The Bakken Formation is a rock layer that sits deep underground in North Dakota, Montana, and Saskatchewan, Canada. It is the engine behind one of the biggest oil booms in American history. The Bakken is the reason North Dakota went from a quiet farming state to one of the top oil producers in the country. Understanding the Bakken means understanding why North Dakota's oil matters.
How Old Is the Bakken?
The Bakken was formed about 360 million years ago. At that time, a shallow sea covered what is now North Dakota. Tiny sea creatures lived and died in that sea for millions of years. Their remains sank to the bottom and were buried under layers of sediment. Over time, heat and pressure cooked those organic remains into oil. That oil became trapped in a thin rock layer — the Bakken Shale.
The Bakken is named after Henry Bakken, a farmer in Tioga, North Dakota. The formation was first discovered beneath his land in 1953. But for 50 years, nobody could figure out how to produce oil from it efficiently. The rock was too tight.
Why Is the Bakken Tricky to Drill?
The Bakken is a shale formation. Shale is rock made of compressed clay and mud. It has very low permeability — meaning oil doesn't move through it easily on its own. Think of trying to squeeze juice through a brick. Not much comes out. The Bakken holds billions of barrels of oil, but the oil stays locked in the rock unless something forces it out. That something is hydraulic fracturing — pumping high-pressure fluid into the rock to crack it open.
What Are the Main Layers?
The Bakken system is actually made up of three layers:
- Upper Bakken Shale — The top layer. Very rich in organic material. This is where the oil originally formed. It is too tight to produce directly in most areas.
- Middle Bakken — This is the main target for most Bakken wells. The middle Bakken is a mix of silt, sand, and dolomite. It is slightly more porous than the shales above and below, which means oil can flow into the well after fracking. Most horizontal Bakken wells target this layer.
- Lower Bakken Shale — The bottom layer, similar to the upper shale. Also rich in oil but very tight.
Below the Bakken sits another important formation: the Three Forks. The Three Forks is a dolomite rock layer that also holds significant oil. Many modern wells drill into both the Bakken and the Three Forks on the same location, stacking wells on top of each other to maximize oil recovery from one drill site.
How Deep Is the Bakken?
The depth of the Bakken depends on where you are. In North Dakota, the Bakken typically sits between 8,000 and 11,000 feet underground. In the core of the Williston Basin — around McKenzie and Mountrail counties — the formation is at its deepest and thickest. At those depths, the rock is under enough heat and pressure that the oil inside is light and valuable.
How Much Oil Does It Hold?
The U.S. Geological Survey estimated in 2013 that the Bakken Formation holds about 7.4 billion barrels of technically recoverable oil in the United States portion alone. The Canadian portion adds more. These are enormous numbers. For comparison, the entire country uses about 20 million barrels of oil per day. The Bakken's recoverable reserves represent roughly a year's worth of total U.S. oil consumption.
What Do the NDIC Records Show?
Every Bakken well ever drilled in North Dakota is documented in the NDIC's database. Formation tops, total depth, completion details, and monthly production figures are all available. ScoutTickets.io uses this data to map where the best wells are clustered, identify areas with improving completion techniques, and give exploration teams a clear picture of Bakken prospects before they commit capital.