In the Colosseum
Lessons From North Dakota’s Oilfields
Building the right climate for energy development can produce remarkable results.
(Page 2 of 2)
DEJA is designed to streamline and simplify regulations, boost domestic energy supplies, build American energy infrastructure—including the Keystone XL pipeline—and safeguard America’s supply of critical minerals used in high-tech manufacturing. Like our Empower North Dakota plan, it’s a true “all-of-the-above” approach to energy development that will drive America’s overall economic recovery and help advance us toward energy security.
This legislation is both timely and necessary. A study by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce released in 2011 cited 351 energy projects, both renewable and traditional, that were stalled because of legal, tax, and regulatory uncertainty, at a cost of $1.1 trillion to the American economy and nearly 2 million American jobs.
A second measure I’ve introduced, the Empower States Act, is vital to continuing the recent remarkable growth of shale oil extraction. It will help ensure that states retain primary authority to manage hydraulic fracturing. The bill takes a states-first approach because states know their land, their geology, and their water resources; they have a vital stake in protecting their environment and citizens. At the same time, the Empower States Act provides for a safety net that allows the Environmental Protection Agency to step in if there is a danger to health or the environment.
The need for a sensible approach to fracking was underscored by a recent U.S. Chamber study of shale energy production. The study projects that between 2013 and 2035, the shale energy industry is expected to invest more than $5 trillion, create nearly 3.5 million jobs, and generate more than $2.5 trillion in local, state, and federal tax revenues.
We are at a moment in our history when we can turn adversity into opportunity and realize a goal—true energy security—that we could only dream of a generation ago. We must seize this opportunity to make America stronger, safer, and more financially secure by developing energy right here at home to meet our needs, now and for the future.
Letter to the Editor View all comments (11) | Leave a comment
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Appleby| 2.14.13 @ 7:10AM
Can we set up these programs on private land the way North Dakota did, and sidestep the "public lands" that the Suzuki Creeps want to abandon to the polar bears for eternity? That's the best solution, isn't it?
Bob K| 2.14.13 @ 9:37AM
There is one more step needed if we want "true American energy security" in 5 to 7 years.
We need to build some new oil refineries for this Bakken Shale crude oil right there in North Dakota in the next 5 years? Fat chance of that!
WE CAN'T EVEN BUILD EVEN ONE MORE OIL REFINERY ANYWHERE IN THE USA IN THE NEXT 5 YEARS!! We haven't built a new one in 35 years!
Because if we can't we will not have "true American energy security" in the next 5 to 7 years and all those big ideas that Mr. Hoeven calls for, except for the creation of a big new bureaucracy; a Federal Pipeline Authority, will be wishful thinking. But there should be plenty of votes for another government agency to foul things up!
And so we will end up piping the Crude Oil down to the Gulf where it will be put on tankers and shipped for sale to Europe and the Far East.
Even now Pipelines are being built to transport Marcellus Shale Natural Gas to ports in New Jersey for shipment to Europe.
We have seen that there are plenty of ideas and money available for getting this stuff out of the ground and selling it abroad but very little, if any, for keeping it here in the USA!
Mr. Hoeven should start working on that part of it.
John Navratil| 2.14.13 @ 2:55PM
Bob K,
Not to pick a nit, but building a refinery at the well site doesn't really solve anything. Other sources of crude must still be piped in and then the finished goods must be trucked out, or piped out in individual product pipelines or in a, much harder to operated, batched product pipeline.
There is a pretty good reason for refineries being close to ports.
Bob K| 2.14.13 @ 6:34PM
OK. I knew this wasn't easy to do and your explanation is welcome.
But more refineries are needed to replace our aging ones so build them where they work best but build them here in the USA where the Nation's economy is first in line to use the finished goods.
Alan| 2.14.13 @ 7:16AM
Well, the parasites, thugs and marxists in DC are going to have to do something about this, this is heresy. How dare this state choose prosperity, how dare them.
c. j. acworth| 2.14.13 @ 8:40AM
Drill here, drill now. Ethanol belongs in a glass, not a gas tank.
Pecos Pete| 2.14.13 @ 9:59AM
Senator John Hoeven (R North Dakota) offers reasonable legislation providing for fossil fuel energy independence.
But, it won't happen in the next two years because the democrat controlled Senate will never pass any bill that improves economic conditions in the USA. And for the next four years, regardless of which party controls the Senate, King O would veto any such legislation.
Paul Murphy | 2.14.13 @ 10:54AM
Dear Mr. Hoeven:
This whole article is about claiming that actions taken by state government enabled the North Dakota boom, but the reality is that the boom was enabled more government inaction than by government action.
There are eight known Bekken sized deposits in the United States, The two being developed (Bekken and Eagle Ford) differ from the other six in one significant way: enough of the resource is accessible from privately owned land.
That's what made the difference, not government action, but the relative minimization of the government impediment.
And, FYI in the context of your mention of the research authority? Bet you didn't know this, but the combination of pressure/catalyst fracturing with horizontal drilling was the subject of a federal R&D program in the early 70s, with funding terminated by..yup... the Carter administration.
John Navratil| 2.14.13 @ 2:51PM
Paul Murphy,
The lefties, like Jack London, like to claim that hydraulic fracturing was a product of government investment. They give no credit to George Mitchell and the years of testing and experimenting he did to solve the problem AT HIS EXPENSE.
http://www.chron.com/business/.....742206.php
http://www.oilandgaslawyerblog.....n-who.html
Bob K| 2.14.13 @ 6:12PM
The idea for it goes back to the Depression days when Clayton Glenville Dorn (C. G. Dorn) from Western PA made a fortune in Oil by developing a technique known as "back flooding" which he used to revive supposedly exhausted oil fields.
bluecollarbytes| 2.14.13 @ 8:18PM
The North Dakota 'miracle' is a direct threat to Obama-goals and related propaganda.