That's just in 2012:
But it's important to point out what is being spent on hydraulic fracturing this year in the Bakken shale, as noted above. WarlickEnergy is forecasting that more than $7 billion will be spent during 2012 to fracture the growing number of completed Bakken wells.I have to chuckle. Folks (very few) write me to tell me they have trouble finding stories on the Bakken and/or stories on North Dakota at this blog. I wonder if they accidentally posted at the wrong site?
This play could very well be the largest oil discovery in the U.S. outside of Alaska, and estimates of the area's reserves are staggering. The US Geological Survey reported that the Bakken shale is home to approximately 4.3 billion barrels of oil recoverable with current technology, but estimates of total reserves range from 200 billion to 400 billion barrels. The USGS also estimates that the Bakken could hold more than 2 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.
But I digress. Some back-of-the envelope calculations:
2,000 Bakken wells will be drilled this year. $7,000,000,000 divided by 2000 wells --> $3.5 million/well.
"They" say the average Bakken well in North Dakota costs anywhere from $7 million to $10 million, and that half of the cost is fracking. So, the numbers seem to jive. My hunch is that $7 billion is low, however. But whatever it is, it's significant.
