With the U.S. exporting record amounts of fuel and petroleum products last year, 2011 could arguably be considered the year of shale. And 2012 could be the year that a shale oil-producing state, North Dakota, officially overtakes Alaska in oil production, the Wall Street Journal reports.
2012 will be an important year for shale. The so-called Bakken formation is expected to pump more crude than Prudhoe, energy experts predict in the Journal article, noting that in July 2011 the Dakota oil patch delivered just 29,000 fewer barrels per day than the North Slope.
The Journal doesn't report that the spread widens as Alaska oil production picks up during winter. Last month, 622,355 barrels were pumped down the trans-Alaska pipeline, according to a Bloomberg analysis out Tuesday. North Dakota's most recent statistics, for October 2011, indicate steadily increasing production. But the Bakken oil patch was still producing under 490,000 barrels per day.
As Bloomberg notes, Alaska's production was down 4.6 percent from a year earlier, in December 2010.
Shale oil plays across the U.S. from North Dakota to Texas to Pennsylvania are expected to boost total national production to 6.6 million barrels per day over the next four years. But regulations on the horizon could impact those numbers. The recent federal announcement that the process for extracting shale oil, hydraulic fracturing (or fracking), was likely responsible for water pollution will influence pending environmental regulations, according to the Journal:
The new year should see an increase in government regulation of the fracking industry, covering air emissions, water disposal and well construction. Early in 2012, New York State is expected to issue new rules for fracking operations that could set the tone for a year of regulatory scrutiny. Around March, the federal government is expected to issue rules for fracking on federal lands.