U.S. Energy Department Awards $36 Million for Bakken Oil Recovery Project in North Dakota

The U.S. Energy Department on May 8 selected the University of North Dakota’s Energy and Environmental Research Center for a $36 million federal award to advance enhanced oil recovery technologies in the Bakken shale formation, supporting efforts to expand domestic crude production and increase the use of captured carbon dioxide in energy operations. The initiative aligns with the President Trump administration’s focus on strengthening U.S. energy output and improving long-term energy reliability.

The Bakken Enhanced Oil Recovery–Cracking the Code program will combine laboratory analysis, reservoir modeling, artificial intelligence applications, and field testing to evaluate the commercial viability of carbon dioxide-based enhanced oil recovery in unconventional shale formations. The Bakken formation in North Dakota remains one of the country’s largest tight oil resources, though current recovery rates remain near 10 percent under existing production methods.

The research initiative is designed to determine whether carbon dioxide injection strategies can significantly increase oil recovery rates and unlock billions of additional barrels of crude oil from mature shale wells. The program could also support continued operation of North Dakota coal-fired power plants by creating additional demand for captured carbon dioxide used in oil recovery operations.

The project will incorporate findings from six enhanced oil recovery pilot projects across the Bakken region. Five of the pilots already receive support from state and private funding sources, while the federal award and a $9 million cost share from project partners will support one additional pilot project. State and private entities are contributing about $100 million toward the remaining projects.

Each pilot will evaluate different injection methods, reservoir conditions, and operational strategies to help establish technical benchmarks for broader commercial deployment. Artificial intelligence and machine-learning tools will analyze operational performance across all six projects to identify best practices and operational insights that could accelerate large-scale enhanced oil recovery deployment throughout the Bakken shale formation.