CALGARY, April 30, 2015 /CNW/ – The National Energy Board and the Saskatchewan Ministry of Economy today presented a joint Assessment of Unconventional Petroleum Resources in the Bakken Formation of Saskatchewan.
The Bakken Formation has been producing from conventional reservoirs since the mid-1950s. Since 2004, however, industry has shifted its focus to its unconventional tight oil, primarily because the combination of horizontal drilling and multi-stage hydraulic fracturing has made it economic to develop.
“This joint assessment process is important for Saskatchewan,” Mr. Laurie Pushor, Deputy Minister, Ministry of the Economy said, “because it provides measurable proof of our considerable resources, and gives us the basis for sound resource management and sustainability planning.”
“The partnership with the Ministry in Saskatchewan was a productive and valuable one as we were able to work together to better understand oil resources in the province,” adds Paul Mortensen, Director of Energy Supply at the National Energy Board. “With this model of partnership, we can strive to achieve greater regulatory efficiency through all parts of the industry.”
The assessment notes that the unconventional, marketable resources of the Bakken are expected to be 223 million m3 (1,401 million barrels) of marketable oil and 81.2 billion m3 (2.9 trillion cubic feet (Tcf)) of marketable natural gas.
For this study, the National Energy Board and the Saskatchewan Ministry of the Economy focused on the unconventional resources contained within the siltstones and fine-grained sandstones above and below the conventional sandstone reservoir found in the middle of the formation.
The National Energy Board is an independent federal regulator of several parts of Canada’s energy industry with the safety of Canadians and protection of the environment as its top priority. Its purpose is to regulate pipelines, energy development and trade in the Canadian public interest.
This news release and the assessment are available on the NEB’s website at http://neb-one.gc.ca/ under What’s New!
SOURCE National Energy Board