Energy Day at the Capitol

Posted: Mar 13 2017

With over 200 attendees, this year’s Energy Day at the North Dakota State Capitol was a great success. Energy Day featured engaging speakers, who reviewed the state’s economy and took a close look at the future of the Bakken. Industry leaders, such as Oneok, NFIB, BakkenBackers, Consumer Energy Alliance, and the North Dakota Petroleum Council sponsored the event, which took place on Tuesday, March 7^th.

Energy Day featured a niche group of leaders across the state, including:

Dean Bangsund, Research Scientist, North Dakota State University
Lt. Governor Brent Sanford
Kevin Black, Co-Founder of Creedence Energy
Tax Commissioner Ryan Rauschenberger
Kathy Neset, Owner of Neset Consulting
Trey Wilson, Chairman/CEO/President of MBI Energy Services
Jessie Veeder, Singer, writer, and Watford City native
Helen Currie, Senior Economist at ConocoPhillips

With a Governor from eastern North Dakota and a Lt. Governor from western North Dakota, our state’s legislature offers a diverse and strong group of leadership. Governor Doug Burgum introduced Lt. Governor Brent Sanford, and shared how 2017 is the 1^st time in 40 years that North Dakota has a Lt. Governor from western North Dakota.

The Lt. Governor shed light on Watford City and discussed first term goals. MADC found great value in hearing the Lt. Governor’s perspective and experience of the oil and gas impact in Watford City. He shared how Watford City has seen indicators that things are picking up; especially as leases with mineral right owners are starting to expire, which requires companies to drill new rigs. Lt. Governor stated how entrepreneurship, infrastructure, economic development, and smart growth/building are key goals for the first term. The Lt. Governor explained the state’s infrastructure needs will be focused on the mandatory upgrades required for existing infrastructure within our state.

Kevin Black, Founder of Creedence Energy, was another featured speaker during the event. He shared the history driven behind Creedence Energy. Black’s grandparents moved to Williston, North Dakota in 1957 and his grandfather worked for Halliburton as a Mud Engineer. His grandfather started his own company to deliver solutions to the oil industry. Fast forward to 2014, with 6 of the grandkids working in chemical solutions, 3 of the cousins decided to start Creedence Energy Services. Creedence is a locally owned oil and gas service company based in Williston, specializing in providing safe and affordable hydrochloric acid pumping and delivery services. With expertise in hydrochloric acid applications, Creedence offers value and innovation in scale remediation and production enhancement treatments.

Tax Commissioner Ryan Rauschenberger offered insights on various sector trends. Although the tax base is down compared to the last few years, overall North Dakota’s tax base is considerably higher than pre-boom in 2007 and that should not be overlooked. With changes in the oil and gas industry in the last 3 years, taxes in other sectors are remaining steady, such as retail, accommodations, food, etc.

Energy Day also took an extensive look at North Dakota’s oil and gas production in 2016:

The state’s total oil production was 380 million barrels.
On average, 35 rigs operated in ND in 2016.
ND produced an average of 1.19 million barrels of oil and 1.5 million MCF of natural gas per day.
There were a total of 13,293 oil producing wells in ND, producing an average of 80 barrels each per day.
ND has a total of 16 oil producing counties. The top 5 in 2016 included: McKenzie, Mountrail, Dunn, Williams, and Divide.
ND produced 2.47 trillion cubic feet of oil and natural gas and sold 512 billion cubic feet of natural gas.
Since 2006, ND has seen a total increase of 852% in annual oil production.
The average cost of drilling and completing a well in ND in 2016 was $6-7 million.

Many questions were raised in 2016 regarding the energy sector, between curiosity when the oil would turn back around and the Dakota Access Pipeline, the energy sector certainly made headlines in 2016. The North Dakota Petroleum Council surveyed over 800 North Dakotans to learn more about their thoughts, concerns, and opinions of oil and gas development. Oil and gas has tremendously benefitted the North Dakota economy, contributing billions to the state’s economy, supporting more than 60,000 jobs, paying billions in taxes, and more. Here were the results of the public’s perception of oil and gas in North Dakota:

84% of North Dakotans statewide and in oil counties favor oil and gas development
69% pf residents statewide had positive reactions to oil and gas development, because it’s good for the economy, brings money into the state, adds job, and increases American energy security.
88% statewide believe the benefits of oil and gas development outweigh the impacts
86% agree pipelines are the preferred method of moving crude oil.
77% believe future exploration will not have as many negative impacts.
75% statewide believe the industry tries to be good environmental stewards.
73% of North Dakotans believe the state is headed in the right direction.
48% of North Dakotans now believe the nation is headed in the right direction. In 2011, only 21% thought the nation was headed in the right direction.
At least 50% of the state wants to see more oil and gas development.

MADC found great value in attending Energy Day at the Capitol. MADC President/CEO, Stephanie Hoffart, explained “People ask on a weekly basis how our state is handling the downturn. Despite the downturn in the oil and gas industry, Energy Day provided strong data and factual information that sheds light on what’s to come. With an average of 27 operating rigs at the end of 2016 and approximately 40 rigs currently in 2017, it’s exciting to hear that by mid-2017 our state should expect about 50 operating rigs. The energy sector continues to lead North Dakota’s economy and I look forward to see what’s in store for 2017.” For more information about 2017’s Energy Day and to view presentations, click here.

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