Water truck in background is providing maintenance water to a producing well drilled in the Bakken Formation near Williston, North Dakota.
Does the Bakken Formation contain more oil than Saudi Arabia?
Probably not. In 2000, the USGS assessed undiscovered, technically recoverable oil and gas resources in Saudi Arabia at 87 billion barrels (USGS 2000 World Petroleum Assessment) compared to a mean estimate of 4.3 billion barrels of undiscovered, technically recoverable continuous oil in the Bakken and Three Forks formations (USGS 2021 Bakken and Three Forks Assessment). In addition, Saudi Arabia contains even more oil that has already been found, which is reported by the U.S. Energy Information Administration as current proven oil reserves.
Learn more:
Related
What are "technically recoverable" oil and gas resources?
How is hydraulic fracturing related to earthquakes and tremors?
Why does the USGS decide to reassess oil and gas formations?
Why do USGS oil and gas resource assessments differ from other oil and gas assessments from other agencies or industry?
What is the difference between assessed oil and gas “resources” and “reserves”?
Water truck in background is providing maintenance water to a producing well drilled in the Bakken Formation near Williston, North Dakota.
A drill rig in the Bakken oil field in Stark County, western North Dakota.
A drill rig in the Bakken oil field in Stark County, western North Dakota.
A drill rig in the Bakken oil field in Stark County, western North Dakota.
A drill rig in the Bakken oil field in Stark County, western North Dakota.
Oil well being drilled into the Bakken Formation in North Dakota in 2015.
Oil well being drilled into the Bakken Formation in North Dakota in 2015.
Oil-well pads dotting the landscape of typical badland topography. Thousands of new wells are drilled into the Bakken and Three Forks annually, making this one of the most productive plays in the Nation.
Oil-well pads dotting the landscape of typical badland topography. Thousands of new wells are drilled into the Bakken and Three Forks annually, making this one of the most productive plays in the Nation.
Assessment of continuous oil and gas resources in the Bakken Formation of northwest Montana, 2022
Characterization and origin of brines from the Bakken-Three Forks petroleum system in the Williston Basin, USA
Assessment of water and proppant quantities associated with petroleum production from the Bakken and Three Forks Formations, Williston Basin Province, Montana and North Dakota, 2016
Assessment of undiscovered oil resources in the Bakken and Three Forks Formations, Williston Basin Province, Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota, 2013
Assessment of Undiscovered Technically Recoverable Oil and Gas Resources of the Bakken Formation, Williston Basin, Montana and North Dakota, 2008
A resource evaluation of the Bakken Formation (Upper Devonian and Lower Mississippian) continuous oil accumulation, Williston Basin, North Dakota and Montana
Developing an oil generation model for resource assessment of the Bakken Formation, U.S. portion of the Williston Basin
Related
What are "technically recoverable" oil and gas resources?
How is hydraulic fracturing related to earthquakes and tremors?
Why does the USGS decide to reassess oil and gas formations?
Why do USGS oil and gas resource assessments differ from other oil and gas assessments from other agencies or industry?
What is the difference between assessed oil and gas “resources” and “reserves”?
Water truck in background is providing maintenance water to a producing well drilled in the Bakken Formation near Williston, North Dakota.
Water truck in background is providing maintenance water to a producing well drilled in the Bakken Formation near Williston, North Dakota.
A drill rig in the Bakken oil field in Stark County, western North Dakota.
A drill rig in the Bakken oil field in Stark County, western North Dakota.
A drill rig in the Bakken oil field in Stark County, western North Dakota.
A drill rig in the Bakken oil field in Stark County, western North Dakota.
Oil well being drilled into the Bakken Formation in North Dakota in 2015.
Oil well being drilled into the Bakken Formation in North Dakota in 2015.
Oil-well pads dotting the landscape of typical badland topography. Thousands of new wells are drilled into the Bakken and Three Forks annually, making this one of the most productive plays in the Nation.
Oil-well pads dotting the landscape of typical badland topography. Thousands of new wells are drilled into the Bakken and Three Forks annually, making this one of the most productive plays in the Nation.