North Slope full of promise

By ANTHONY GUEGEL Houston

 21 February 2013 23:59 GMT

THE promise of oil from Alaskan shale rock is not quite as remote as the state’s North Slope foothills, but questions linger as to how much can be produced.

The US Geological Survey estimates there could be up to 2 billion barrels of shale oil contained in the US region’s three major source rocks — HRZ/GRZ, the Kingak, and the Shublik between 9000 feet and 10,000 feet deep.

There is no doubt the oil is there. “The shale clearly is the underpinning of all the production out of the North Slope,” says Alaska Department of Natural Resources director William Barron. “The question right now is frackability and flow potential.”

Great Bear Petroleum is an Alaskan shale pioneer and it remains to be…

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