Is There Enough Water for All That Fracking?

There is not enough groundwater for the oil industry's fracking of horizontal wells in North Dakota, but there is more than enough water in Lake Sakakawea. [Update: see comment below.]

Each well requires about 4 million gallons of water for fracturing. With estimates of 1,800 new wells next year, that would require about 60 acre-feet of water.

A spokesman said that Lake Sakakawea flows at about 40,000 acre-feet daily. Sixty (6) acre-feet represents about three-tenths of one percent, according to the spokesman.

I could be wrong, but 60/40,000 = 0.0015 or 0.15% or less than two-tenths of one percent, but the point is taken.

The water necessary for fracking wells in North Dakota will not be a limiting factor.

UPDATES

July 24, 2010: A new water pipeline will alleviate ground water stress in Dunn County.

This Will Slow Things Down in the Bakken

North Dakota governor says that if Environmental Protection Agency is granted authority to regulate fracturing, he does not expect necessarily more stringent rules (don't bet on it) but that fracturing would come to a stop for two to three years while the regulations were put in place.

As the governor noted: that would put a lot of folks out of work. I'm beginning to think the current administration enjoys ten percent unemployment for some strange reason.

And that's why folks are not eager to invest in better housing in the Williston Basin.

(And, of course, with the price of oil in free fall, that won't help matters either. Maybe the boom is over.)

#1 in Caviar, Too?

It has to be a really slow day in the Bakken when I start reporting on the North Dakota caviar industry, but it's hard to resist when stories about North Dakota caviar showing up in Hollywood, Japan and Russia appear.

Whether or not North Dakota is #1 in caviar, the state is #1 in honey production.