More Oil Formations - Valley News Live - KVLY/KXJB - Fargo/Grand Forks

In just one year, the Bakken`s oil production numbers increased by 200,000 barrels per day. This activity is spurring other states and countries to try and discover their own shale formations. So the Bakken might not be in the spotlight for long.

Unconventional oil plays like the Bakken were written off because the oil was trapped and there was no way of getting it out.

"That is what has been the last one hundred years train of thought. Great, a lot of trapped oil, a lot of trapped gas. But we cannot get to it," said Chris Faulkner, Breitling Oil & Gas CEO.

But with the advent of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing, the Bakken was cracked open. Faulkner says there are 30 shale plays in the U.S. and possibly another 25 yet to be discovered, which could all lead to more oil booms like here in the Bakken.

"That idea that these are no longer off limits, that they are producible that has spread. There is about 29-30 states that have unconventional resources. We are producing oil and gas from more states in the union than we ever have," said Faulkner.

Faulkner says it is not only a phenomenon in other states but in other countries. Siberia recently announced it could have an oil formation 80 times the size of the Bakken. He says the possibilities at this point are endless.

"Yes there is a tremendous amount of onshore resource. There is a tremendous amount of off shore resource. But there is a lot of things we do not even know about yet. They are further down, deeper down that technology has to be extrapolated further," said Faulkner.

Faulkner says even if these plays pan out, it could take another five to 10 years until they start producing like the Bakken.