BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) _ Federal geologists are releasing a new estimate of recoverable oil reserves in North Dakota, the nation’s second-leading producer of crude behind Texas.
U.S. Sen. John Hoeven and industry officials in 2017 asked for the new assessment, saying it could show stronger production potential and attract more investment to the state.
The U.S. Geological Survey in 2013 estimated that 7.4 billion barrels of oil could be recovered from the Bakken and Three Forks shale formations in North Dakota and Montana.
Industry officials and Hoeven think other formations in western North Dakota’s oil patch could be exploited using drilling and hydraulic fracturing technology developed for the Bakken and Three Forks.
North Dakota is already producing more than a million barrels of oil daily. It accounts for about 12 percent of U.S. oil production.
