July Energy Updates

Pipeline study says oil should go through ND
A new 169-mile pipeline system running north into Canada has been recommended as the preferred means of transporting crude oil from west-central North Dakota to one of two TransCanada/Keystone transmission pipelines.
The recommendation is contained in a feasibility study, commissioned by the North Dakota Pipeline Authority, and presented in [...]

Adding Value to Oil: Businesses try to bridge the discount gap

North Dakota has a good thing going with oil, but in the business world it’s not enough to simply have a good product. Getting the best possible price for that product is important, too.
Lynn Helms, director of the North Dakota Industrial Commission Department of Mineral Resources, explained that oil from North Dakota gets less money [...]

The cost and byproducts of controlloing emissions

By Gwen Bristol

At best, there has been a regulatory concern over air pollution in America for just over half a century. The first federal air pollution legislation passed in 1955. Since then, the country has become increasingly aware of how human actions affect the atmosphere—and how controlling emissions can impact an energy company’s pocketbook
Although a [...]

Energy Updates

Ft. Berthold meetings postponed
Oil and gas update meetings on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation planned for February have been postponed until March.
Three Affiliated Tribes chairman Marcus Levings said this postponement is the result of the death of Crow Nation tribal chairman Carl Venne.
The new meeting dates are as follows: March 17, Parshall Memorial Hall; March [...]

Oil purification system generates buzz

There’s nothing unusual about the afternoon–chilly winter days are practically dime a dozen in North Dakota, after all–but there is something unique about how Doug Mickelson is spending it: he’s getting an oil change. It’s not your average oil, though, that’s going into Mickelson’s car; the Horace resident has brought his oil from home, fresh [...]

Adding value to oil: Refining the state’s energy industry

“How many stories are you going to write?” asked Lynn Helms after an early morning discussion about marketing the state’s oil.
A lot. The story of adding value to the state’s oil is as dynamic as the market itself. This is the first in an ongoing series of what state and regional leaders are doing [...]

Energy Potential: Bismarck native takes over as director of Pipeline Authority

When that omniscient voice whispered its famous advice to a farmer in an Iowa cornfield in the movie “Field of Dreams,” Kevin Costner listened. And when North Dakota State University instructors offered their counsel a few years ago to one of their students, Justin Kringstad listened, too.
“They told me ‘If you love geology, you should [...]

Little city, big oil: Watford City

Seven miles west of Watford City, an old school-house turned bed and breakfast has become more of a boarding house than a weekend destination.
Initially, Milt Hanson rediscovered the charming, historical school building on a trip ‘home’ from South Carolina. Purchasing it for one dollar in March 1998, and agreeing to a few conditions, Hanson was [...]

Mitch Griess: Combining industry and art

Young adults occasionally feel a tug toward a future career path, whether that direction comes from circumstances – or beckons from within.
As a teen in high school, graphic artist Mitch Griess felt the tug. He could sketch or draw things with clarity — realistic representations. The talent was there, but the timing wasn’t right. He [...]