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Thursday, February 16, 2012 ■ Covering the Williston Basin ■ Volume 2, Issue 7


North Dakota pumps record 153M barrels of oil in 2011


By JAMES MacPHERSON Associated Press


record 152.9 million barrels of crude in 2011, up more than 35 percent and near- ly 40 million more barrels than the pre- vious record set a year earlier, the state Industrial Commission said Feb. 8. State records show North Dakota also


North Dakota oil drillers produced a


Bill to boost patch funds


By NICK SMITH Bismarck Tribune


stages of drafting a bill for the next ses- sion of the North Dakota Legislature that would temporarily reallocate oil tax dol- lars to address infrastructure needs in oil country. Rep.


produced a record 155.9 billion cubic feet of natural gas in 2011, up from 113 billion cubic feet the year before. “We’ve really had a phenomenal


growth rate and this blows previous years’ gains out of the water,” said Ron Ness, president of the North Dakota Pe- troleum Council. The state has set oil production re-


structure improvements such as pipe- lines and rail facilities have been done since then to exploit the rich Bakken and Three Forks formations in western North Dakota, Ness said. “We’re now able to move more oil


and produce more oil with fewer im- pacts,” Ness said. Ness and Justin Kringstad, director of


the state Pipeline Authority, said North Dakota’s unseasonably warm winter has helped boost oil production, allowing


Continued on page 10 “Many billions of dollars” of infra-


is working on an initial draft of a bill that would allocate 100 percent of the county share of the state’s Oil and Gas Gross Production Tax dollars to oil and gas producing counties for a two- year period,


cords each year since 2004, when pro- duction was pegged at 31.1 million bar- rels, the state Industrial Commission said.


Meyer


ern North Dakota is needed to address the massive infrastructure needs faced by communities dealing with an explo- sion in oil activity and rapid population growth.


2013-15 biennium. Meyer said a sub- stantial increase in allocations of oil tax dollars in west-


the Shirley Meyer, One western lawmaker is in the early


among the local political subdivisions in oil country. According to the North Da- kota Offi ce of Management and Budget, counties and cities had been allocated $64.4 million in oil tax dollars during the current biennium as of Dec 31. A share of Gross Production Tax dol-


D-Dickinson,


lars are allocated to oil and gas produc- ing counties. Of this share, the percent- age that counties are allocated for their local political subdivisions decreases as revenue totals increase. According to distribution charts on


“Basically, our Gross Production Tax is just not enough,” Meyer said. “They just need more money than they’re get- ting.” Meyer said she’s still working to gath-


er and confi rm the exact numbers, but estimated it would provide approximate- ly $450 million per year to be divided


Walmart tells


campers to move Safety, noise, litter and property problems were sited by Walmart — 4


the North Dakota state Treasurer’s Offi ce website, the fi rst $2 million in revenue goes directly to the county. Counties then receive 75 percent of collections be- tween $2 million and $3 million, with the remaining 25 percent going to the state. This is further reduced to 50 percent when collections are between $3 million and $4 million. Counties only receive 25 percent from collections between $4 mil- lion and $18 million. After a county hits the $18 million mark, that percentage is reduced to 10 percent, with the rest go- ing to the state’s General Fund or to the Legacy Fund. “There’s no way that 10 percent can handle the infrastructure,” Meyer said. What Meyer’s proposed bill would do is eliminate the sliding scale of percent- ages the counties receive, giving them 100 percent for two years. In addition, Meyer’s bill would create


an “Infl ux Fund” for schools. The dol- lars in the Infl ux Fund would be used


Continued on page 10 North Dakota schools


offer new energy courses New program choices in the energy industry available at UND and Bismarck State College — 6


HOW OIL AND GAS GROSS PRODUCTION TAX IS


DISTRIBUTED


Oil and Gas Gross Production Tax


collections go right to state NDCC


57-51-15 (1)


80% of collections are distributed to counties, cities, County Infrastruc- ture Fund, schools NDCC 57-51-15 (2)


FIRST $2M 100% to counties


$2M-$3M 75% to counties 25% to state*


$3M-$4M 50% to counties 50% to state


$4M-$18M 25% to counties 75% to state


$18M+ 10% to counties 90% to state


*state share is deposited in Legacy Fund or as general funds


HOW COUNTIES SPEND


20% 45%


to cities in each county based on population


to county general fund 35% to school districts


SOURCE: STATE TREASURER’S OFFICE JEN WEISGERBER/Tribune


20% of


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