Western Standard Energy (WSEG) is an exploration-stage oil firm focused on extracting crude oil and natural gas from the Bakken Formation that runs through Montana, North Dakota and Canada. The area is believed to hold some of the largest reserves of crude oil in the North America, after Alaska’s Prudhoe Bay and the oilfields of West Texas. In fact, it is speculated that there are potentially 503 billion barrels of oil on 25,000 square miles of the Bakken Formation. That amount surpasses Saudi Arabia’s reserves by five times and is believed to be over 200 times the total known reserves in the U.S.

Western Standard is currently engaged in a natural gas project in Montana and an oil project in North Dakota. The combined value of the two projects is estimated to be almost $2.9 billion. In North Dakota, the company has seven prospects in an area known as the Lodgepole Reef. Conoco Phillips, one of the largest U.S. oil producers, is currently drilling in the Lodgepole Reef, and reportedly claims that the area is one of its most economically viable. It is estimated that Conoco Phillips will eventually be able to extract 2,000 barrels a day from the region.

In north-central Montana, Western Standard has projects in what is called the Starbuck East Project. Some estimates say there are 6.19 trillion cubic feet of natural gas available in this region. Western Standard may have access to almost 220 billion cubic feet of this gas, which would be worth $1.1 billion to the company. To expand its expertise and management credibility, North Dakota-based Western Standard announced in July it hired a key executive from Chevron and another from Conoco.

Shares of Western Standard closed Wednesday at 17.5 cents. The shares of this $25-million company have traded between 16 cents and 88 cents over the past 52 weeks. Western Standard has the potential to realize $3 billion worth of assets from its ventures on the Bakken Formation. Of note to investors, Chief Executive Officer Dan Bauer owns nearly 19 million of his company’s shares.

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