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Thursday, February 23, 2012 ■ Covering the Williston Basin ■ Volume 2, Issue 8


Santorum in oil country


By JAMES MacPHERSON and BRIAN BAKST Associated Press


the frigid northwest corner of boom- ing North Dakota on Feb. 15 to tell lo- cal industry and government offi cials he wanted to “learn about what you’re doing here and what we can do not to screw it up.”


“As president of the United


States, I’ll have your back.” – Republican presidential hopeful Rick Santorum


important resource to our country that is needed and will be needed even more in the future. As president of the United States, I’ll have your back,” Santorum later told an audience packed into a high school auditorium. In the past week, Santorum also hit themes of peeling back regulations in Oklahoma and Texas, where newly built high-rise offi ce towers with energy com- pany logos are a testament to a strong sector of the economy. The energy mon-


Ron Paul tours N.D.


Republican presidential candidate talks hemp, federal regulations — 2


“You are producing a very, very, very


Santorum has been spending plenty of time in oil country lately, prospecting for GOP votes — and money. He tromped through an oil fi eld in


TIOGA — Presidential hopeful Rick


ey that fl ows to political campaigns is up for grabs this go around, which could help explain Santorum’s recent focus. In all three fuel-rich states, the GOP


contender spoke industry language meant to forge a common bond with his hosts. He quizzed audiences on where the nation’s fi rst oil well was drilled be- fore quickly answering with Titusville, Pa., the former senator’s home state. “I don’t own any oil wells — yet.


vironmentally risky hydraulic fracking practices, the on-hold Keystone pipeline and oil exploration in Alaska’s wilder- ness. He said a Santorum administration would quickly reverse regulations im- posed by Democratic President Barack Obama that he thinks are stifl ing energy development or creating too much un- certainty for investors. In stop after stop, Santorum ham-


mered the Obama administration for not green-lighting the Keystone pipe- line that would carry oil from Canada through Plains states to refi neries in Tex- as. He accused the president of bowing to environmental interests at the expense of jobs and a promise of more domesti- cally produced energy. Obama said his administration needed more time than allowed by a GOP deadline to study the pipeline’s impact. “We have a president who, in the energy sector of our economy, is doing Continued on page 10


Maybe one of these days I will. I hope to,” he joked to one crowd. Santorum has voiced support for en-


Associated Press


Republican presidential candidate former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum tours an oil well site in Tioga on Feb. 15.


Tioga sets up


police reserves Volunteers recruited to back up growing demands on city’s police force — 6


Gas prices high for


this time of year Prices already up 25 cents since January 1 and could reach record by April — 16


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