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Bismarck, N.D. (AP) North Dakota's congressional delegation says the University of North Dakota is getting a $1 million federal grant to study the oil-formation" class="kxInlineLink">Bakken shale formation in North Dakota and eastern Montana and ways to tap its oil.

A report from the U.S. Geological Survey has estimated that up to 4.3 billion barrels of oil could be recovered from the Bakken in North Dakota and Montana. Industry officials have said it costs more than $5 million to drill a Bakken well.

The shale formation encompasses some 25,000 square miles in North Dakota, Montana, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. About two-thirds of it is in western North Dakota, where the oil is trapped in dense rock nearly two miles underground.

Sens. Kent Conrad and Byron Dorgan and Rep. Earl Pomeroy, D-N.D., say the Energy Department grant will allow research into new ways to extract Bakken oil.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) APNP 08-13-08 1638CDT | save this article / add to your favorites list