Natural Gas Production to Quintuple by 2025 - KXNet - Bismarck/Minot/Williston/Dickinson

Many numbers have been tossed around as to how much oil is in the ground in western North Dakota...

Oil and gas leaders in the state hear another prediction today -- that natural gas production could quintuple by 2025.

That's according to Bentek Energy - a company hired to study the potential of natural gas.

Donnell Preskey has the story.

North Dakota could soon make headlines with how much natural gas is being produced in the state...

Bentek Energy presents it's estimates of the potential of natural gas in the Williston Basin to those active in the oil and gas industry.

Bentek's Justin Carlson says North Dakota can expect to produce 2.2 million barrels of oil a day in the next ten years -- along with 3 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day...

(Bentek Energy, Justin Carlson) "It will position the bakken as one of the major players in the whole United States and make it one of the most significant attribute to natural gas and oil market."

The estimates give the industry a look into the future and what needs to be built to support the increased oil and gas production...

(Carlson) "by 2015 we will need additional processing capacity. hearing new expansions coming online all the time. study give confidence to investors."

(Kringstad) "There's billions of dollars waiting to be invested in additional plants, money there. This is an invitation to those, saying look the gas is going to be here for quite some time."

Justin Kringstad is the director of the state's pipeline authority.

He will take the study's findings and start working on ways to increase gas processing and transportation.

(Kringstad) we've been working on this for several years, we are still a young play so as we get more information and results from these wells it's continuing changing our outlook and need to continue to work on infrastructure.

Carlson says the economics of the Williston Basin could give North Dakota oil a competitive edge in getting to market."

Carlson says by 2017 the U.S. will be self sufficient in natural gas and development in the Williston Basin plays a significant role.