Two More SeekingAlpha Articles on the Bakken -- The Bakken, North Dakota, USA

Seeking Alpha contributors have finally discovered the Bakken? My goodness, how long have we been at it? Even the New York Times has reported about the housing problems in the Bakken.

 

But here we have a SeekingAlpha.com article that begins with data that was being published two years ago.

In its 2008 report, the USGS estimated that there were 3 billion to 4.4 billion barrels of recoverable oil in the Bakken. Recently Continental Resources' (CLR) CEO said there approximately 24B barrels of recoverable oil in the Bakken using current technology. Various other reports have claimed anywhere from 167B to 500B barrels of potentially recoverable oil exist in the Bakken. It is unclear what the actual end figure will be, but it seems likely that technology will eventually improve, making more and more of the oil in the Bakken recoverable. It is already clear that the 2008 USGS estimate was an underestimate. The CLR CEO’s estimate is probably accurate (or close) for the current technology. However, big oil companies tend to plan for the future. If they buy now, they may find that they are eventually able to recover several times the originally forecast amount. It’s almost like purchasing an annuity for its current worth with a huge extra trust fund thrown in free as part of the bargain. A lot of big oil companies likely find this possibility appealing.

"....If [big oil companies] buy now, they may find they are eventually able to recover several times the originally forecast amount." Well, duh. If they buy "now." They should have bought four years ago like CLR and NOG did. Statoil finally bought this year. XOM bought in last year through XTO. COP has been here from the beginning with BR. WMB bought 7% of the reservation  -- was it last year?

 

Anyway, if you've been living under the Geico rock for the past two years and have not heard of the Bakken, go to the link above.

 

The writer favors DNR and WLL.

The second article: five drillers to "buy now."  Sounds like telemarketing.

And the five are:

• Sandridge
• KOG
• GMXR
• Stone Energy
• Hercules Offshore

You may have heard of one or two of these.