CASPER, WYO. — Oil production in the Powder River Basin of northeast Wyoming has more than doubled over the past five years, but industry observers say continued growth depends on oil prices remaining strong.
A U.S. Energy Information Agency report released Monday said oil output in the basin grew from 38,000 barrels per day in 2009 to 78,000 barrels per day during the first quarter of this year.
"For Wyoming, it's a big deal," state Oil and Gas Supervisor Mark Watson said. "The whole state has been declining for 40 years, then you turn around and double production in five. If you double the production in five years, who knows what it will be in another five."
The increased oil production largely came from older oil fields in Campbell and Converse counties where output had declined over the years.
But upgrades in drilling and technology — such as hydraulic fracturing, or fracking — have reversed the decrease in production those formations had been facing.
"I knew there was an increase, but I just didn't know how much," Jimmy Goolsby, a geologist, told the Casper Star-Tribune (http://bit.ly/1pi8wU5 ). "I would say it's a pretty big bump."
