Category Archive: North Dakota

1. Regulatory, Conservation Efforts to Step Up in Oil Patch

   September 26, 2014 Leave a Comment

   State regulators and state and federal conservation officials spoke to energy industry representatives at the North Dakota Petroleum Council annual meeting this week and cited the need for increased communication efforts between all affected parties in the state’s oil patch. The speakers said that regulators and conservation practitioners need to be more proactive in the oil patch. The Health Department’s Environmental Health Section Chief Dave Glatt said companies who routinely violate regulations will be targeted for on-the-ground inspection. Read more in Prairie Business Magazine.

2. First Tribal Exploration & Production Company Up and Running

   September 19, 2014 Leave a Comment

   The first Indian Reservation oil and gas exploration and production company – Missouri River Resources – is set to drill their first four wells. The company’s production and exploration efforts are being led by Three Affiliated Tribes member David Williams, who has twenty years of experience in the oil industry and also teaches classes at Fort Berthold Community College. Company officials say that access to resources and capital have been challenges in getting the company off the ground. Read more in the Bakken Magazine.

3. “Surge” Fund Proposed by Western Legislators

   September 19, 2014 Leave a Comment

   A group of western North Dakota state legislators is proposing to tap the state’s Strategic Investment & Improvement Fund to establish a new $800 million “Surge” fund to help oil patch political subdivisions, cities and schools. The legislators pointed to the ongoing and urgent needs in oil patch communities. Legislative leaders are also expected to release a plan to adjust the oil tax distribution formula to so that additional revenue flows to local oil patch entities. Read more in the Dickinson Press.

4. Study Shows ND Could Produce 2 Million Barrels Per Day by 2019

   September 19, 2014 Leave a Comment

   The state legislature’s interim Energy Development & Transmission Committee received a final report on a legislatively-commissioned study of the future of the oil and gas industry this week. The study was conducted by engineering firm KLJ and shows potential for North Dakota to produce 2 million barrels of oil per day by 2019. Study authors say addressing housing and public infrastructure needs in the oil patch will be critical to ensure increased production levels. Read more in the Dickinson Press.

5. American Petroleum Institute Releases Survey on Oil & Gas Economic Impact

   September 12, 2014 Leave a Comment

   The American Petroleum Institute (API) released results of a business survey conducted by PriceWaterhouseCoopers to determine the economic impact of the oil and gas industry. Survey results showed that oil and gas accounts 12.3 percent of North Dakota’s economy and directly provides 12 percent of jobs in the state. Total jobs supported by the oil and gas industry are projected to grow to more than 114,000 in the state by 2020. Read more in The Bakken Magazine.

6. Proposed Pipeline Comes Under Fire

   September 5, 2014 Leave a Comment

   A 1,100 mile pipeline project proposed by Texas-based Energy Transfer Partners LP is already drawing criticism in Iowa.  Company spokespeople say they intend to file a siting application with the North Dakota Public Service Commission later this year.  The pipeline would originate in North Dakota and travel through South Dakota and Iowa before reaching its final destination in Illinois.  The North Dakota Pipeline Authority projects pipeline capacity of more than 1.5 million barrels per day in 2016, if all proposed projects are completed.  Read more in the St. Paul Pioneer Press.   

7. Oil Tax Revenue Projected to Rise

   September 5, 2014 Leave a Comment

   The state Office of Management and Budget has released new legislative forecasts for revenue generated from oil production.OMB Director Pam Sharp says that this is the first of three forecasts for the 2015-17 biennium and the initial forecast shows an increase of oil tax revenue of $2.2 billion, bringing the total oil tax contribution up to a projected $9.8 billion. Oil tax revenue for the 2013-15 biennium was adjusted upward to $7.48 billion, an increase of $2.2 billion. The new forecasts are based on a crude oil price of $90 per barrel. Read more in The Forum.

8. Ag Impacted as More Oil Travels by Rail

   August 29, 2014 Leave a Comment

   North Dakota’s two largest rail shippers – BNSF and Canadian Pacific – each have a backlog of more than 1,000 ordered cars, according to recently-released federal agency reports. And, US Department of Agriculture officials are concerned that Canadian Pacific will not be able meet the farmer and industry requested 30,000 rail cars prior to October. A recently completed NDSU study shows that farmers could lose more than $160 million as a result of rail congestion. North Dakota produces one million barrels of oil per day and approximately 60 percent is transported by rail. Read more in the New York Times.

9. New Gas Plant in Operation

   August 29, 2014 Leave a Comment

   Oneok Partner’s Garden Creek II Plant is now operational in McKenzie County. The $300 million plant can produce 100 million cubic feet of natural gas per day. The company now has natural gas processing capacity of more than 500 million cubic feet per day in North Dakota’s oil patch. A seventh processing facility is planned in 2016 in northeastern McKenzie County. Read more in the Bakken Breakout.

10. Legislators Tour Oil Patch

    August 29, 2014 Leave a Comment

    Forty state legislators traveled to the oil patch this week to see first-hand the development and impacts in Watford City and the rest of McKenzie County, which is the largest oil producing county in the state. Oil patch leaders plan to seek an increase in the amount of oil tax revenue that is sent directly back to impacted communities and counties. The 2015 legislative session is set to convene on January 6. Read more in Prairie Business Magazine.