Tag Archives: oil

File Photo: Flares and lights from oil wells dot the horizon on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation, just over the Missouri River from New Town, North Dakota November 1, 2014. REUTERS/Andrew Cullen/File Photo

Double Taxing the Oil Industry Is a Good Way for the Three Affiliated Tribes to Lose a Lot of Money

- August 30, 2017 - ,

Double Taxing the Oil Industry Is a Good Way for the Three Affiliated Tribes to Lose a Lot of Money

- August 30, 2017 - ,

UPDATE: A reader points out that the Three Affiliated Tribes owns their own oil development company called Missouri River Resources. That seems like a very big conflict of interest. A tribal-owned oil company is going to be operating at a distinct advantage under a dual state-and-tribal tax regime. Back during their 2015 session North Dakota lawmakers removed…

Protest organizer Kristen Kelsch hold a sign and chants across the street from the State Capitol in Bismarck. A line of police prevented Kelsch and others from hold the protest to the Dakota Access Pipeline on the Capitol grounds

The Dakota Access Pipeline Has Reduced Oil by Rail Shipments by 20 Percent in First Month of Operation

- August 14, 2017 - ,

The opponents of the Dakota Access Pipeline, many of them political extremists with a propensity for vandalism and violence, told us that the line was a risk. The truth beyond those talking points is more complicated, as it so often is. According to a recent report from the North Dakota Pipeline Authority (see below), rising…

It’s Time to Raise the Gas Tax

- August 1, 2017 - ,

It’s not often you’ll hear me argue in favor of raising taxes, but today’s editorial in the Grand Forks Herald makes a compelling case for raising the tax on fuel. “Since 1993, the motor vehicle gas tax has been stuck at 18.4 cents per gallon,” the paper opines. “That’s good when we stop at the local C-store…

A 32-foot sound barrier wall separates an 11-well oil pad from a Lake Sakakawea boat ramp at the Van Hook Resort near New Town, pictured Tuesday evening. On weekends, it is one of the busiest boat ramps on the lake. (Amy Dalrymple, Bismarck Tribune)

Maybe Oil Development Isn’t the Apocalypse Some Make It Out to Be

- July 31, 2017 - ,

North Dakotans love their lakes. During the summer months, if you ask a Nodaker what their weekend plans are, more often than not you’ll probably hear them say something about going to “the lake.” Which lake depends on things like geography and personal preference, but suffice it to say that people in our state like…

U.S. President Donald Trump arrives for a working session at the G-20 summit in Hamburg, Germany, July 8, 2017. REUTERS/Markus Schreiber, Pool

Trump’s “Buy American” Idea Is Decidedly Un-American

- July 25, 2017 - ,

The oil industry, which overall has benefited from President Donald Trump’s leadership in the White House, is not happy with his plan to mandate the use of U.S. steel in their projects. They have a point: Donald Trump’s allies in the oil industry are warning the president that his bid to boost U.S. steelmakers could…

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg visits with a group of oil workers at a rig near Williston, ND. via Facebook

Mark Zuckerberg Visited North Dakota’s Oil Patch and Found an Undeniable Truth About Oil: We Need It

- July 13, 2017 - ,

Earlier this week Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg visited Williston, North Dakota. He specifically took a close look at the oil industry there, coordinating with the North Dakota Petroleum Council to visit an oil rig. He also discussed life in the oil patch with a group of residents there, then wrote about it. On Facebook, naturally.…

Enbridge oil pipeline markers dot the land near Leonard, Minn. Forum News Service file photo

Audio: Line 3 Pipeline Project Manager Says There Will Be More Environmental Impacts if Old Line Isn’t Replaced

- June 14, 2017 - ,

UPDATE: This post originally said the public hearings were being held by Enbridge. That was an error. They’re being held by the State of Minnesota. Public hearings regarding Line 3 pipeline replacement project have begun in Minnesota. And of course, because pipelines are a hot political topic these days, those hearings are featuring push back from…

Crews work at an oil well site near Williston, N.D., on Wednesday, Oct. 12, 2016. Amy Dalrymple/Forum News Service

There Was Never a Bust: North Dakota’s Oil Industry Is More Efficient, More Resilient Than Ever Before

- June 12, 2017 - ,

“A Shale-Oil Boomtown Climbs Back From the Bust” That was a headline from the Wall Street Journal over the weekend. It was an article, focused on Watford City in McKenzie County, describing about oil jobs and oil activity rebounding. The rebound is very good news, and a story worth telling, but I take issue with describing the…

An oil well pump in a sunflower field on July 26, 2015, west of Dickinson just off Interstate 94 as a storm brews off to the east. 2015 Forum News Service photo

UND Economist on North Dakota Economy: “If We’re Not at Rock Bottom We’re Close”

- May 31, 2017 - ,

Economic activity in North Dakota has been in decline for a couple of years now, dragging tax revenues for state and local governments down with it. As a result lawmakers had to shrink state budgets during a bruising session earlier this year (let’s hope local governments do the same instead of hiking property taxes). Populations…

A drilling rig is pictured near Lake Sakakawea near New Town, N.D., on Thursday, Sept. 8, 2016. Some fear that uncertainty about who owns the minerals under the lake will deter oil development in the area. Amy Dalrymple/Forum News Service

Governor Doug Burgum and the Land Board Need to Get in Control of Their Bureaucrats

- May 24, 2017 - ,

There is a land grab being pursued by some North Dakota bureaucrats, an immoral sort of expropriation of valuable private mineral rights, that is now in defiance of not only decency but legislative intent. Our state’s elected leaders serving on the Board of Trust Lands need to step in and restore order. They need to…

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