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New Shale Formation in West Texas could Dwarf the Bakken

By Charles Kennedy | Wed, 30 January 2013 22:50 | 2

The US shale boom has led some to predict that it will overtake Saudi Arabia as world’s largest oil and gas producer by 2020, thanks to the massive reserves found in plays such as the Bakken Shale of North Dakota, the Marcellus Shale in New York, and the Eagle Ford Shale in Texas; even the newly discovered Tuscaloosa Shale formation in Louisiana holds large potential.

However there is a new shale formation that has been discovered in West Texas which could dwarf all others being drilled in the US at the moment.

The play is known as the Cline Shale play and has been discovered in the Permian Basin.

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John Breyer a geologist at Marathon Oil Corp.(NYES: MRO) said that this new discovery could dwarf anything that exists in North Dakota. Ken Morgan, the director of the Texas Christian University Energy Institute, stated that, “it’s like the Eagle Ford on steroids. They haven't even begun. We're just in the toe of this thing.”

Both Devon Energy Corp. (NYSE: DVN) and Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK)have reported exciting results from exploratory drills in the region. Devon’s tests showed that around 3.6 million barrels of oil could be recovered per square mile, and as the Cline formation covers roughly 9,800 square miles it gives an estimated reserve of more than 30 billion barrels. A fair bit more than the 4.3 billion in the Bakken, or the 3 billion barrels in the Eagle Ford plays.

By. Charles Kennedy of Oilprice.com

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  • Glenn Koons on February 04 2013 said:
    With ND and other areas, especially off shore in Fla., Ca., NJ, NC, America could easily lower our energy costs. But, we are faced with a tyrannical President, a group of enviro nuts and a Dem group of liberal Socialists who simply refuse to aid America which could be done safely with our tech superiority nowadays. From Keystone to S. Jersey, Dems simply refuse to make America independent. With the supply of Moron Voters in the USA, I am afraid this and other finds will go a begging.
  • david kjoller on February 01 2013 said:
    I think Mr. Kennedy would do well to study a bit more on the Bakken. That 4.3bil. number he cites is what the USGS said more than 5 years ago from a survey it made.

    Since then, from actual production results and much more data, that number is far less than what is being estimated.

    None other than Harold Hamm, the chairman, CEO, and founder of Continental Resources, the largest lease holder in the Bakken has recently stated that he sees 24 bil+ barrels of recoverable oil.

    He ought to know. He has been in the oil business for more than 40 yrs and drilled his first well, at 25, in 1971.

    As for the Cline formation, that's no more than a maybe. A couple of exploratory wells doesn't mean diddle widdle.

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