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Bakken Oil Boom, North Dakota, USA

Cities  / 
Mining
  1. Earthshots
  2. Bakken Oil Boom, North Dakota, USA
Description

Even though oil is underground, Landsat images can reveal related land changes on the surface. The Bakken oil boom has made North Dakota the second leading oil producing state—behind only Texas. Evidence of this boom is apparent on the landscape.

The focus of this oil boom, which began around 2008, is on the Bakken formation of western North Dakota, northeastern Montana, and part of Canada. The Bakken formation constitutes one of the largest deposits of oil and natural gas in the United States. The Bakken is part of the larger Williston Basin, which, according to a 2013 USGS study, has 7.4 billion barrels of oil that is recoverable using today’s technology.

These Landsat images show the increasing number of oil platforms over just a few years, along with associated infrastructure changes. The overview images in this introductory section show the entire region that will be discussed in more detail in the following subsections.

The North Dakota oil industry took off in the 1950s. When oil prices dropped in the 1980s, that boom ended. Oil prices recovered by 1990, but the current boom didn’t hit until the technology of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, came along in the 2000s. By 2008, drilling in North Dakota surged like never before and oil production increased dramatically.

The oil and natural gas within the Bakken are locked in a rock formation. Fracking uses a mix of water, salt, chemicals, and sand to fracture the rock. The fractured rock allows the oil to flow to the well.

The price of oil crashed again in 2014, halting most of the drilling. But this was only after North Dakota’s oil industry reached the milestone of producing 1 million barrels per day. In mid-2017, oil prices recovered to around $50 a barrel, stabilizing the situation in North Dakota.

View Related Imagery & Stories

Location

July 25, 2002, Landsat 7 (path/row 34/26,27) — Before the Bakken oil boom, North Dakota, USA

July 25, 2002, Landsat 7 (path/row 34/26,27) — Before the Bakken oil boom, North Dakota, USA

Aug. 8, 2010, Landsat 5 (path/row 34/26,27) — Bakken oil boom, North Dakota, USA

Aug. 8, 2010, Landsat 5 (path/row 34/26,27) — Bakken oil boom, North Dakota, USA

July 26, 2017, Landsat 8 (path/row 34/26,27) — Bakken oil boom, North Dakota, USA

July 26, 2017, Landsat 8 (path/row 34/26,27) — Bakken oil boom, North Dakota, USA

July 25, 2002, Landsat 7 (path/row 34/26,27) — Before the Bakken oil boom, North Dakota, USA
Aug. 8, 2010, Landsat 5 (path/row 34/26,27) — Bakken oil boom, North Dakota, USA
July 26, 2017, Landsat 8 (path/row 34/26,27) — Bakken oil boom, North Dakota, USA

Bakken Oil Boom, North Dakota, USA Additional Imagery & Stories

Land Change
Land Change

Thousands of well pads are scattered across northwestern North Dakota. This series of images shows an example of a location with several of them. Thes...

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Pad Drilling
Pad Drilling

A new drilling technique called pad drilling reduces the overall footprint of land cover change caused by the industry. Several horizontal well bores ...

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Tioga
Tioga

Tioga is a small town in northwestern North Dakota that has also seen rapid growth. The visible changes in the image series are oil production infrast...

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Watford City
Watford City

Another growing community is Watford City, which built a new high school in 2016, just east of town. In terms of percent increase, Watford City’s grow...

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Williston
Williston

Located on the north side of a bend in the Missouri River, Williston is one of the larger cities in the center of the oil boom in North Dakota. The ci...

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References

References (Earthshot Overview/Parent Only)

Allen, J. and Simmon, R., 2012, Gas Drilling, North Dakota: NASA Earth Observatory, accessed January 9, 2018, at https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/view.php?id=79810.

Baumgarten, A., 2017, After the oil boom, how does North Dakota move on? WDAY, accessed January 9, 2018, at https://www.wday.com/news/government-and-politics/4331184-after-oil-boom-how-does-north-dakota-move.

City-data.com, 2018, Tioga, North Dakota: City-data.com, accessed January 26, 2018, at http://www.city-data.com/city/Tioga-North-Dakota.html.

City-data.com, 2018, Watford City, North Dakota: City-data.com, accessed January 26, 2018, at http://www.city-data.com/city/Watford-City-North-Dakota.html.

City-data.com, 2018, Williston, North Dakota: City-data.com, accessed January 26, 2018, at http://www.city-data.com/city/Williston-North-Dakota.html.

Dalrymple, A., 2012, Famous Bakken Formation Named For North Dakota Homesteaders: Oil Patch Dispatch, accessed January 9, 2018, at https://oilpatchdispatch.areavoices.com/2012/11/25/famous-bakken-formation-named-for-north-dakota-homesteaders/.

Gaswirth, S.B., Marra, K.R., Cook, T.A, Charpentier, R.R., Gautier, D.L., Higley, D.K., Klett, T.R., Lewan, M.D., Lillis, P.G., Schenk, C.J., Tennyson, M.E., and Whidden, K.J., 2013, Assessment of undiscovered oil resources in the Bakken and Three Forks Formations, Williston Basin Province, Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota, 2013: U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet 2013–3013, 4 p., https://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2013/3013/.

Geology.com, 2018, What is the Bakken Formation? Geology.com, accessed January 9, 2018, at http://geology.com/articles/bakken-formation.shtml.

Kennedy, M., 2016, New $50 million high school opens in Watford City, N.D.: American School & University, accessed January 9, 2018, at http://www.asumag.com/new-construction/new-50-million-high-school-opens-watford-city-nd.

North Dakota Studies, 2018, History of Oil Extraction: North Dakota Studies, State Historical Society of North Dakota, accessed January 9, 2018, at http://ndstudies.gov/gr8/content/unit-iv-modern-north-dakota-1921-present/lesson-1-changing-landscapes/topic-5-energy/section-3-oil.

Preston, T.M., and Kim, K., 2016, Land cover changes associated with recent energy development in the Williston Basin; Northern Great Plains, USA, Science of the Total Environment, v. 566–567, p. 1511–1518, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.06.038.

Rapier, R., 2017, The Bakken Is Bustling Again: Forbes, accessed January 9, 2018, at https://www.forbes.com/sites/rrapier/2017/07/27/the-bakken-is-bustling-again/#7677a0af5d76.

Sisk, A., 2017, After OPEC Move, Oil Country Breathes A Sigh Of Relief: accessed January 9, 2018, at http://insideenergy.org/2017/05/29/after-opec-move-oil-country-breathes-a-sigh-of-relief/.

Sisk, A., 2017, The Bakken Gears Up For Its Second Decade: Inside Energy, accessed January 9, 2018, at http://insideenergy.org/2017/11/10/the-bakken-gears-up-for-its-second-decade/.

Sisk, A., 2017, Oil Patch Growth Creates A Funding Nightmare: accessed January 9, 2018, at http://insideenergy.org/2017/11/06/oil-patch-growth-creates-a-funding-nightmare/.

U.S. Census Bureau, [n.d.], American FactFinder, accessed January 9, 2018, at https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/nav/jsf/pages/index.xhtml.

U.S. Energy Information Administration, 2012, Pad drilling and rig mobility lead to more efficient drilling: Today in Energy, accessed January 9, 2018, at https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=7910.

U.S. Energy Information Administration, 2018, Bakken Region—Drilling Productivity Report: U.S. Energy Information Administration, accessed January 19, 2018, at https://www.eia.gov/petroleum/drilling/pdf/bakken.pdf.

USGS, 2013, USGS Releases New Oil and Gas Assessment for Bakken and Three Forks Formations: USGS Science Features, accessed January 9, 2018, at https://www2.usgs.gov/blogs/features/usgs_top_story/usgs-releases-new-oil-and-gas-assessment-for-bakken-and-three-forks-formations/.

Williston Basin International Airport, 2017, Overview: accessed January 9, 2018, at http://www.xwaproject.com/overview/index.php.

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