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'Largest' Shale Oil Reserve Discovered in US

by VOA News

   Oil explorers in the U.S. state of Texas say they've discovered the
   largest deposit of shale oil in a region known as the Permian Basin.

   The so-called Wolfcamp formation, explorers believe, could hold up to
   20 billion barrels of oil, worth up to $900 billion. The find could be
   three times bigger than the state of North Dakota's Bakken rock
   formation, the largest find of unconventional oil ever discovered.

   "The fact that this is the largest assessment of continuous oil we have
   ever done just goes to show that, even in areas that have produced
   billions of barrels of oil, there is still the potential to find
   billions more," said Walter Guidroz, coordinator for the U.S.
   Geological Survey's energy resources program, in [1]a statement.

   The find also gives credence to those who think the Permian Basin could
   hold up to 75 billion barrels of shale oil. That would be the second
   largest in the world, behind Saudi Arabia's Ghawar field.

   The land is currently controlled by five energy companies: Chevron,
   Occidental Petroleum, Apache, Pioneer Natural Resources and Concho
   Resources. According to The Motley Fool, a financial services company,
   Chevron owns the largest portion of land.
   The Permian has been a source of oil since crude was discovered in the
   1920s. According to the [2]Ft. Worth Star Telegram newspaper, the
   region's shale layer has been largely untouched.

References

   1. https://www.usgs.gov/news/usgs-estimates-20-billion-barrels-oil-texas-wolfcamp-shale-formation
   2. http://www.star-telegram.com/news/business/article114931993.html