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March 2012 • BAKKEN BREAKOUT
Associated Press Sidney, Mont., is experiencing a boom spurred by companies seeking to extract oil from the massive Bakken formation beneath western North Dakota and eastern Montana. This Feb. 28 photo shows a truck driving by the welcome sign for Sidney.
s mineral resource storehouses go, the Williston Basin is somewhat unique in
that it is one of the few that straddle the 49th parallel, the United States- Canada international boundary. So, oil and natural gas production, and infrastructural development in the basin are regulated by two federal governments, three states and two provinces — not to mention dozens of counties and municipalities. In order to produce and efficiently get oil and
natural gas to market, companies must often treat the Williston Basin as a single unit, which — geologically speaking — it is.
Due to huge drilling successes in the Bakken/Three Forks play — North Dakota has received the lion’s share of Williston Basin press coverage. But, its state and provincial neighbors are in the midst of their own oil and natural gas production booms as well. Montana, South Dakota, Saskatchewan
and Manitoba are readying themselves for the economic and social opportunities and challenges brought about by the Williston Basin’s oil and gas revival — changes that are expected to last for decades.
North Dakota — No. 3 and climbing At the beginning of March 2012, 205 drilling rigs were operating in North Dakota compared to 167 one year before — a 21 percent increase. Nearly 5,800 wells are now producing in
North Dakota.
According to the North Dakota Department of Mineral Resources’ Oil and Gas Division, some 4,500 to 5,000 new wells are expected to be drilled in the next two years. During the next 15- 25 years, the Division estimates an additional 28,000 wells will be drilled, which will create approximately 28,000 permanent jobs in field and infrastructure operations. The Division estimates the Bakken/Three Forks to
By Dan Sharp for the Tribune
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