**Source: http://www.circleofblue.org/waternews/2010/world/scarce-water-is-no-limit-yet-to-north-dakota-oil-shale-boom/ **
**Summary**
With a major oil boom looming in the Great Plains of North Dakota, there comes a need for scarce resources. Since 2007, only California, Texas and Alaska has produced more oil than North Dakota. This year alone, they are expected to produce nearly 100-million barrels of oil and 100-billion cubic feet of natural gas. With all of this oil being produced already, scientists have discovered a large piece of producible land known as the "Bakken Shale". Located 10,000 feet below the Earth's surface is the "Bakken Shale", in the heart of Saskatchewan, Montana and North Dakota. In an estimate in 2008, scientists predicted that the "Bakken Shale" contained 4.3 billion barrels of oil. Now a couple of years later, they believe it may even contain more oil than first thought. To drill and fracture the Bakken Shale, workers use a technique known as "fracking" where a drill bit is drilled into the surface and water is pumped in at 8,000 pounts per square inch to break the rock and get the oil flowing. There are hundreds of wells in North Dakota that are capable of producing 4,000 barrels of oil per day. That may sound like a lot of oil but thats also means more water. To produce 1 barrel of conventional oil, it takes an equivalent of 1 barrel of water because the oil can easily be sucked up. To produce 1 barrel of unconventional oil, "fracking" is involved where water is pumped in at high speeds to get the oil to flow. Each year, 5.5 billion barrels of water is needed to produce all the the oil in the "Bakken Shale". With such high demand for water comes a lot of environmental concerns. Lake Sakakawea is one of the largest fresh water lakes in the United States located right in North Dakota. Scientists won't allow withdrawals from the lake because they are testing the full capacity. High demand makes for illegal activity. In February, a man was caught for illegally selling water to the companies in the oil industry. He had acquired a permit to sell 26 million gallons of water but ended up selling more than twice of that amount. In the Bakken Shale, about 70 new wells are produced each month. With water so scarce and in high demand, state officials are considering reusing the fracking water. North Dakota, is now one of the fastest growing states in America. Since the oil boom, they now also own the nation's lowest unemployment rate at 3.6%. According the the State Job Service, more than 7,000 laborers have come to North Dakota for work. In June, North Dakota reported an annual surplus of 800 million dollars.
**Connections**
In chapter 1, the textbook talks about scarcity. So in my article, it talks about how North Dakota is having trouble with their water supply. With a high demand for oil in the world, many people want to get rich. Even if it means harming the environment and its natural resources. To make 1 barrel of oil, it takes an equivalent of 1 or more barrels of water to produce. With global warming and all the fierce climate changes that we are going through, we should consume less oil to help the planet out. Even Canada, with one of the world biggest fresh water supplies is struggling to keep its water. In the very near future when water is a very hot commodity, people will finally realize the impact that was made for consuming so many things and taking it for granted.
**Reflection**
Before I read this article, I had never thought about how much water it took to produce oil. I always thought that you dug into the earth's surface and sucked it out with a giant tube. I usually walk to school most of the time. But Things have changed though, since I got my "N" license, I've never turned down a chance to drive anywhere. Now that I know it takes a lot of water to produce oil and gas, I will most likely think twice about driving. Water is a very scarce resource in our world, although it may never seem so. We need water for many things in life, drinking and harvesting are a just a few. In the future, I think there will be a lot of problems with the water supply. We will also probably think about the times we had wasted water in the past and wish we did differently.
