Why Bakken? -- Motley Fool -- The Bakken, North Dakota, USA

Link here.

Did you know that oil and natural gas is the fastest-growing manufacturing industry in the U.S.? It's amazing to imagine that a country whose oil and natural gas output was sliding for four decades is now the third biggest global producer. It all started with the discovery of huge reserves in the U.S. shale fields.

Ever since reaching peak production in 1970, there has been a steady decline in the U.S. oil and natural gas output. In the 1990s, the U.S. imported about two-third of the total oil consumed. Production declined to such an extent that total production in 2006 was almost equal to the production volume of 1947. The depleting reserves were spelling doom for the industry.

Then dawned a new era characterized by new and advanced technologies of exploration and extraction. Hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling were discovered, which made extraction from below the hard rocks of the U.S. shale fields a reality and at affordable costs, too. Shale fields like Bakken, Barnett, Eagle Ford, Woodford, and Marcellus gained significance. These shale fields boast huge quantities of reserves, with Bakken being the biggest.

I seldom read these articles very closely and I could have missed it, but it does not appear the Motley Fools are aware that the EPA is about to ban fracking. I guess that's why they are called "fools."

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