Source Rock for the Three Forks Sanish

Link to presentation on the source rock for Three Forks Sanish.  This is a PDF / slide show and is very, very interesting.

Slide 16: note how far east the play extends; skips Minot and Ward County and goes into McHenry.

Slide 30: total amount of oil in place and estimated ultimate recovery.

There are at least three acronyms/abbreviations you need to know, looking at this presentation:

EUR: estimated ultimate recovery; no matter how much oil is in place, if it can't be recovered, it ain't gonna do anybody any good. This is the important number.

OOIP: original oil in place. Total estimated oil in place, but amount recovered depends to degree on economics and technology

TOC: total organic content -- this has to do with the "source rock" -- the rock that generates the oil.  Look at this definition of TOC from the Schlumberger website:

A rock rich in organic matter which, if heated sufficiently, will generate oil or gas. Typical source rocks, usually shales or limestones, contain about 1% organic matter and at least 0.5% total organic carbon (TOC), although a rich source rock might have as much as 10% organic matter. Rocks of marine origin tend to be oil-prone, whereas terrestrial source rocks (such as coal) tend to be gas-prone. Preservation of organic matter without degradation is critical to creating a good source rock, and necessary for a complete petroleum system. 

Now that you know that a "rich source rock might have as much as 10% organic matter," note that the Bakken source rock has 11% TOC.

The more one learns about the Bakken, the more interesting it gets.