This document details the organic petrology and maturation of the Bakken Formation located in the Williston Basin. This report is organized into five sections. Section I will introduce the Bakken Formation as it relates to the Williston Basin. It will also address sedimentary and structural aspects of the Bakken Formation. Section II outlines the processes that formed the Bakken Formation that occurred during the Devonian/Mississippian era. Section III will summarize the organic components and influence within the Bakken Formation. Additionally, Section IV will address the nature of the inorganic constituents that influence the Bakken Formation. Section V will discuss the production history and current production of oil and gas found within the Bakken Formation. This report concludes in Section VI with a comprehensive analysis of the Bakken Formation that summarizes the four major sections of this paper.I. The Bakken Formation, an Introduction The Bakken Formation is a clastic unit measuring approximately 150 feet thick that extends across the Williston Basin and was deposited during the Late Devonian to Early Mississippian. The Bakken Formation is composed of three overlapping primary members (in some places the lower member is absent due to failure of deposition or overstepping of the middle member); the upper, middle and lower members. Both the upper and lower members within the Bakken Formation are black shales (Jiang, 2001). Black shales in the upper and lower members formed offshore under anoxic conditions. Shales in the upper and lower members of the Bakken Formation are composed of hard silicose and pyritic components (Webster, 1984). These members are also fissile and non-calcareous and contain numerous quantities of conodonts and other...... middle of paper ......f Petroleum Engineers, DOI: 10.2118/90697-MS.Julie A. LeFever, Carole D Martiniuk, Edward F. R. Dancsok, Paul A. Mahnic, 2013, Petroleum Potential of the Middle Member, Bakken Formation, Williston Basin, Sixth International Basin Symposium Williston, p. 74-88.McCabe, H.R., 1966, Tectonic structure of Paleozoic formations in Manitoba, Anuual Western Meeting. CIM. Calgary, Trasnactions, v. LXX, p. 180-189.LeFever, Julia A., 2013, History of Oil Production from the Bakken Formation, North Dakota.Stuart Alan Cox, David Cook, Kenneth Dunek, Gerald R. Daniels, Connie Jo Jump, Robert David Barree, 2008, Unconventional Resource Play Assessment: A Look at North Dakota's Bakken Shale Play, Society of Petroleum Engineers.S. Zargari, S. D. Mohaghegh, 2010, Field Development Strategies for the Bakken Shale Formation, National Energy Technology Laboratory.