Environmental activists, many of whom would like to stop the development of oil resources entirely, like to talk a lot about oil spills in North Dakota. Which, on the face of it, is entirely fair. Oil spills are unequivocally bad. Nobody wants them to happen. When they do happen the public should be aware of…
North Dakota Sales Tax Revenues up Nearly 10 Percent in 2018’s First Quarter, but the Increases Were Mostly in Oil Country
With lawmakers probably looking at more budget belt tightening in their 2019 session which begins in January news of increased tax revenues is very welcome. That’s exactly the news we got today from Tax Commissioner Ryan Rauschenberger’s office. “Taxable sales and purchases for January, February and March 2018 were nearly $4.1 billion, a 9.55 percent…
Unfortunately for North Dakota’s Democrats Oil Tax Revenues Were up 25 Percent in 2017
Ever since the Republican-controlled Legislature passed reforms to North Dakota’s oil tax code during their 2015 session, eliminating a tax exemption triggered by low oil prices and lowering the top tax rate, our Democratic friends have been griping that this was a gimme for the oil industry. Some of their candidates, notably Tax Commissioner candidate…
Heidi Heitkamp and Mac Schneider’s Political Party Votes to Ostracize the Oil and Gas Industry
This is not good news for North Dakota Democrats: The DNC quietly voted over the weekend to ban donations from fossil fuel companies, HuffPost has learned. https://t.co/A75ecxwrFU — Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) June 12, 2018 It’s an election year, so the Democrats like Senator Heidi Heitkamp and House candidate Mac Schneider are calling themselves independents instead…
It Turns Out Oil Spills Aren’t the End of the World
Reasonable people understand that oil is a product that’s necessary to the quality of life we enjoy today. We all benefit from oil development because we’re all using oil every day of our lives. One day some other energy source, or combination of energy sources, may replace oil. That day is not today, or any…
Podcast: “We’ve Gone From Surviving to Thriving”
Live on location at the Williston Basin Petroleum Conference yesterday I interviewed a number of people from North Dakota’s oil and gas industry about the state of affairs in the Bakken play. We talked about recovering oil prices, a new sense of optimism, and the challenge of North Dakota’s chronic labor shortages. “We’ve gone from…
Print Column: Let’s All Be Thankful Democrats Haven’t Been in Charge of ND Oil Policy
MINOT, N.D.—”The for sale sign is out,” Whiting Petroleum Corp. CEO Brad Holly told the Denver Business Journal recently. “We’re trying to sell all our properties in Colorado.” That’s a pretty big deal, because as it happens Whiting, founded in 1980, is actually headquartered in Colorado where it exists as the state’s largest oil company.…
Ron Ness: BLM Rule Enables Waste Rather Than Preventing It
This guest post was submitted by Ron Ness, President of the North Dakota Petroleum Council. It’s now been nearly one year since the United States Senate had the opportunity to rescind an Obama-era regulation that aimed to prevent venting and flaring on public and tribal lands. In reality, this rule targeted North Dakota and the…
North Dakota’s New Oil Spill Rules Give a Clearer Picture of the Problem
“80 percent of ND oil spills wouldn’t have been reported under new law,” is the headline over a recent article by my colleague Patrick Springer. It’s not an unfair headline. It is true that the new rules will result in most spill incidents not being reported. The important question to ask, however, is why were…
This Dumb Lawsuit Could Cost North Dakota Taxpayers Big Time
For some reason two former gubernatorial candidates – Democratic state Rep. Marvin Nelson and gadfly Paul Sorum – have filed a lawsuit trying to stop the State of North Dakota from recognizing the private ownership of minerals (read: oil and gas) under Lake Sakakawea. That’s a man-made lake. Everyone agrees that the state owns the…