North Dakota, Montana oil production to surge

Oil production in North Dakota and Montana is projected to surge according to new estimates.

Production from the Bakken and Three Forks formations in the two states will produce an average of 1.1 million barrels per day this year, according to new estimates from research firm Wood Mackenzie.

It predicts that oil production in the region will increase to 1.7 million barrels per day in 2020, the Houston Chronicle reports.

{mosads}“We’re very confident on the future of the Bakken,” said Jonathan Garrett, an analyst at Wood Mackenzie.

The expected lifetime of a Bakken well is 25 to 30 years, Garrett said.

Roughly $15 billion is expected to be spent on drilling and completion of wells by various Bakken participants in 2014, Wood Mackenzie said.

The latest estimates by the research firm also anticipate close to $118 billion in remaining value of the U.S. portions of the Bakken and Three Forks formations, which also stretch into Canadian provinces.