AMY TABORSKY/Tribune file photo - A wind farm near Wilton, N.D.

Is the answer really blowing in the wind? Quite possibly, if the question is about North Dakota’s capacity to create renewable energy.

According to the American Wind Energy Association, North Dakota is, in fact, the windiest state and ranks No. 3 in the percentage of electricity that is wind-generated, at 14.7 percent.

Wind energy seems tailor-made for the state: It requires dependable wind and open spaces, two things North Dakota has in abundance. It’s environmentally friendly, with zero carbon emissions and no water usage. It’s compatible with farm and ranch usage.

According to Skystream, a manufacturer of wind turbines, the state has the capacity to generate 500 percent of the entire country’s electricity needs.

Windmills have had a long history in North Dakota.

In the early 1900s, ranchers built water-pumping windmills to provide water for their livestock, and some are still in use.

Before the Rural Electrification Act of 1935, some isolated North Dakotans put in rudimentary wind generators to power their lights and small devices with direct current. However, their small batteries limited the use of windmills.

Fast-forward a hundred years, and wind farms have become a boon to the state, generating millions of dollars in land lease and property tax payments, and creating thousands of jobs. In addition to small shops, two large manufacturers have opened shop in North Dakota in the last decade, the AWEA reports; LM Glasfiber, in Grand Forks, produces fiberglass blades for the turbines, and DMI Industries, in West Fargo, produces the towers.

More than 40 wind projects currently exist in the state, and more are being discussed. As recently as March, the Morton County Planning and Zoning Commission gave a collective nod to a proposal to put 51 wind turbines in Morton and Mercer counties.

But there’s a hitch. In March, a bill to extend the federal Wind Production Tax Credit died in the U.S. Senate, sparking dire predictions for the future of wind energy throughout the country. The tax credit is set to expire at the end of the year, and the industry is hoping for a reprieve.

Paul Govig, director of the Division of Community Services, agrees that the tax credit is key.

“We’ve had significant growth in wind power over the last few years,” he said. “It has somewhat stalled because of the production credit in Washington. It really depends on when that money is freed up in Washington, when they agree that they’ll subsidize the industry. If they’re willing to do that, developers will jump in. President Obama — the Democratic Party — is generally more favorable to green power. There are some cases where they want the government to get involved with it.”

Even without the federal tax credit, however, incentives are available to encourage businesses, manufacturers and even families to invest in wind energy. The state offers several options for different types of customers to buy into wind, from tax credits to sales tax exemptions.

In addition, the state Department of Commerce offers financing options.

“The North Dakota Development Fund has millions of dollars available to primary-sector businesses – primarily manufacturing and processing,” Govig said. “Possibly these kinds of businesses could access funds from that, in the form of low-interest or equity financing.”

Unfortunately, the DOC incentives aren’t extended to private customers.

“There isn’t a specific initiative for that,” Govig said. “There are tax incentives, but, without some type of subsidy, it’s very difficult for the customer to justify that expense against the return.”

But Govig said the cost isn’t the biggest sticking point with investing in a turbine.

“The biggest issue is that wind isn’t a dependable resource, even in North Dakota,” he said. “It’s not 24/7, like coal.”

There are other drawbacks, as well, to the turbines.

Some people consider the windmills as unsightly as, oh, an oil derrick on the landscape. To them, the exchange of aesthetics for cheap, clean energy just isn’t worth it.

Although advances in technology have made the turbines almost silent, the cumulative noise of a few dozen of them has some seeing red.

There are also highly debated concerns about health risks — to humans as well as bats and birds. Some fear that living near a large group of turbines is causing health problems, a mix of mental and physical symptoms called wind turbine syndrome. Windmill neighbors have claimed issues with anxiety, sleeplessness, palpitations, headaches, dizziness and ringing in the ears.

Proponents of wind energy claim that the production of fossil fuels offers more, and more tangible, health risks.

Spearheaded by Californians concerned about raptors, some groups have called the turbines “bird-o-matics,” claiming that an unacceptable number of flying creatures are killed by flying into the blades of the turbines.

Proponents of the turbines, while calling the deaths regrettable, say that the number of birds killed by turbines represents about 1 percent of bird deaths each year. They blame hundreds of millions of the deaths on cats, collision with power lines and windows, pesticides, cars and communications towers, while attributing only 10,000 to 40,000 deaths on windmills.

So, as with most harbingers of change in North Dakota, wind turbines are generating controversy along with electricity. But the state’s propensity to harvest natural resources virtually assures that the wind, too, will be put to use.

Submitted photo The Tesoro Refinery in Mandan broke ground on a $35 million expansion in early No-vember. Work on the expansion, which will increase production by 10,000 barrels per day, is expected to be completed by June 2012.

By HANNA BUSH
Bismarck Tribune

Construction has started on the expansion of Tesoro Corp.’s crude oil refinery in Mandan, spurred by oil development in western North Dakota, a growing demand for diesel fuel and some timely help from the weather.

The company announced its plan to expand the plant in March. The goal is to increase production from 58,000 to 68,000 barrels per day. Tesoro is investing $35 million in the expansion, which will be geared toward maximizing diesel fuel production to meet the state’s rapidly rising demand.

Currently, the refinery processes 60,000 barrels of crude oil, which it refines into roughly 58,000 barrels of product, such as gasoline or diesel fuel, per day. The plant is able to refine nearly 95 percent of all the crude it processes, said John Berger, refinery vice president. “People are surprised that that number is so high,” Berger said. After the expansion is complete, the plant will be able to process 70,000 barrels per day.

The planned expansion will not require the construction of any new distillation units; instead, existing units will be upgraded and a new furnace will be built, in order to increase the heat supplied to the units. In order to refine crude oil into fossil fuels, the plant must use heat to distill the oil into fractions. With greater heat and increased temperature control, the refined products will be purer and the production will be faster.

According to Berger, there are four stages Tesoro moves through during any new project: appraise, select, define and execute. “We’re in execute stage now,” he said. “We have actually started construction.”

The company had to apply for modifications to its existing permits through the North Dakota Department of Health before moving into the final stage of the project. David Schollars, the refinery’s human resources manager, said they received their permits just two weeks ago.

“We’re on track for the project right now,” Berger said. Because the mild weather has allowed for concrete and foundation work well into November, the expansion is on track to be completed by June 2012.

“Several things have come together that have allowed our expansion project to happen,” Berger said. In addition to increased crude production from the Bakken shale and Three Forks formations in western North Dakota, the rapidly rising demand for diesel fuel in the state has created an opportunity for the plant to expand. Tesoro has invested “well in excess of $200 million” in the plant since acquiring it from BP in 2001, and each new project seems to fuel more opportunities, he said.

The refinery was built in 1954, just three years after crude oil was discovered in North Dakota. It processes primarily sweet (low sulfur) domestic crude oil, supplied by a 750-mile gathering and mainline pipeline system from the Williston Basin in Montana and western North Dakota. While the plant manufactures gasoline, diesel fuel, jet fuel, heavy fuel oils and liquefied petroleum gas, Berger said that gasoline comprises roughly 60 percent of the product they make, and diesel and jet fuel make up most of the remaining 40 percent. “Well over 50 percent of the diesel we produce stays in North Dakota and probably 30-40 percent of the gasoline we produce.”

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, there are currently 148 operable refineries in the U.S., 137 of which are producing refined fossil fuels. Mandan’s Tesoro plant is the only refinery in North Dakota. Due in large part to Bakken production gains, North Dakota is now the fourth-largest oil producing state in the nation. Crude and condensate production has increased by nearly 150 percent since 2005. Using horizontal drilling techniques, such as hydraulic fracturing (or fracking), operators have increased Bakken daily crude production from about 3,000 barrels to more than 225,000 barrels per day.

Currently, the Mandan refinery employs 240 people. The expansion stands to create up to 20 jobs to Mandan and Morton County, including maintenance workers, plant operators and construction personnel. Because of a wave of recent retirements, the refinery has hired about 36 new people in 2011, including seven new operators and several maintenance workers within the last two weeks.

“The refinery is one of the top-paying employers in the metro area, so it’s very encouraging to see that Tesoro, as a corporation, has made a decision to invest further in the Mandan area,” said Ellen Huber, the business development director for the city of Mandan. “We certainly appreciate their investment.”

The expansion stands to benefit the area in several ways. In addition to the influx of jobs, “construction activity provides additional market demand for long-stay hotels, restaurants and other businesses,” Huber said. The community at large will benefit, too, because the refinery has a long history of community involvement and volunteerism, she said.

“We do have an excellent working relationship with the city,” Berger said. “We will work hand in hand with them.” For instance, during this summer’s flood, several of the refinery’s engineers participated in a discussion about bank erosion concerns in Mandan, he said. The company also gave $100,000 to the United Way flood fund and $50,000 to Minot’s flood recovery effort.

Recently, the Mandan Chamber of Commerce awarded the refinery its Granite Award, recognizing its exemplary community relations role for the last 50 years, Schollars said. “We also try to encourage our people to go out and give time and money back to the community,” he said.

“We strive to earn our license to operate every day,” Berger said. “The refinery has a long history of obligation and commitment to be a good neighbor.”

At least once a year, the refinery holds a neighborhood meeting, at which people who live near the refinery are invited to discuss the plant’s production and plans, as well ask questions and voice concerns. “We had close to 200 people attend (this year),” Schollars said.

“The refinery has been a positive influence in the community for more than 50 years,” Huber said.

There are a few concerns about the expansion. Fractional distillation of hydrocarbons — the process by which crude oil is refined into more usable products, such as gasoline — results in the emission of air pollutants. Increased production at the Mandan refinery also will increase emissions. But while Berger couldn’t say exactly how much emissions might rise in line with the expansion, he was confident that the environmental impact would be small.

“If we’re increasing crude rate by 15 percent, our emissions will increase significantly less than that,” Berger said. Because the newly constructed furnace will be run on natural gas, most of which is a byproduct of the refining process, it will be largely self-sufficient. Emissions from the largest part of the expansion will be reduced.

The plant takes its role in environmental safety very seriously, Berger said. One motto the refinery lives by is “industry in harmony with nature,” Berger said. “We make strides to be as good of environmental stewards as we can … we live and work and breathe in this community, too.”

In addition to the expansion of the plant, Tesoro is building an uploading facility at its refinery in Anacortes, Wash., to prepare for a new effort to rail crude oil from the western North Dakota to the coastal location. Some crude is railed to Anacortes by manifest cars now, Berger said, but the new facility will allow crude to be railed by a dedicated unit train from North Dakota to Anacortes in larger amounts and for better rail rates. Schollars and Berger are both confident about the plant’s future.

Berger, who has been with the refinery for 25 years, is especially excited about the expansion. “It’s always good to be growing,” he said. “And I think that the investments we’re making with the expansion are going to create even more opportunities for us.”

By CHRISTOPHER BJORKE

The grandparents of today’s North Dakotans knew how to harness wind to power water pumps.
The picturesque windmills that were fixtures on prairie farms are a far cry from the industrial wind turbines that have sprung up across the plains. Modern turbines dwarf their quaint forbearers and are larger and more powerful than the first generation of utility scale units build for large-scale power generation.
“They’re over 125 feet long and they weigh tons,” said Jay Haley, an engineer and partner with EAPC, an architectural and energy consulting company in North Dakota.
The wind-energy industry is a new one in North Dakota and still a relative newcomer to the country’s mix of energy resources, but in a short time the sight of blades spinning on top of high towers has become familiar across the state — but also one that has also received criticism from those who are skeptical of its cost and benefits.
Large-scale use of wind as a utility began in the early 1980s and was centered on the West Coast, according to Haley.

“Back in that day, (turbines) were 100 kilowatts in size and they were predominantly in California,” he said.
Today, the biggest turbines are rated from 1.5 megawatts (1,500 kilowatts) to 2.3 megawatts, and have spread to the blustery prairies of the plains and Midwest. Texas has the highest wind-energy production, while North Dakota ranks 10th at 1,200 installed megawatts at the end of 2009, according to the American Wind Energy Association. The state, though, is third in the proportion of its total electricity generation and has turned wind-generated power into an export to neighboring states.
The state’s first project went up around the towns of Edgeley and Kulm starting in 2003. Since then, developments have sprung up around North Dakota.
“I did over 200 landowner demonstrations,” said Haley, whose firm consults for energy companies, working with landowners and using wind and topographic data to site developments.
“We use area maps, topographic maps, aerial photos,” he said. “That’s how we make our living here at EAPC.”
Haley described the mechanics of the turbines and rotors as something similar to the reverse of how an airplane is able to fly using energy to turn its propeller to generate lift under the wings to bring it aloft.
“Those blades are somewhat like an airplane wing,” Haley said. “When in operation, those blades spin in the range of 15 to 20 rotations per minute.”
With a turbine, wind turns the blades and sets the rotor assembly into motion. That connects to a generator, making it spin at 1,800 rpm. The electricity that generates is carried by a large cable down the tower into a transformer. From there, the electricity travels by underground cables to a collector substation and then onto the main grid that wires the homes, businesses and offices of the end consumers.
Because the wind does not blow all the time, it is an intermittent energy source. A turbine with a “nameplate” capacity of 1.5 megawatts would generate that much electricity if it were turning for an hour.
“Statistically speaking, those towers will be generating power 80 percent of the time,” Haley said. “The typical capacity factor in North Dakota is around 40 percent.”
Even though the blades are spinning most of the time, usually they are generating below their full capacity. The capacity factor is the actual amount of energy generated over a year as a percentage of what it would produce if it were running at full capacity all the time.
According to the Wind Energy Association’s website, typical capacity factors for turbines are between 25 and 40 percent, while the capacity of a conventional power plant is usually between 40 and 80 percent.
While conventional power plants can adjust generation to meet changes in demand, wind generates power depending on the weather. For the electrical grid to accept wind-generated power it must balance wind-generated power with other power sources.
Haley said that it is misconception that every megawatt of new generation from wind that is placed in the electrical grid must be matched by the same amount of new generation from conventional energy source.
“It’s definitely over-simplistic and very misleading,” he said.
In reality, the grid has a 20 percent saturation level, meaning that as long as intermittent energy sources such as wind make up less than 20 percent of total generation, it has the ability to adjust to fluctuations, as it does already for coal-fired plants and other energy sources.
“We view it as a supplement,” he said. “It’s not intended to be a baseload.”
Critics of wind power also cite concerns about noise generated by the humming blades or the “shadow flicker” caused when the sun sinks behind a tower. Haley said that developers are mindful of such concerns during the siting process and work to minimize environmental effects.
Another concern is the amount of government subsidies that support wind development, which detractors say are not justified by wind’s contribution to the energy mix. Supporters argue that there is no part of the energy industry that does not receive subsidies in some form. While wind receives more tax money per unit of energy, coal receives more public money overall.
Despite some skepticism, renewable energy enjoys public support.
Basin Electric Power Cooperative uses more than 450 megawatts of wind generation. Spokesman Daryl Hill said that the cooperative’s members voted in 2005 to set a goal to get 10 percent of its electricity from wind.
“Our members are our owners,” Hill said. “When your owners speak, you listen.”
Today, wind accounts for 11 percent to 12 percent of Basin’s electrical generation, according to Hill.
“Wind is extremely popular with the general public,” Haley said. “It takes some political will to say that least cost (energy) is not necessarily the best choice.”

(Christopher Bjorke is the business reporter for The Bismarck Tribune. He can be reached at 250-8261 or chris.bjorke@bismarcktribune.com.)

It’s called the Oil Transfer System, and it’s a machine that’s doing more than providing Mickelson with super clean oil for his car–it’s earning him international attention and awards for its effective, energy- saving qualities.

“New oil is not very clean; the handling process adds contamination, as do trucks, pipelines and holding tanks,” Mickelson said.

“This one machine will clean any and all oils, new and used, with no cross contamination.” Ultimately, the machine is designed to purify both hydraulic and crankcase oils, which in turn helps reduce wear and tear on the machinery powered by those fuels.

The invention has proven a successful one for Mickelson, a self-proclaimed curious guy. Most recently, the Oil Transfer System earned the Energy Conservation Award at the Marketplace for Entrepreneurs Inventors Congress held in Bismarck in January. Mickelson won the same award, which comes with $500 in prize money, at last year’s event in Grand Forks.

Mickelson says it was during his years as a tool shop owner that he identifi ed a need for the machine.

“Nobody made a scrubber and recycle cart for oil, so I designed this system from scratch, found an investor, hand-made 10 crude machines and sold nine of them to my customers,” Mickelson said.

Since those early prototypes, Mickelson has had the system patented, and estimates he’s sold more than a thousand units since its market debut in 2001.

One of those sales was to the City of West Fargo, where the Oil Transfer System has been in use at the Public Works Department for several years recycling hydraulic oil. Fleet and Facility Manager Eric Hanson said after Mickelson came to talk with him about the Oil Transfer System a few years ago, he was sold on the potential benefi ts for his department.

“I’m always looking for new, innovative ways to make our work easier and to save money,” Hanson said. “This looked like a pretty fair means of doing that.”

For Hanson, the proof is in the numbers. Recent LaserNet Fines ISO testing, used to determine the level of contaminants in oil by measuring the diameter of particles, showed a marked improvement in the quality and durability of oil used in the city’s vehicles and equipment.

And that translates into more time between oil changes and less oil required to keep the fl eet up and running, all thanks to Mickelson’s system.

“We’re seeing the benefi t of using it and ultimately, that’s what we want,” Hanson said. And Hanson isn‘t alone; Mickelson’s website, www. oiltransfer.com/”www.oiltransfer. com, includes testimonials from customers in half a dozen states and Canada, and Mickelson says he’s aware of one system being used in Iraq.

With a price tag of $5,150, Mickelson says the machine more than pays for itself in money it saves on purchasing new oil and the extended life it can give machinery that run on scrubbed or recycled oil.

Mickelson says one of the most exciting aspects of the system is the impact it has on US oil consumption. Oil that’s been scrubbed or recycled has had millions of particles of sand and other contaminants removed, making it cleaner and longer lasting; Mickelson says because of that, energy conservation naturally follows.

“All the companies in the country are talking ‘green’ and this machine is definitely green,” Mickelson said.

Ever the innovator, Mickelson says he’s working on a few more inventions that expand the use of scrubbing and recycling technologies to substances like antifreeze and cooking oils.

“I want to develop more things in the future,” Mickelson said. “It’s hard for people to understand, but inventions are almost like another child–I want them to be successful and I have so much pride in them that it’s hard to describe.

Mickelson says one of the most exciting aspects of the system is the impact it has on US oil consumption.

By JAMES MacPHERSON
Associated Press Writer

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — Government scientists should try to find out how much crude can be recovered from a promising reservoir beneath North Dakota’s already prolific oil patch, Sen. Byron Dorgan says. The U.S. Geological Survey says a study now would be premature.
The Three Forks-Sanish formation is made up of sand and porous rock directly below the rich Bakken shale in western North Dakota.
“The question is: What’s there and what’s recoverable using today’s technology?” said Dorgan, D-N.D., who said he will make a formal study request to the USGS next week.
Rich Pollastro, a USGS geologist, said the federal agency does not have enough data for a comprehensive study of the Three Forks-Sanish formation.
“We would need at least five years of new history before we would even consider it,” Pollastro said.
Geologists and oil companies are not sure if the Three Forks-Sanish is a separate oil-producing formation or if it acts as a trap, catching oil that leaks from the Bakken shale above. Some say it could be a combination of both.
New horizontal wells aimed at the Three Forks-Sanish in recent months have been successful. But those wells came online after the USGS released a study in April that estimated up to 4.3 billion barrels of oil can be recovered in the Bakken, where oil-producing rock is sandwiched between layers of shale about two miles under the ground.
The potential of the underlying Three Forks-Sanish formation was factored into the agency’s estimate for the Bakken, though it was based on production from traditional vertical wells that were spudded decades ago, Pollastro said. The Three Forks-Sanish added about 500 million barrels to the estimate, he said.
The last formal study on the formation in North Dakota was done 40 years ago, Pollastro said.
Continental Resources Inc., based in Enid, Okla., said it tapped its first Three Forks-Sanish well in May in Dunn County. The well averaged about 700 barrels of oil daily in its first week of production, spurring the company’s stock to rise 23 percent. Continental, which is the largest leaseholder in the Bakken with more than a half-million acres, has since targeted 27 new wells at the Three Forks-Sanish. Fourteen of the wells are producing.
Continental spokesman Brian Engel said some wells in the new formation are outperforming Bakken wells.
“The results are even better, in some cases,” he said. “We’re quite pleased.”
Engel said a federal study of the formation would “educate the public on what we’re working with and it would bring a lot more knowledge to what we think is a new formation.”
The Three Forks-Sanish formation was first targeted in the 1950s, in an oil play known as the Antelope Field in McKenzie, Williams and Divide counties in northwestern North Dakota, said Julie LeFever, a geologist with the state Geological Survey in Grand Forks.
LeFever, who has studied the Bakken formation for more than two decades, said the state is doing its own assessment of the Three Forks-Sanish.
How much oil may be trapped in the formation below the Bakken is unknown. But LeFever said a comprehensive government study of the Three Forks-Sanish likely would spur more investment in North Dakota’s oil industry.
“Everybody knows there’s oil in the Bakken and the Three Forks-Sanish — to tell a geologist or an oil company that is not a news flash,” LeFever said. “I think this is something they can take to investors.”
The Geological Survey has called the Bakken formation the largest continuous oil accumulation it has ever assessed. Dorgan also requested the agency do that study, which took 18 months.
The state completed its own independent study of the Bakken formation at about the same time the federal study was released. The results were similar, though the state did not account for oil from the Three Forks-Sanish.
The Bakken formation encompasses some 25,000 square miles in North Dakota, Montana, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. About two-thirds of the acreage is in western North Dakota. Companies target the shale horizontally, and use pressurized fluid and sand to break pores in the rock and prop them open to recover the oil. The technology has come far in the past couple of years but is still being perfected, industry officials say.
LeFever said the Three Forks-Sanish is typically about 250 feet thick, and underlies the entire Bakken formation. She believes oil found in the Three Forks-Sanish has “migrated” from the Bakken over millions of years.
“I’m beginning to think a lot of our Bakken reservoir is in the Three Forks-Sanish,” she said.

MINOT, N.D. (AP) — An area near the Turtle Mountains in Bottineau County may be the next oil hot spot, the state’s mineral resources director says.

Lynn Helms said tests are planned in the next few months.

“We’re going to run some tests in some wells this winter and over this next year. We think there’s a second circle over here, south and east of the Turtle Mountains, that’s another hot spot,” Helms told the Minot Area Chamber of Commerce’s Energy Committee.

A Westhope company, will take thermal measurements, Helms said.

The companies doing most of the drilling in the Bakken shale formation in North Dakota signed two- and three-year contracts, he told the Minot group.

“So they’re committed to use that drilling rig for two to three years regardless of the oil price,” he said.

Many companies hedge their oil at $100 a barrel and sold future production for three years out at $100 a barrel, Helms said. That helps insulate them from a temporary drop in oil prices, he said.

Some companies acquired hundreds of thousands of acres in mineral leases for less than $100 an acre, Helms said.

“They do not want to go out and re-lease that land at 10 times that money. So they’re going to employ those drilling rigs to develop those leases at this point,” he said.

Recent oil development in the state has been focused on Mountrail, McKenzie and Dunn counties and across Fort Berthold Reservation, Helms said, In a couple of years, it will move into Ward, Mercer and McLean counties, he said.

While the projected activity depends on the price of oil, Helms said, “we truly believe, five years from now, people will have long forgotten $30 North Dakota sweet crude.”

Former state Department of Commerce employee Kim Christianson was named director of the Great Plains Energy Corridor in September. His office is in the new Bismarck State College Center for Energy Excellence building on campus. The idea behind the corridor concept is to centralize information for the energy industry – a North Dakota energy clearing house. Activities related to the new position include the Great Plains Energy Expo and the Renewable Energy Action Summit.

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National Center for Hydrogen Technology dedicated at UND

The new $3.5 million building for the National Center for Hydrogen Technology was dedicated in September on the campus of the University of North Dakota. The facility is designed to significantly enhance the strategic research, development, testing and commercialization of hydrogen and fuel cell technology at the Energy & Environmental Research Center at UND. It was constructed with $2.5 million in funding from the North Dakota Centers of Excellence Commission, $500,000 from the City of Grand Forks and another $500,000 from the EERC.

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Refinery plan focuses on diesel and jet fuel

A preliminary study for a refinery near Williston suggests it should produce mostly diesel and jet fuel, and would require pipelines for fuel to Minot, Belfield and Spearfish, S.D. Mel Falcon, chief executive officer of Northwest Refining Inc. of Williston released the study Oct. 3. There was also the implication that the refinery could process heavy-sulfur North Dakota crude that’s not currently being pumped. The cost of the refinery and pipelines is estimated to be between $1.3 billion and $2.2 billion, and would take five years to complete.

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EERC creates renewable jet fuel

The Energy & Environmental Research Center at the University of North Dakota has created a 100 percent renewable domestic fuel. The fuel was produced from multiple renewable feed stocks. The flexible process can use various crop oils and waste greases, and can be made to produce combinations of propane, gasoline, jet fuel and diesel.

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Company wants South Heart mining permit

Great Northern Power Development has filed a request with the state Public Service Commission for a permit to open a small coal mine two miles southwest of South Heart. The coal would be used for a coal-drying facility. Great North has plans for a large coal gasification plant at that site. The mine and plants have generated opposition, some of it local.

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More wind turbines in the works

Hartland Wind Farm LLC wants to put together a 2,000-megawatt wind farm in Ward, Burke and Montrail counties, with construction to start in 2010. It would take 1,333 wind towers spread over 270 square miles. Earlier a 1,000 megawatt farm was proposed by FPL Energy LLC for Oliver and Morton counties. The announcements put additional pressure on efforts to add to transmission-resources.

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Bakken production improving

The threshold price for oil from the Bakken formation in North Dakota to be cost effective was thought to be $65-70 per barrel. Lynn Helms, director of the state’s Oil and Gas Division of the Industrial Commission, recently said that has breakeven price in some cases it has dropped to as little as $20 per barrel and in others it is up to $40 or $50 per barrel.

The Bakken formation has people speculating, once again. And it’s not just people in the oil business. Every where people are scratching their heads and wondering how it will impact their business.

Local economic business development offices are in high gear.

Since the oil patch stretches upward to Ward County, Minot businesses feel it. Hotels there swell with guests, some longterm. Workers and their families need housing.

Minot Guaranty & Escrow representatives never imagined they would be this busy. Originally founded in 1955, the North Dakota Guaranty & Title Company now has four offices offering title services throughout North Dakota. It opened the Minot location in December 2007, and now also serves Ward County and northwestern North Dakota.

“At Minot Guaranty & Escrow, we search for anything in Ward County,” North Dakota Guaranty & Title Company vice president Paula Bachmeier said. “We search for abstract updates and home equity transactions, as well as title insurance and closings – but are finding that we are far too busy to handle oil searches or searching for mineral rights. Right now, we’re actually turning away oil work.”

In the industry for 35 years, Bachmeier said she’s never seen this sort of turmoil. — a positive, profitable flurry of activity. Never before has she seen this many sales in real estate; houses sell quickly, leaving no inventory.

“At Minot Guaranty & Escrow, our fi rst year of business exceeded our expectations,” Bachmeier said. “With a greater profit margin, we were able to employ people at good wages, with good benefits. This was good not only for the company, but for the employees as well. We intended to staff four or five, and already have fourteen working with us.”

And as the oil business steadily moves closer, other local companies feel its infl uence. Executive Air Taxi Corporation, of Bismarck, sees an increase in air traffic. Under the ownership of John G. Miller, Paul Vetter, and Kelly Cermak, Executive Air Taxi is a full-service fixed-base-operation. This local aviation service provides aircraft maintenance, instruction, rental, and charter in addition to parts sales and 24-hour refueling service.

Executive Air sees a certain amount of attention as a result of the oil patch, as well. And though the bulk of the oil business is farther west, the spinoff of additional sales and service near the Bismarck Mandan area is felt.

“Executive Air recently worked on two helicopters from Oklahoma,” Executive Air co-owner Kelly Cermak said. “They were doing seismographic work in the basin. Since they were a bit of a surprise, they got our attention.”

Additionally, Cermak said they fuel jet-type mini-aircraft constantly, and that likely this infl ux in work is, at least partially, related to the oil industry or exploration.

Executive Air now operates a helicopter EMS out of Minot. June of 2008 was a record breaking month as critically ill patients were lifted from towns such as Williston and Stanley and ferried to Trinity Hospital in Dickinson. This type of emergency service will prove to be a valuable resource to the small communities.

“A myriad of services are required,” Bismarck Mandan Development Association’s president and CEO Russ Staiger said. “Perhaps the magnitude of business need is not measurable, yet.”

Staiger has his finger on the pulse of the oil happenings. Sitting in on various committee meetings, he’s learned about the process, the movement, and the production. He knows shale rock is tough as concrete, and wonders at the way oil can be extracted from it. Yet, every well drilled produces. Staiger said production can vary anywhere from 600 barrels a day to 3500 a day, dependent upon the skills of the drillers.

As oil companies expand toward the east, nearer and nearer to Bismarck Mandan, productivity is sure to increase. Currently, 88 rigs are operating, with 100 expected by the end of 2008.

Staiger said BMDA is working to determine the full impact of the oil patch. They hope to discover how to cope with the process – the upside, the top side, and the inevitable downside. Eventually the oil production will taper off, and without planning ahead, rural towns have a potential to lose financial support.