Montana / North Dakota has more oil than Alaska?

A study carried out in 1999 by Leigh Price, working the the USGS concluded that there is potentially more oil in the Bakken shales formation beneath eastern Montana and North Dakota than the total amount of oil present in the Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge. (400 billion barrels vs. 16 billion barrels in the ANWR)

However, Leigh Price died the following year, before scientists were able to peer review his research, so his claims were never verified.

The USGS now wants to review his work and determine the validity of the research.

If this research is accurate, it has HUGE implications for North Dakota’s economy in terms of federal money for research and exporting oil. North Dakota’s State Oil and Gas Division supports the research but has a “conservative” estimate of up to 200 billion barrels of petroleum beneath the state, still a huge amount.

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