Western Standard Energy Corp. (WSEG) is an independent oil and gas exploration company working toward providing domestic energy resources to the United States. The company is concentrating its exploration efforts to properties within the Bakken Formation region. Western Standard is currently working on two oil and natural gas projects: Starbuck East Prospect in Montana and Lodgepole Reef Prospect in North Dakota.

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) performed an initial assessment of the Bakken Formation in 1995. The USGS revisited the area and release its latest findings in April, 2008. New analysis indicates that the Bakken Formation may represent one of the largest domestic oil and gas opportunities in U.S. history. The USGS report estimates that the U.S. portion of the Bakken represents 3 trillion cubic feet (TCF) of natural gas and up to 4.3 billion barrels of recoverable oil, which is the largest continuous type of oil accumulation the USGS has