June 2013
Features
Bakken/Three Forks shale once-ignored zone could double reserve base
If the Three Forks/Bakken shale sounds awkward now, allow it to sink in.
To be sure, no one expects the core Middle Bakken formation to take a backseat anytime soon, but indications are mounting that a role reversal of sorts may happen. Between a newly released doubling of recoverable reserve estimates, and a premier operator’s recent flowrates from a previously unexplored lower zone, it would not be entirely farfetched to envision the underlying Three Forks/Sanish emerging as a horizon of choice in the more-than-200,000-sq-mi, liquids-rich hybrid play.
