Earlier this year the United States Geological Survey, a government department, released a report that said the area known as the Bakken Formation in North Dakota and Montana could yield between 3 to 4.3 billion barrels of oil.

That is 25 times more than the USGS had estimated in 1995. In contrast, ANWR is estimated to have a recoverable yield of about 11 billion barrels of oil.

“New geologic models applied to the Bakken Formation, advances in drilling and production technologies, and recent oil discoveries have resulted in these substantially larger technically recoverable oil volumes,” a USGC news release states.

The Bakken Formation estimate is larger than all other current USGS oil assessments of the lower 48 states combined. However, the potential of off-shore drilling — this week approved by Congress in select areas - is not under the purview of the USGS.

Western-Standard Energy Corp. (OTCBB: WSEG) is one company that seems