Bakken Oil, Going to be Around For Awhile, as it Heads Westhttp://www.bigskybusiness.com/index.php ... heads-west$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'P')roduction of energy is becoming so important to Montana’s economy that BBER is creating a new market segment, in its analysis, just for energy. It will pull somewhat the data from other market segments such as manufacturing and mining, but it is expected to give analysts a better idea of what is happening in Montana’s economic base.
While there will always be cycles to the oil and gas industry, Richmond told his Billings audience, but “the industry is going to be around for a whole lot longer.” And, he added, “There are a lot of reserves in the Bakken and certainly there are a lot of reserves in Montana.”
The development of the North Dakota Bakken has been dependent on technology changes that improved efficiencies, over how it was used when first applied in the Elm Coulee field in Montana. Those same technologies have returned to the Elm Coulee Field, bringing more effective completion techniques for infill and step out wells and the recovery of additional oil,” explained Richmond.
The technological advances have almost completely eliminated the risk of dry holes. Montana’s Elm Coulee Field currently has about 750 producing Bakken oil wells; during the process of development, only two dry holes were drilled. This “continuous resource” for the length and breadth of the Bakken formation is the reason for the success of the current play and the reason it is likely to continue as it moves westward.