "All of America's oil needs for the next two decades" is more than a band-aid. By the way, this is in ADDITION to all other oil reserves. In other words, we won't be running out of oil for many, many decades. Meanwhile, these (for profit)companies are in the energy business. I believe they're free to "dump" their money into research and development of these new oil fields if they choose. They are also heavily invested in alternate forms of energy. Profits from oil funds research into cleaner, sustainable forms of energy. By the way, who do you think is going to sell you these alternate forms of energy? You guessed it - companies with names like Shell, Exxon and BP.

POSTED BY: steve (April 03, 2008 09:53 AM)
First - we are bring bombed, terrorized, controlled, and nearly ruined by middle eastern theocracies with our own money. Insane! Develop alternatives as we drill every place possible. This will cerate high paying jobs and keep billions in our own country. Remember a simple fact, we will be using billions of barrels of oil far into the future. Lets use OUR oil and make the middle East irrelevant!

POSTED BY: Nicky T (April 03, 2008 10:20 AM)
I'd imagine the mush-headed liberals will try to block the drilling for this....then later complain about oil prices. Stop blaming big oil for gas prices and blame your government. When we can't drill for oil, or build refineries because left wing wackos try to block everything...what do you think will happen???

POSTED BY: Bill (April 03, 2008 01:15 PM)
There is also more oil in the ground in Colorado than there is in the Middle East. IF we can just get the Democrats to let us start drilling. What is wrong with this picture. ?????

POSTED BY: sam (April 03, 2008 02:31 PM)
Drill, baby, drill!

POSTED BY: chris n (April 04, 2008 01:00 PM)
The same people who don't want drilling are the same ones who say the earth is going to boil, even though we have only been keeping good records for 70 years and great records for 30,,, and the earth is how old, Humm ,,,DRILL

POSTED BY: Volunteer Spirit (April 04, 2008 04:31 PM)
Ever noticed that Gas prices shot up shortly after the DIMS gained control of Congress? They would rather grill baseball players than lift their little finger for the American people!

POSTED BY: Jake (April 05, 2008 02:09 AM)
Too bad that the folks so anxious to drill-drill-drill do not understand the difference between value and cost. If they were authentic believers in capitalism, and not some pretend imitation, they would realize that it is time for government to stop protecting Big Oil and to allow NEW technologies for alternative energy sources to create NEW ideas, NEW fortunes, and NEW zillionaires. Stop blaming what you call "liberals" and get better acquainted with the idea of capitalism.

POSTED BY: Kneejerk (April 06, 2008 05:11 PM)
The near-sighted liberals have silly ideas like conservation, when we should be drilling everywhere we can in the U.S. Look at the Grand Canyon -- we've got a huge headstart there. That sucker's got to be a mile deep already.

POSTED BY: Debra (April 06, 2008 07:01 PM)
All these people are protesting high oil prices. Its basic supply and demand. If the US would allow the free exploration, drilling, and refining of oil, the US would be oil independent. Prices would be low and the US would be better off. But noooooo!!! We have to stop drilling because the environmentalists keep propagating the myth of global warming. We'll see what Congress does with this. The last big oil find was shut down by Congress.

POSTED BY: John (April 08, 2008 10:38 AM)
I wonder what the enviro-kooks will dream up to keep us from drilling for this. An oil worker might step on a field mouse or some B.S. like that. Add this to the field in ANWAR, the deep oil in the Gulf of Mexico, The shale oil in Colorado, and all the other known oil that the so called "environmentalist" block us from getting at, and we would be 100% energy independant. The regimes in the middle east would start to crumble, and the price of oil would drop world wide helping poorer countries to develop and prosper. The goal of the fringe-left, disguised as environmentalism, is just the opposite. They want to bring everyone down to the level of a third world nation and make us dependent on government.

POSTED BY: John (April 08, 2008 10:49 AM)
Nice try Jake. Yes, we will move toward different energy sources as the market dictates. Which you would understand if you were actually a capitalist, and not a liberal trying to act like one. It's also going to take a long time, so let's stop converting the world's food supply to your ALTERNATIVE fuel and use the best thing we have ... Oil. The entire world runs on oil. You can't just shut off the spigot and say, "Okay now everything runs on sun and wind and pixy dust". You better get acquainted with the idea of reality and stop with the silly hippie dreams.

POSTED BY: carl (April 08, 2008 03:01 PM)
We have to do something to bring down the price of a barrel of crude oil,and this (plus other sources, ANWR, oil shale,tar sands)is just the ticket. If we don't run afoul of those pesky,tree hugging enviromentalists we won't have to be dependent on oil from other countries who don't like us anyway!

POSTED BY: Ben (April 11, 2008 02:47 AM)
USGS just release the recoverable estimates for the bakken to be somewhere between 3-4.3 billion barrels. I'm not going to go into technical detail, but environmental issues won't be much of a problem in this state. We are already drilling as many wells as we can right now, and only a small percentage of the land is under federal protection. Just google the numbers I posted and USGS for real news.

POSTED BY: Ben (April 11, 2008 02:55 AM)
"POSTED BY: Debra (April 06, 2008 07:01 PM) "All these people are protesting high oil prices. Its basic supply and demand. If the US would allow the free exploration, drilling, and refining of oil, the US would be oil independent. Prices would be low and the US would be better off. But noooooo!!! We have to stop drilling because the environmentalists keep propagating the myth of global warming. We'll see what Congress does with this. The last big oil find was shut down by Congress." :-( You have no idea what you're talking about. We have already looked in our country. What do you think they were doing from 1890-1965? We have found all the big oil fields. It is highly unlikely that we will find any more fields over even a billion barrels in the lower 48. Alaska at best would be just over a years worth of oil (maybe 10 billion). Not to mention a takes years to develop a field, which is especially true in areas that have no population.

POSTED BY: PSL (April 12, 2008 01:04 PM)
Tree huggers are not pesky and to dismiss environmentalists in that way in the first comment here is insulting and shows lack of intelligence or concern for anyone else. Wouldn't it be nice if the focus was off of fossil fuels and onto solar energy for our household and business needs so that our cars could continue to function with fossil fuels a little while longer without destroying the planet- not just by changing the weather patterns and climate but standard air quality and water quality issues come to mind. We are smart enough to figure out how to meet our growing energy wants along with our needs without impacting others negatively by dimishing their health by the environmental impact. How about turning our thermostats up in summer- isn't summer great because it is warm- why do we freeze ourselves while harming the planet with excessive energy wasting and polluting. SO its a little warm- so what? We want perfection and here we go paving paradise to put in a parking lot. What would Jesus think of what we do? Let's express our highest sense of right and service in whatever we do rather than act like concerns for the environment are annoying. God gave us dominion- power over paper tigers and dragons as well as harsher manifestations of evil and this dominion carries with it a care taking responsibility for the environment. We should all go back to "the beginning" and do right- together. Penni Livingston, esq.

POSTED BY: Randy (April 14, 2008 09:05 PM)
Its funny how all these people talk about protecting the world and then log off the internet and get into their gas fed cars. Nothing we do can destroy the world or stop it from being destroyed. The world will take care of itself. It always has and will. Im pretty sure the fires from the caves many moons ago did not cause the world to break apart and seperate. And as for God, well Im pretty sure he has seen this coming for a long time and understands. Whats next, should we move to the woods and run naked? I think not.

POSTED BY: Eric (April 25, 2008 07:57 AM)
Regardless of environmental issues, we must go after any oil available to us as a nation that is in our own backyard, and become oil independent. Eventually, the oil will dry up and all the solar and wind power will come into play. But now the oil is there, so let us use it.

POSTED BY: dan parker (April 28, 2008 11:53 PM)
I saw a report on FOX about oil drilling in the Bakken. The oil driller was explaining that 189 well were going to be drilled on his watch over the next year or so. If one assumes that he is just one of several drillers, it will not take long for hundreds or even thousands of wells are in operation. Could it be that within a decade a couple of million barrels could be produced daily?

POSTED BY: l.l. gagnon (May 12, 2008 12:14 AM)
Why is it that we have allowed the few environmental extremists to hold up our freedom from the Arab oil cartels? Where is the American can-do attitude? And, yes, where is the American backbone? I am an Alaskan and get so very frustrated with these little Easterners and Californians telling us that we cannot bring OUR oil to market!! It really is time for us to quit being held hostage by the Arab Oil. We can use our oil carefully brought to market while expanding alternatives.

POSTED BY: Matt (May 12, 2008 06:31 PM)
This is my thought on the situation. If there is enough oil to supply the US for 200 yrs, go for it. The amount of oil that is in the Bakken fields is the amount that saudi arabia gives us so it would be cheaper to stop the import of oil and take the oil that is from the Bakken fields.

POSTED BY: Dan Regnier (June 06, 2008 05:55 AM)
Drill, drill and drill! Great news about the Bakken fields. Now we must educate some members of Congress. Too many are beholden to extreme "greenies!" Some members of Congres want to sue OPEC over lack of production and don't want drilling/exploration in our country! HUH!?!

POSTED BY: jo (June 07, 2008 09:57 AM)
IT'S TIME US AMERICANS STAND UP TO CONGRESS AND FIGHT FOR OUR OWN DAMN OIL HERE AT HOME.THEY'VE SOLD US OUT ONE TOO MANY TIMES.I'D LIKE TO PROPOSE A CHALLENGE TO ALL THE ENVIRONMENTALISTS AND CONGRESSMEN OUT THERE... WHEN YOU SAY WE CAN'T DRILL IN OUR OWN BACK YARD AND SEND OUR KIDS OFF TO FIGHT FOR FOREIGN OIL LET IT BE MANDATORY THAT YOUR KIDS GO TO WAR FIRST.. SEE HOW YOU LIKE IT. .. THE REAL STORY IS TOLD IN A BOOK CALLED " THE ENERGY UNCRISIS" YOU WILL BE AMAZED AT THE REAL TRUTH BEHIND ALL THIS NONSENSE.. I JUST HOPE THE GOVERNMENT DOESN'T PUT A HIT OUT ON THE FARMERS NOW OR DECLARES N. DAKOTA A SACRED GROUND FOR ALIENS OR SOMETHING LAME ALONG THOSE LINES.

POSTED BY: L. Lambert (June 07, 2008 11:24 PM)
So what exactly are we waiting for huh? Stop the proscrastinating and start drilling.

POSTED BY: Dr. Thannisch (June 08, 2008 11:59 AM)
It is a fact that the Prudho Bay discovery was supposed to alleviate all of our oil-dependency problems. We were supposed to be oil-dependent for hundreds of years. Someone was blowing smoke and they are doing the same now. Count on it. With the continued social gluttony of gasoline for our own selfish pleasure, there isn't enough oil on the entire planet. The sad fact of the matter is that America is going to have to change its attitude. They can do it the easy way or the hard way.

POSTED BY: JP (June 09, 2008 12:14 AM)
This article is from March - what happened to the report that was due out in a month?

POSTED BY: David Muhlbaum (June 10, 2008 10:04 AM)
Hi, David Muhlbaum, Web Editor for the Kiplinger Business Resource Center here. You can see the report from the USGS here (you'll probably need to copy and paste the url into your browser.): www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=1911

POSTED BY: Solution (June 11, 2008 11:40 AM)
I'd like to see Kiplinger put together an analysis of what 1 million barrel of oil would mean for a us producer. Compare what sending a deflated $1 to foreign oil vs. that same $1 remaining in the US. Taxes, employment, investment, local revenues, housing, national security, etc. I bet the information would be eye-opening.

POSTED BY: Jim Ostroff (June 11, 2008 05:00 PM)
Kiplinger doesn't take sides on issues, but we do strive to incite people to think. This article surely has done that! Since its publication, the U.S. Geological Survey released a report estimating there's up to 4.3 billion barrels of recoverable oil in the Bakken Formation. However, this was based on technology and oil prices in place during 2007. Still, this is a 25-fold increase over the USGS's 1995 study that concluded 151 million bbls. could be produced. It's very likely that the 2007 estimate will prove to be way too low, given continuing, rapid advancements in oil recovery technologies. This oil field will be developed over the next 10 to 20 years. There are no "killer" federal regs. that would prevent this. An observation: During the past 30 years federal and state lawmakers have clashed repeatedly on the oil/natural gas versus renewables issue. As a result, vast areas in the U.S. and offshore that likely contain enough fossil fuels to boost domestic supplies for decades are off limits. At the same time, critical supports to help grow wind, solar, non-oil fuels and geothermal energy production remain meager and are doled out in a way that curtails much-needed private investment. In the intervening years, the U.S.'s reliance on imported oil and natural gas has grown. The ability of the nation's power grid to handle growing electricity demand is breaking down in some areas, even with massive, utility-led conservation programs. In the spirit of inciting people to think: I submit that our nation's energy posture will become more precarious until federal and state lawmakers enact policies that permit and encourage the development of both fossil fuels and alternative energy sources, require more energy efficiency -- all without cutting corners on air/water pollution controls.