Great Plains Energy Corridor

Hess and BSC launch training partnership

Great Plains Energy Corridor — Thu, 16 May 2013 16:17:47 +0000

Hess Corporation and Bismarck State College (BSC) launched a new workforce training partnership that gives Petroleum Production Technology students hands-on experience and training through job shadowing opportunities in the Bakken oil field. The Petroleum Production Technology course trains students in safety; mechanical, electrical, instrumentation and control; print reading; troubleshooting and chemical technology, to prepare learners for jobs in energy production. Hess employees coordinate with BSC to supervise students in the field and give them real world experience to better prepare them for long-term, stable jobs in the petroleum industry. Hess employees said that the partnership has given the company opportunities to learn about potential employees, grow their own talent, and get their name out among job seekers. See the article in the Bakken Magazine.

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Spiritwood Energy Park could add plant

Great Plains Energy Corridor — Thu, 16 May 2013 16:16:46 +0000

An iron smelting operation is considering the Jamestown-area Spiritwood Energy Park as a location for a new plant in 2015. Carbontec Energy Corporation, headquartered in Bismarck, N.D., would process Minnesota iron ore concentrate into 100,000 tons of iron per year to be shipped to foundries around the country. Carbontec chairman John Simmons said that the location is ideal because it would use sugar beet residue from neighboring facilities as a reducer in the smelting process which, in turn, lower carbon emissions. The plant would join Dakota Spirit AgEnergy, the CHS nitrogen plant, Cargill malting plant and Great River Energy Spiritwood Station, all located at the energy park. See the Prairie Business article.

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Oregon ethanol plant repurposed for ND oil

Great Plains Energy Corridor — Thu, 16 May 2013 16:16:08 +0000

An Oregon ethanol plant that was mothballed in 2009 has been repurposed as a storage facility for North Dakota crude oil that makes its way by train to the facility, renamed as the Columbia Pacific Bio-Refinery. The $200 million ethanol plant near Clatskanie, Ore., filed for bankruptcy less than a year after it started and was purchased by Global Partners LP (based in Massachusetts) in February this year. See the article in the Bismarck Tribune.

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DMR report covers oil numbers, Washington

Great Plains Energy Corridor — Thu, 16 May 2013 16:15:35 +0000

N.D. Department of Mineral Resources Director Lynn Helms reported on the latest numbers available from the agency this week which include final numbers on oil production from March 2013. Production was up slightly from the previous month at about 4,000 barrels per day, and natural gas flaring remained steady at 29 percent. Helms also reported on his trip last week to Washington, D.C., where he met with federal legislators on Keystone XL and hydraulic fracturing regulations. Helms told the U.S. House Committee on Science, Space and Technology that North Dakota would have up to 500 fewer semi trips every day if the Keystone XL pipeline existed. A new rule on hydraulic fracturing proposed by the Bureau of Land Management was also on the agenda, as Helms reported that if approved, it could double the time it takes to get a drilling permit on federal lands. Currently it takes 20-30 days for a permit on state and private lands in North Dakota, compared to 180-290 days on the Fort Berthold Reservation. Read the story in the Grand Forks Herald.

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Pronghorn shows promise

Great Plains Energy Corridor — Fri, 03 May 2013 16:02:34 +0000

Whiting Petroleum, which has nearly 1 million lease acres in the oil patch, has recently found luck with a thin geologic interval between the Bakken and Three Forks Formations. The seam, about 20 feet thick, is too unstable to be bored, but Whiting is fracking into it to capture its oil reserves. Referred to as “the silt” by Whiting and “Pronghorn” by the N.D. Department of Mineral Resources, the area is roughly 50,000 acres in McKenzie County. See the article in the Bismarck Tribune.

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Groundbreaking next week on new refinery

Great Plains Energy Corridor — Fri, 03 May 2013 16:02:01 +0000

Next week the Three Affiliated Tribes will break ground on its refinery near Makoti, N.D. (west of New Town). Operated by Thunder Butte Petroleum Services, the facility will refine 20,000 barrels per day of Bakken crude oil for diesel fuel, propane and naphtha products. Read the article in the Minot Daily News.

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Methane leak estimates lowered by EPA

Great Plains Energy Corridor — Fri, 03 May 2013 16:01:27 +0000

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) lowered its estimate on how much methane leaks during natural gas production, attributed to tighter pollution controls instituted by industry. According to an EPA study, more than 41 million metric tons of methane emissions were decreased annual from 1990 through 2010, about a 20 percent reduction from previous estimates. Industry experts say that number can decrease even more with new technology and better fixes. See the Fuel Fix article.

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N.D. clean air counties announced

Great Plains Energy Corridor — Fri, 03 May 2013 16:00:50 +0000

The American Lung Association’s annual report on states’ air quality, “State of the Air,” was released last week giving eight North Dakota counties “A” grades for lack of ozone (smog). This year’s report covers 2009-2011, and counties Billings, Burke, Burleigh, Cass, Dunn, McKenzie, Mercer and Oliver were chosen to be analyzed because of their proximity to national parks and grasslands or because they are major population areas. See North Dakota’s “Report Card” on the American Lung Association website. According to the Lignite Energy Council, more than $1 billion in emissions control technologies have helped the state maintain such clean air. Mercer and Oliver counties are home to five of the state’s seven power plants and the Great Plains Synfuels Plant. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has also acknowledged the state as being one of seven states in the nation to meet all of the federal ambient air quality standards. See the news release at the Lignite Energy Council website.

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Oil estimates double in western N.D.

Great Plains Energy Corridor — Fri, 03 May 2013 16:00:04 +0000

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) released new numbers this week that double the amount of oil that could be recovered from the Three Forks and Bakken formation. The last estimate done in 2008 pegged the amount at more than 3 billion barrels, and this year’s most recent data shows 7.4 billion barrels recoverable. See the U.S. Geological Survey fact sheet on its assessment of undiscovered oil resources in the Bakken and Three Forks Formations. According to North Dakota Petroleum Council President Ron Ness, the new assessment number is conservative. The 2008 assessment didn’t include data from the Three Forks Formation, as large-scale drilling didn’t occur there until after the assessment. New estimates show that there’s as much recoverable oil in that formation as in the Bakken. According to the USGS, it’s the largest continuous oil accumulation it’s ever assessed. Read the story in the Bismarck Tribune. To see the U.S. Geological Survey presentation on results, click here.

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Keystone XL fate still undetermined

Great Plains Energy Corridor — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 20:30:12 +0000

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is calling for further study of TransCanada’s Keystone XL pipeline in a letter it sent to the State Department this week, calling the department’s analysis of the pipeline’s environmental impact “insufficient.” The State Department, which has studied the project for about four years, issued a draft report in March that said the project would not have significant environmental impact. There’s no decision yet on the fate of the pipeline, and the State Department is expected to issue its final report this summer and make a recommendation to President Barack Obama on whether or not the project should be approved. See the article in the Bismarck Tribune.

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