March 3, 2011 The world is watching and learning from the Bakken oil shale play, Houston-based Ryder Scott Petroleum Consultants said Thursday in its Reservoir Solutions newsletter. Net importers of oil, including China, France and Poland, are studying the Bakken as a model for their own countries, which contain geologically similar deposits, the firm said.
Companies from countries as far away as Australia have interest in the Bakken, a mature oil reservoir that straddles North Dakota, Montana and Saskatchewan, brought back to life by drilling advancements developed in Canada and the United States. The unconventional play has become a proving ground for advanced drilling-and-completions technology, including multi-stage hydraulic fracturing. Producers are already deploying Bakken technology in France?s Paris basin, Australia?s Georgina basin and New Zealand?s Taranaki basin, the firm said.
