North Dakota Petroleum Council E-News
October 2008
New Members – Thanks to the new Petroleum Council members Aurora Land Services, LLC; Border Resources, Inc.; His Resources Engineering & Management, Inc.; Peak North Dakota, LLC; and XTO Energy. Also, thank you to our new supporting members Ronald Baranko and Wallwork Truck Center.
Upcoming Town Hall Meetings – As part of a Petroleum Council Good Neighbor Program, additional Oil and Gas Town Hall Meetings have been scheduled for November 11 & 12, 2008 in Bowbells, Powers Lake, Parshall, Stanley, and Killdeer. These Town Hall meetings will bring together industry experts, public officials, and the general public in efforts to further develop understanding of the oil industry as well as get a feel for concerns and questions people may have for the oil and gas industry.
The previous Town Hall meetings were an important piece in developing a “Frequently Asked Questions” document that is currently available to the general public. To view this document, see http://www.ndoil.org/images/stories/2008Teacher/faq.pdf.
Research Grant Proposal Deadline is November 1– The Oil and Gas Research Council (OGRC) will be ending this round of grant proposals November 1, 2008. The OGRC has expressed an interest for additional project proposals focused on vertical Bakken fracture mapping and research comparing fracture propants. Research projects of this sort will, hopefully, add to the availability of information on vertical fracture results in the Bakken shale. For more information on submitting a grant for this round, please visit http://www.nd.gov/ndic/ogrp/info/ogrcsubgrant-app.pdf.
Oil and Gas Safety Seminar – The North Dakota Safety Council will host, FREE of charge, the 2008 Oil & Gas Safety Seminar in three different locations in North Dakota. The seminar will be offered in Dickinson on October 20, Williston on October 21, and Minot on October 22. Dale Robinson, the owner of HR Safety Consulting, will be the keynote presenter. Dale has over 28 years of experience in the oil and gas industry and has developed training programs specific for the oil and gas industry that are recognized by the Department of Labor and the Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA). Owners, operators, managers, supervisors and safety representatives are encouraged to participate in this seminar. The seminar will help to identify areas of concern and will assist in preventing accidents in the industry by communicating the importance of safe work practice and workplace safety.
The four-hour seminar will focus on:
· Proposed updates to exposure limits and standard work practices.
· Required and recommended safety training for the oil and gas industry.
· Contractor Assessment Program (CAP) requirements.
· OSHA Standards and other governing and guidance applicable to the oil and gas industry.
· Emphasis programs to include hydrogen sulfide, hot work permitting, lockout/tagout, confined space entry, excavations, multi-cultural workforce and substance abuse.
· Fatal facts of the oilfield.
To learn more about the seminars, or to register, visit www.ndsc.org, or contact the North Dakota Safety Council at 701.223.6372 or 800.932.8890.
Lynn Helms Receives Outstanding Public Service Award – The North Dakota Petroleum Council presented their Outstanding Public Service Award to Lynn Helms at the Petroleum Council’s 27th Annual Meeting in Bismarck. The Petroleum Council would like to congratulate and thank Lynn for his tireless efforts in serving the general public, the state of North Dakota, and North Dakota’s oil industry.
Jack Swenson Inducted Into the Petroleum Council Hall of Fame – Jack Swenson was selected as the sixth member of the Petroleum Council’s Hall of Fame. Jack, who served as the Petroleum Council Executive Director from 1963-1972, was officially chosen by the five current Hall of Fame members to become the newest member. Jack has been working in the oil industry since 1963, when he took his first step from radio and television news work to oil industry association work. Jack now lives in northern Minnesota. He is married with four grown children and enjoys writing columns for a local newspaper. To learn more about this award, go to http://www.ndoil.org/content/view/22/50/.
Annual Meeting Has a Great Turnout – The North Dakota Petroleum Council would like to thank the sponsors, presenters, and all who attended for making the Petroleum Council’s 27th Annual Meeting so successful. This year’s Annual Meeting had over 260 registrants for the main events. Registrants enjoyed the Oil PAC Golf Tournament, a luncheon at the Heritage Center, the Oil PAC Sporting Clays Shoot, and excellent presentations. We look forward to seeing all of you next year in Medora, September 1-3, 2009. To view slide show presentations from this year’s conference, see http://www.ndoil.org/content/view/107/105/.
Bakken Frac Water Consumption – Energy and Environmental Research Center (EERC) is going to conduct an assessment of the water consumption associated with Bakken development. The Petroleum Council is teaming up with EERC to answer growing concerns and rumors surrounding Bakken water consumption.
Interim Energy Committee Approves Bill Drafts Streamlining Permitting – Recently, the Legislative Interim Energy Committee approved a draft bill supported by the Petroleum Council and Empower Commission which exempts construction activities within a previously permitted footprint and exempts any pipelines four inches in diameter or less, or pipelines of less than one mile in length, from the PSC sitting process.
In addition, the Interim Energy Committee also approved the Empower recommendation to remove the 10- year sunset on the extraction tax exemption for tertiary CO2 projects. This would provide a permanent extraction tax exemption for CO2 projects and is intended to ensure a CO2 enhanced oil recovery project continues to be economical and injecting and sequestering CO2 as long as possible.
New Petroleum Council Board Members Elected – Rick Ross, Whiting Oil and Gas, Vice-President of Operations in Denver, was elected Chairman of the North Dakota Petroleum Council Board of Directors. Craig Smith, Fleck, Mather & Strutz, was elected Vice-Chairman, and Jeff Herman, Petro-Hunt, LLC was elected Treasurer/Secretary at the Petroleum Council’s 27th Annual Meeting in Bismarck.
Board members elected to a three-year term include:
David Scharf, Bear Paw
Rick Ross, Whiting Oil & Gas
Lynn Moser, Inland Oil & Gas
Ken Luff, Luff Exploration
Ryan Leininger, S & S Sales 2008
Ryan Kopseng, Missouri River Royalty
Jeff Herman, Petro-Hunt
Rob Johnson, Williston Basin Interstate Pipeline
Larry Dokken, BTA Oil Producers
Wayne Biberdorf, Hess Corp.
Lawrence Bender, Fredrikson & Byron
Lisa Winn, XTO Energy
For more information on any of these issues, or to be removed from the mailing list, contact the North Dakota Petroleum Council at
(701) 223-6380, ndpc@ndoil.org, or see www.ndoil.org.
Marsha Reimnitz
North Dakota Petroleum Council
PO Box 1395
Bismarck ND 58502
701.223.6380
701.222.0006 fax
www.ndoil.org
ndpc@ndoil.org
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