Canadian Shale, also called Tar Sands by some and due South of there is the Bakken region (North Dakota to Colorado, Eastern Montana and Wyoming, which has purportedly more reserves than S Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq and Iran all together. But deliberate OPEC over production has created a world wide glut with the intention to shut down non-OPEC member oil production by stopping new well construction and the capping off of many wells and be consequently shut down due to unprofitability. OPEC wants their worldwide hegemony reinstated, no matter how much money they lose in the short term or who they have to pay off. Once a well is shut down, it takes more than a snap of their fingers to re establish production, as well as their crackerjack crews and specialised equipment move on to other work somewhere else. Governments are a player in all this as well, because their tax revenues are by a percentage of the end user price, low prices means not as much money in their coffers, and they just don't like that. BTW, almost all the oil production in the Bakken region are on privately owned lands, A huge percentage of the Federal Govco managed real estate (and there is a lot of it) has had drilling permits routinely refused to accommodate ($$$$$$$$) the wishes of OPEC s goals. It's obviously good to be the King.
