This document describes in detail the organic petrology and maturation of the Bakken Formation located in the Williston Basin. This report is organized into five sections. Section I will introduce the Bakken Formation in reference with the Williston Basin. It will also address sedimentary and structural aspects of the Bakken Formation. Section II outlines the processes that formed the Bakken Formation that occurred during the Devonian/Mississippian age. Section III will summarize organic components and influence within the Bakken Formation. Furthermore Section IV will address the nature of inorganic constinuents that influence the Bakken Formation. Section V will discuss production history and current production of oil and gas found within the Bakken Formation. This report concludes in Section VI with a complete analysis of the Bakken Formation summarizing the four main sections of this paper.
I. The Bakken Formation, an Introduction
The Bakken Formation is a clastic unit measuring to be around 45 meters thick that stretches across the Williston Basin that was deposited during the Late Devonian to the Early Mississippian. The Bakken Formation consists of three primary members that onlap (in some places lower member is absent due to non-deposition or over step of the middle member); the upper, middle, and lower members. Both the upper and lower members within the Bakken Formation are black shales (Jiang, 2001). The black shales in the upper and lower members formed offshore in anoxic condtinos. The shales in the upper and lower members of the Bakken Formation are composed of hard silicous and pyritic components (Webster, 1984). These members are also fissile and non calcareous and contain numerous amounts of conodonts and oth...
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...f Petroleum Engineers, DOI: 10.2118/90697-MS.
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The reason for this report is to increase the reader’s knowledge on the Alberta Tar Sands, which will allow them to create their own opinions on the situation. It is a very pertinent issue in politics and will have a very large effect on the carbon emissions of Canada. Also, I wanted to further my understanding of the Alberta tar sands and learn the side effects of the tar sands. How the tar sands are different from other oil and energy procurement methods and which method is more energy efficient? Would the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline in the United States be an intelligent way for the US to involve itself in the tar sands? I wanted to answer these questions by knowing the real facts about the tar sands versus what the oil companies are telling the consumers. The ability to assess the entire situation will allow both the reader and I to formulate our own opinions about the tar sands and whether the extraction of oil at the tar sands should continue.
On January 10th 1901 the discovery of oil at Spindletop would lead to the greatest economy boom the world has ever encountered. The amount of oil that would be discovered across Texas would be more than enough to power America through the next several decades. The effects of having oil would completely change Texas culture, lifestyle, and business tremendously. In the book of Oil In Texas, will prove that America would change completely from agriculture nation to an industrial nation after the discovery of oil in Texas.
This area is known as the Permian Basin. Most of the oil is being produced from rocks
The pipeline carries three different kinds of oil which are synthetic crude and diluted bitumen, and also a light crude oil. The light crude oil comes from the Bakken formation located in North Dakota and Montana while the synthetic crude and diluted bitumen come from the oil sands in Canada. There are already three phases of the pipeline in operation and a fourth proposed phase which has yet to be built.
Hoffman, Joe. "Potential Health and Environmental Effects of Hydrofracking in the Williston Basin, Montana." Serc.carleton.edu. Carleton College, n.d. Web. 26 Mar. 2014. .
The United States has an immense amount of proven natural gas reserves that could become a major source for the nation's energy future (1). The mining of the natural gas resources have become feasible and cheaper due to the advancement of hydraulic fracturing technologies which have increased the amount the extraction and enabled “greater access to gas in shale formations” (2). Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking of shale formations has positive benefits that includes economic growth and the natural gas extracted is cleaner than coal and oil, however it has caused serious environmental problems and possibly could be the cause of recent seismic activity in areas where fracking operations exist (3).
Oil provided new fuel for transportation and manufacturing, even railroads were able to convert to oil. Oil helped manufacturing plants and farms move to a cheaper source of energy. Another significant factor of oil is that it helped encourage automobile production as well as roads. The production of the Interstate highway led to the movement of people and goods (Champagne, Harpham 13). Rapid industrialization of the Gulf Coast region sparked. By 1929 in Harris County, 27 percent of all manufacturing employees worked in refineries. By 1940 the capacity of the refineries had increased fourfold. The oil and gas industries carried a boom-and-bust mentality (Oliena 1). The economy flourish at times and failed other times, because the prices would rise and fall. When new oil was discovered in a particular place it brought about more people, overcrowding the schools and new housing. Yet a couple years later the town could experience a bust creating poverty and making the town a ghost town. The oil and gas industry transformed the government and its role with the economy. The Texas Railroad Commission was extended to regulate energy and to promote well-spacing rules. Higher education benefitted through the oil and gas industry ( Munch, Francis, and Rundell 604). In 1923 oil was discovered in the West Texas Permian Basin on university land. The Permanent University Fund was split up between the
Marcellus Shale drilling causes a problem because it involves the use of hundreds of deadly chemicals. Over three hundred chemicals are used in the Marcellus Shale drilling process (Environmental). According to Howells, author of the article “Don’t Frack with Our Water!,” these chemicals are especially dangerous because the companies that use them will not tell the public what specific chemicals are being used. However, through studies of the chemicals, some of them can be identified. Some of the chemicals in the fracking fluid and wastewater have been identified as carcinogens. Many of the other chemicals have been found to be harmful to humans (Environmental). According to Griswold, author of the article “The Fracturing of Pennsylvania,” wastewater is a combination of different chemicals that come from the process of fracking. Not only does this wastewater contain chemicals that were originally used in the drilling, but it also contains harmful substances that come from the earth like salts and other compounds (Griswold).
When humans discovered fire, it was misused by being used as a weapon of war and hunting against both humans and animals which led to massive destruction left by occurrences such as forest fires. When humans developed a successful method of transportation it has led to environmental set backs. For example, when horses were the primary mode of transportation, manure was left everywhere in the streets of cities which understandably, led to the cultivation of numerous diseases. When gasoline cars took a rise due to their convenience, the Earth took a horrible environmental toll and the quality of life degraded to the rising levels of greenhouse gases. It seems that with every technological advancement introduced, there are always potential set
Before one can see the devastating effects of fracking, one must first understand how fracking works. As previously stated, the main intent of hydro-fracking is to access and harvest natural gas that lies below the surface of the Earth. Having formed over 400 million years ago by the collision of tectonic plates (Marsa 3), the Marcellus Shale plays host to a gold mine of natural gas, which is currently at the center of the fracking debate in the Northeastern region of the United States. Unfortunately, access...
In 1821, Shale gas was first time extracted from under ground as an energy resource in Fredonia, New York state. The shale gas technology has been developed from 1930s, and the first shale gas developing well was established in 1947. The scale shale gas industry was began at 1970s; during that time, the United State government had to fund into shale gas in order to face the decline of nature gas recourse capacity. Thanks to this situation and the investment, some unavoidable technologies’ develop such as: directional well and horizontal well technology, seismic imaging technology and large hydraulic fracturing technology.
The extraction of crude oil from the Athabasca oil sands is carried out by surface mining and in situ mining. 90% of recoverable bitumen is located too deep to be recovered by surface mining (Mossop, 1980). Both techniques require invasive processes to successfully extract the bitumen from the subsurface and result in degradation of the land upon which they ar...
1. Lorenzo’s parents used the scientific method to solve the situation of lorenzo dying by coming up will solution to his ALD problem and stayed up late every night for years straight just to find a cure for ald and to save their child and all the other kids that suffer from ald and save their lives and many other life that may yet come and suffer from ald
finding new ways to drill for oil and also refine it more efficiently to ensure that
The worst imaginable environmental catastrophe that could occur in Maryland has just become a reality. The lifeblood of Southern Maryland's Watermen has been forever affected. The ecosystems of the Patuxtent River and Chesapeake Bay have been irreversibly contaminated. The Three Mile Island and Chernobyl Nuclear Accidents have affected the world ecosystems; but the Chalk Point oil spill has reached us here in Southern Maryland. The ethical considerations with generating electricity from fossil fuels, specifically oil, has a profound impact on us all. We all use electricity to make our lives easier and more productive. By using this electricity have we given our permission for the oil companies free reign in order to provide us with the service we demand?? Are we just as responsible for the oil spill as the corporate leaders who run the companies? As citizens we are in a position to develop and enforce regulations to protect ourselves. Do we also protect the environment; or is the environment just something for us to use? These and many other moral dilemmas exist for modern man.