oil – Page 4 – Dustin Monke

Disgust in Bowman County, Baker over Keystone XL rejection

Pipes to be used in the Keystone XL pipeline sit in a railyard near Gascoyne, about 65 miles southwest of Dickinson, in this file photo from 2013. (Dustin Monke / File / The Dickinson Press)

SCRANTON, N.D. — Ken Steiner looks out the window of his house and sees thousands of pipes sitting in a railyard.

Today, the Bowman County Commissioner learned those pipes aren’t going anywhere soon.

As much as 600 miles of 36-diameter metal pipe intended for use in the Keystone XL oil pipeline project will likely sit unused and in stacks near the tiny southwest North Dakota town of Gascoyne–about 65 miles southwest of Dickinson–after President Barack Obama announced he was rejecting the 1,179-mile pipeline project proposed by TransCanada Corp.

Keystone XL’s rejection comes more than 2,600 days after it was proposed in 2008 and more than three years since the pipes began being stored in eastern Bowman County.

“Everybody has been wondering what’s going on,” Steiner said. “… It puts a bad taste in everybody’s mouth because people think it should have been done a long time ago. I don’t see that one person should have the authority to OK that. It don’t seem right to me.”

Continue reading “Disgust in Bowman County, Baker over Keystone XL rejection”

'Significant' oil, brine spill affects White Earth River in Mountrail County

Submitted Photo Absorbent booms are seen in the White Earth River north of where an oil well spilled thousands of barrels of oil and brine water over the weekend and into Monday. — Submitted Photo
Absorbent booms are seen in the White Earth River north of where an oil well spilled thousands of barrels of oil and brine water over the weekend and into Monday.

WHITE EARTH, N.D. — An oil well in Mountrail County that has been out of control since late Saturday night leaked oil and brine water into the nearby White Earth River, but has since been contained to the well pad, a North Dakota Department of Health spokesperson said Monday.

Bill Suess, spill investigations program manager for the Department of Health, said about 1,760 barrels of oil and 2,000 barrels of brine water had been recovered from the Oasis Petroleum North America well site by 5 p.m. CDT Sunday, but that as of 3:30 p.m. Monday, the company hadn’t regained full control of the well.

“It’s a significant leak,” Suess said, adding, “flow from the well had diminished by a third” since the leak was first reported.

Oasis reportedly lost control of the well, about 15 miles south of White Earth and less than 5 river miles north of Lake Sakakawea, about 11 p.m. Saturday. Oasis said in a statement that there were no injuries.

Continue reading “'Significant' oil, brine spill affects White Earth River in Mountrail County”

Cutbacks in the Bakken: Baker Hughes layoff of 117 employees biggest signal yet of slowdown

Baker Hughes' Dickinson facility. — Baker Hughes’ Dickinson facility.

Falling oil prices and the resulting oil drilling slowdown in the Bakken Oil Patch has led one of the world’s largest oilfield services companies to make major cutbacks at its Dickinson office.

Baker Hughes sent a letter of notice to Dickinson Mayor Dennis Johnson on Wednesday, stating it was permanently terminating 117 employees here — most of them field operators and specialists.

In the letter, Baker Hughes stated that falling oil prices “have negatively impacted the market and reduced the overall need for the services provided by Baker Hughes.”

The Work Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act requires companies that plan to terminate more than 100 employees alert area and state workforce services, as well as the mayor of the city where the layoffs occur. Baker Hughes did not release how many workers it still employs at its Dickinson office.

Johnson said, in his 15 years as the city commission’s president, he cannot remember receiving a similar letter.

“Historically, at least for quite a while, there haven’t been any layoffs of that magnitude,” he said.

Continue reading “Cutbacks in the Bakken: Baker Hughes layoff of 117 employees biggest signal yet of slowdown”

Editorial: Keystone XL deserves answer, one way or another

President Barack Obama should go ahead and veto the Keystone XL pipeline. He wants to do it. His administration wants him to do it. His environmental activists want him to do it. Republicans (and some Democrats) don’t want him to do it. So what is he waiting for?

Well, if you believe Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., the president plans to put his veto pen to use in August when Congress is in recess.

“It’s an opportunity for him to do it more under the radar,” Hoeven told Forum News Service reporter Amy Dalrymple on Wednesday. Hoeven, the Senate’s most outspoken supporter of the pipeline, said he has sources who tell him Obama is finally ready to put his signature next to a veto he has long delayed.

That sounds about right. The president has kicked the can down the road on the Keystone XL issue since 2011, and there’s no way he leaves office without making a final decision on it. So why not now?

Continue reading “Editorial: Keystone XL deserves answer, one way or another”

Study shows Bakken natural gas flare satellite images aren't accurate

Satellite images that circulated the Internet more than two years ago purported to show natural gas flares lighting up the Bakken Oil Patch as bright as a major metropolitan city were “highly processed,” “manipulated” and “inaccurate,” researchers at the University of North Dakota’s Energy & Environmental Research Center said Wednesday.

Chris Zygarlicke, the EERC’s deputy associate director for research, said he took an interest in the images because the science involved aligns closely with his background. He said having driven through western North Dakota and the Oil Patch, he believed the images were inaccurately portraying the area.

“There’s no way that we’re lighting up the land like you see people talking about everywhere,” he said.

Continue reading “Study shows Bakken natural gas flare satellite images aren't accurate”