This semiannual magazine, published in the spring and fall, is the official publication of the ND Association of Oil and Gas Producing Counties.

To sign up to receive a copy of the magazine, please click here.

To read the latest Basin Bits edition via PDF, click this link.

Uniform County Truck Permit System

This is a county road permit system for over-weight or over-width vehicles on county roads. Since 1986, the NDAOGPC has operated the Uniform County Truck Permit program as a service to counties and the petroleum industry.

For more information or to get permits, click here.

For the latest information on County Road Restrictions, click this link.

July 25, 2014

Thank you for your continued interest in the activity of the ND Association of Oil and Gas Producing Counties.

We hope that you will find this week's News From the NDAOGPC as a valuable source of information.

Have a great weekend!

Registration Now Open for 2014 NDAOGPC Annual Meeting in Williston

The 2014 Annual Meeting of the ND Association of Oil and Gas Producing Counties will kick off September 18, 2014 at the Grand Williston (formerly Airport International Inn) in Williston, ND. Registration is now open on the NDAOGPC website, www.ndenergy.org.

This year's Annual Meeting will feature updates on major western ND issues like dust control and how the industry is expected to continue development of the Bakken and Three Forks formations. ND Department of Mineral Resources Director Lynn Helms will provide an update to attendees on the state of development, and we will again host a panel of oil and gas industry executives from companies including Hess, Statoil, ONEOK, and WPX Energy that will share their perspectives on the development taking place.

Dr. Loren Scott

Keynoting this year's Annual Meeting will be nationally-acclaimed economist Dr. Loren Scott, who will speak on just how the Williston Basin oil play fits into the global energy scene. Dr. Scott's work has been cited in such publications as the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angles Times, the New York Times, USA Today, and the Financial Times, to name a few.

Members will also have the opportunity to elect county, city, and school district committee members as well as the representatives on the Executive Committee. Current Executive Committee members up for reelection are Billings County Commissioner Jim Arthaud and Bottineau Public School District Supt. Jason Kersten. Bowbells City Commissioner Gary Melby's vacated seat on the Executive Committee will also be filled during elections.

Room blocks for the night of September 17 have been established at the Grand Williston Hotel and the Holiday Inn Express & Suites in Williston. Attendees are encouraged to book their rooms as soon as possible to ensure lodging for the event. Please contact the Grand Williston Hotel at (701) 774-0241 or the Holiday Inn Express & Suites at (701) 577-0400 to make reservations under the ND Association of Oil and Gas Producing Counties' room block. Room block rates for the Grand Williston Hotel are $159 for double queen beds and $149 for single beds. The Holiday Inn Express block rate is $210.

This year, Annual Meeting registration is $55 for members and associate members, and $85 for non-members. You may register directly on the Association's website at www.ndenergy.org.

We look forward to seeing you at this year's Annual Meeting in Williston!

State Fair Public Forum Held on Proposed Conservation Measure

Opponents of the proposed initiated conservation measure, the Clean Water, Wildlife and Parks Amendment, gathered this week at the ND State Fair in Minot to share information with the public.

Fairgoers gathered at the forum held at the Dakota Talent Stage and listened as Jon Godfread, Greater ND Chamber, explained how the proposed constitutional amendment would be detrimental to other state funding needs including education, infrastructure, and property tax relief. Godfread serves as a lead spokesperson for North Dakotans for Common Sense Conservation, a group made up of over 42 state and local organizations opposed to the measure.

Jon Godfread, GNDC and lead spokesman for the North Dakotans for Common Sense Conservation, explains the negative consequences of the Clean Water, Wildlife and Parks amendment.

Member organizations of North Dakotans for Common Sense Conservation feel that responsible conservation isn't about putting conservation before all the other needs in the state. It's about finding the balance between providing the necessary funding for education, infrastructure, etc., and conserving our state's land and wildlife. Under the proposed amendment, the conservation fund would receive almost $300 million per biennium ($2.8 million per week) right now. Over the amendment's 25-year lifespan, that amount is expected to get as high as $400 million per biennium ($4 million per week). At least 75% of that has to be spent each year. It amounts to $4.8 billion over the next 25 years.

Representatives of North Dakotans for Common Sense Conservation member organizations, including the ND Association of Oil and Gas Producing Counties, speak to forum attendees before the start of the event.

Not only is that a lot of money, but it has to come from somewhere. Just because North Dakota's economy is healthy doesn't mean we don't have needs. The money mandated for the conservation fund is money that could be spent on schools, education, infrastructure, property tax relief, water issues, health and human services -- the list goes on. The North Dakotans for Common Sense Conservation and the ND Association of Oil and Gas Producing Counties feel the proposed amendment spends too much money without considering the other needs in our state.

For more information on the proposed measure and why it is a poor choice for North Dakota, visit the North Dakotans for Common Sense Conservation website at www.ndcommonsenseconservation.com.

KX News - Minot featured the forum in its July 22 broadcast. You can view that story by clicking this link.

Vision West Project, Bakken Oil Development Featured in Radio Segment

Radio personality Scott Hennen interviewed NDAOGPC Executive Director Vicky Steiner, Dwayne Marsh and Naomi Friedman about the Bakken oil development while they were at the Dunn Center CookFest held last week. This audio interview aired Tuesday, July 22 on 550 AM on the Energy Matters show with Scott and Tim Fisher.

Friedman and Marsh serve as representatives to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the entity that provided a $1.5 million grant for the Vision West ND project. Both were involved last week in a western North Dakota tour as they assist in reviewing the Vision West ND Regional Plan.

For more information on the Vision West ND project, check out www.visionwestnd.com. You can listen to the full interview by clicking this link or by visiting the NDAOGPC website at www.ndenergy.org.

Major Road Construction Projects Underway in the West

Road construction work is progressing very well on the New Town Truck Reliever Route and the 1804 improvement project. Currently crews are paving, widening and doing intersection work from the junction of ND Highway 23 to the New Town Truck Reliever Route. Speeds are reduced to 35 mph on ND Highway 1804 one mile north of New Town for continued work on the truck reliever route. This project will create a two-lane roadway that will re-route truck traffic on ND Highway 23 around the northeast of New Town. The 3.2 mile project will improve traffic flow through New Town and the surrounding area as well as help meet the forecasted traffic demand. This project is expected to be completed in the fall of 2014.

Hwy 85 Road Repair Crews are also working on improvements to ND Highway 1804 near New Town this summer. Paving, widening and intersection work is underway at the junction of ND Highway 23 and ND Highway 1804. The work zone will extend from this intersection to one mile north on ND Highway 1804 and for 1,000 feet west of the intersection on ND Highway 23. This project includes reconstruction of this intersection, paving, new intersection signals and an additional center turn lane on ND Highway 1804. Currently speeds are reduced to 25 mph at the intersection of 1804 and ND 23 and flaggers are present to direct traffic. These improvements are also expected to be completed in the fall of 2014.

Plans for next year include improvements to Main Street in New Town during the 2015 construction season.

For more information about these and other projects in the Williston District, please visit www.nddotwilliston.com.

U.S. DOT Seeks Different Regulation of Oil Trains


DOT wants testing of Bakken crude, redesigned rail cars - Jessica Holdman, Bismarck Tribune New proposed federal regulations call for the testing of Bakken crude and better rail cars to ship it in. The Department of Transportation proposes to phase out older DOT-111 tank cars for the shipment of certain types of flammable liquids within two years. That includes the cars used for shipping Bakken crude. For the DOT-111 and CPC-1232 cars to remain in use, they would have to be retrofitted. The Transportation Department opened the proposed oil-by-rail rules for public comment Wednesday. They include new tank car standards, a liquid and gas testing program and new operating procedures like braking controls and speed restrictions for trains classified as high-hazard flammable trains. Among the issues still to be resolved: What type of tank cars will replace those being phased out, how fast will they be allowed to travel and what kind of braking systems will they need? Since 2008, there have been 10 significant derailments in the U.S. and Canada in which crude oil has spilled from ruptured tank cars, often igniting and resulting in huge fireballs. The worst was a runaway oil train that exploded in the Quebec town of Lac-Megantic a year ago, killing 47 people. For more information	Rules of the rail: Federal government seeks tougher oil-train regulations - Anna Burleson, Dickinson Press The federal government on Wednesday proposed stricter rules for trains hauling crude oil after several derailments led to spills and explosions, including one near Casselton. These new regulations could include the phasing out of old tanker cars over a two-year period, decreasing speed limits for trains hauling oil, tightening braking requirements, requiring mandatory testing of oil and other volatile liquids, and implementing new design standards for tanker cars. Both of North Dakota's U.S. senators are viewing the U.S. Department of Transportation's proposal as a step in the right direction. But industry stakeholders, such as the state's top oil regulator, Lynn Helms, and the Railway Supply Institute Committee on Tank Cars, say they want to further examine the options in the plan. North Dakota environmentalists, including one in Grand Forks, are calling for even more rigid rules. The state has a huge stake in the proposed rules. It's the second largest producer of crude oil in the country, and much of that oil is transported by railcars that sometimes roll through populated areas. The number of railcars carrying oil in the U.S. is estimated to have grown by more than 6,000 percent from 2007 to 2013, according to the Association of American Railroads. For more information	U.S. DOT cracks down on 'oil trains' - Jerry Zremski, Buffalo News The Obama administration today proposed phasing out the outdated and explosion-prone rail tank cars that carry volatile crude oil through Western New York as many as 35 times a week. Under a proposed rule issued by the U.S. Department of Transportation, those DOT-111 tank cars would be barred from shipping most crude oil from North Dakota's oil-rich Bakken Shale within two years unless they are retrofitted to new safety standards. In addition, the proposed rule requires better braking systems on those trains and offers three options for limiting the speed of such trains to 40 mph in places where an explosion could do the most damage. "While we have made unprecedented progress through voluntary agreements and emergency orders, today's proposal represents our most significant progress yet in developing and enforcing new rules to ensure that all flammable liquids, including Bakken crude and ethanol, are transported safely," said Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx, who announced the new rules. The proposed regulations come after a string of accidents involving the DOT-111 rail cars carrying crude oil, including a derailment in Cheektowaga last December and a devastating crash that destroyed the downtown of Lac-Megantic, Quebec, claiming 42 lives, a year ago. For more information

Eye on Energy: Bottineau County Oil
- KX News

Bottineau County, located in north central North Dakota.

Bottineau County is the 11th top producing oil county in North Dakota.

It's production has been quite steady for the past couple of years - despite showing signs of growth.

Now, there are again signs that production will be picking up.

Oil companies have been putting in pairs of wells on pads just south of the Canadian border.

And the town of Westhope is making money by selling water to companies that are putting in wells.

The head of the Bottineau Economic Development Corporation says oil is still well behind agriculture in terms of impact on her county.

(Deana Defoe, Bottineau Economic Development Corporation) "Agriculture of course is still our largest player. However we're starting to see in some of our service industries, an impact on oil services from people coming into the region as a whole. So for example at the hospital, St. Andrew's Health Care Center just completed a renovation of their emergency room - they went from two beds to four beds and they're seeing more daily traffic and daily activity in the hospital."

In May of this year, Bottineau County had the 11th highest production of oil in the state.

The total was 188-thousand barrels of oil.

That's compared to the biggest oil producing county - McKenzie - at nearly 9-and-a-half million barrels.

Click here to view the full KX News report, which aired Monday, July 21, 2014.

Tour of Western ND Includes Visit to Crew Camp in Dunn County

Kathy Trahan, President and CEO of Alliance Safety Council, Baton Rouge, LA; Gordon Harris, Target Logistics manager and Vicky Steiner, NDAOGPC Executive Director, all pictured below from left to right, toured the Dunn County Lodge during Trahan's two-day tour of western North Dakota.

The Alliance Safety Council staff, which tops 70 employees, provides training to oil and gas energy corporations along with other industries such as paper and pulp. Trahan said the oil and gas industry responds to trainings that meet their schedules. The chemical plant industry near Baton Rouge will likely employ 11,000 temporary workers to upgrade their plants in the next two years. Housing will be a critical issue for LA much like it is in the Bakken oil play.

Upcoming Events

September 18, 2014

Be sure to mark your calendars for the 2014 Annual Meeting of the ND Association of Oil and Gas Producing Counties to be held Thursday, September 18, 2014 at the Grand Williston Hotel in Williston, ND. More Information on hotel room blocks, the registration process, and agenda highlights are available in the story above.

Please take your time to review all materials and links provided for your convenience. We at the ND Association of Oil and Gas Producing Counties will continue to provide you up-to-date information on upcoming events and news happening in North Dakota's oil and gas producing counties!

Sincerely,

Vicky Steiner
Executive Director

Brady Pelton
Deputy Executive Director

ND Association of Oil & Gas Producing Counties

NDAOGPC | 701-751-3597 | www.ndenergy.org

400 East Broadway Avenue
Suite 304
Bismarck, ND 58501