It began when Steven G. Grape and John Wood, his supervisor in the US Energy Information Administration’s reserves and production division in the Office of Oil and Gas in Dallas, noticed two things. First was the perception that no significant new oil or gas deposits were being found and developed in the Lower 48. Second were production numbers suggesting the opposite.
“Many people are pessimistic about oil and gas supplies in the United States. They don’t understand the scope of unconventional resources. So we thought we should get information out that coalbed methane, natural gas from shale, and other resources are making significant contributions,” Grape told me recently.
Wood instructed him to prepare a special report highlighting one such area. “We were both interested in the Bakken formation because we’d started to read about it. Then we looked at some of the production curves coming out of the Williston basin, and they were striking,” Grape said.
The result was a Nov. 10 report, “Shale Shock! Could There Be Billions in the Bakken?” which examines the formation’s location, production, resources, geology, reserves, and technology in use. It also is the first of a series about technology-based US oil and gas plays.
Formal reviews
Wood and Grape sent the Bakken report through formal review by other divisions in EIA.
“That took more time, but it also resulted in a better product,” said Grape. His next two reports will examine the Barnett shale, west of Fort Worth, and the Fayetteville shale in Arkansas.
Grape emphasized that the reports will not promote frontier areas or exotic technologies. “We want to highlight success stories. Most of them actually are being produced. People have already discovered the plays and are trumpeting the success. I’m just trying to spread the word,” he said.
North Dakota Petroleum Council Pres. Ron Ness liked the report. “The work by Mr. Grape was fantastic,” he said. “The Bakken’s potential is enormous. Marathon Oil Corp. announced a major presence in the state and is very active. Many other companies are at work there. The completion techniques and technology to tap the resource still are in question. But these studies and reports help.”
Recognizing ‘endowment’
David J. Bardin, a US Department of Energy official during President Jimmy Carter’s administration who has been trying to bring attention to the Bakken and other US plays, said reports like Grape’s spread knowledge about what petroleum professionals call the endowment.
“How much oil is there in place? How much natural gas? When we get more of that picture to the financial community and to the policy-makers here in Washington, they’re going to ask themselves what can be done to get another 5, 10, or 15% of those hydrocarbons out of the rocks and up to the surface to help our economy and displace imports,” he said. “It’s a big opportunity.”