BAKKEN BREAKOUT WEEKLY ENERGY BRIEFS


Salazar, delegates to tour ND oil patch MINOT (AP) — U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and North Dakota’s


congressional delegation today will visit a man camp for oil workers drilling on federal land while on a tour of North Dakota’s oil patch. The group will also visit a drilling rig and an oil-production facility. Salazar and North Dakota offi cials are also scheduled to visit the Fort Berthold


Reservation on April 3 to meet with Three Affi liated Tribes leaders about oil and gas production on tribal land.


Conference aimed at luring ND oil patch investors MINOT (AP) — A three-day conference aimed at gathering and educating


North Dakota oil patch investors began April 2 in Minot. Dawa Solutions Group President Jeff Zarling said that more than 200 potential


gether to help spur more investment in the oil patch. He said the main focus of the conference is housing development, with ses- sions geared toward real estate investors and developers.


Boutique hotel planned in downtown Williston WILLISTON (AP) — The former Elks Lodge in Williston is being renovated


into a boutique hotel that will cater to traveling executives. Owner Joe Lundeen said the 100-year-old building will feature eight luxury


rooms with full kitchens, and will be designed with business travelers in mind. The hotel will also feature a bar and a steak-and-seafood restaurant. The downtown hotel will be called The Williston. It’s expected to open this summer.


Hoeven: Williston Basin oil study due next year Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., said a re-evaluation of the amount of recoverable


investors are expected at the Bakken Investor Conference. He said that is double the amount at last year’s inaugural event. Zarling said the goal is to bring investors, analysts and industry offi cials to-


oil in the Williston Basin is slated to be completed late next year by the U.S. Geo- logical Survey. Hoeven said the updated assessment will likely be higher than earlier estimates


and will spur more investment and infrastructure. He said he met with USGS Director Marcia McNutt and other agency offi cials last month. The USGS intends to send a team to North Dakota soon to collect corps samples in the oil patch, he said. A USGS assessment in 2008 estimated up to 4.3 billion barrels of crude could


New Town residents face eviction NEW TOWN (AP) — Residents of a New Town mobile home park are being


evicted to make way for housing for oil fi eld workers. Dennis Fox, chief executive offi cer of the Three Affi liated Tribes, said the resi-


dents are some of the poorest members of the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Na- tion. Tribal leaders are working on a solution, but residents say they are worried because a severe housing shortage caused by the oil boom will make it diffi cult to fi nd another place to live. Residents of Prairie Winds Trailer Park learned last November the privately


owned park had been sold and changes could be coming. The eviction deadline was initially May 1, but has now been extended to Aug. 31.


Highway 85 at Long X Bridge to close at night Starting April 2, U.S. Highway 85 about 14 miles south of Watford City is closed


to all traffi c during nighttime hours from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. at the Long X Bridge. The closure is expected to be in affect for two weeks while repairs are made to


the bridge, which was damaged by an over-height load. From 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., one-way traffi c will be controlled by signal lights and a


15-foot width restriction. A 105,500-pound gross vehicle weight restriction will be in place. Trucks will need to take an alternative route and are reminded that some alter-


nate routes may be restricted on overweight loads. N.D. Highway 22 currently has a 6-ton load restriction in place. Long distance truck permits will be routed to U.S. Highway 83 and U.S . High-


way 2.


Cars and light trucks can take the signed detours during the nighttime hours. Southbound traffi c can take N.D. 23 east of Watford City to N.D. 73, then south on N.D. 22 to N.D. 200 then west to U.S. 85. Northbound traffi c can take N.D. 200 south of Grassy Butte east to N.D. 22,


then north on N.D. 22 to N.D. 73, then west to N.D. 23, then west to U.S. 85. — Brian Gehring


South Sudan offi cial says Sudan bombs oil fi eld JUBA, South Sudan (AP) — Sudan’s military bombed an oil fi eld in South


Sudan on March 27, a South Sudan offi cial said, as a dangerous fl are-up in bor- der violence appeared to scuttle plans for a presidential summit between the two countries. Unity State Minister of Information Gideon Gatpan said Sudan dropped at


least three bombs near oil fi elds in the town of Bentiu. Gatpan said the extent of any damage wasn’t immediately known. The attack comes one day after Sudan and South Sudan clashed in the disputed


border town of Jau.


be recovered in the Bakken formation of the Williston Basin, which includes the Dakotas and Montana. About two-thirds of the Bakken acreage is in western North Dakota. — Associated Press


Indian tribe worries pipeline will disturb graves OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — The chief of an Oklahoma tribe planned to voice


his concerns about the Keystone XL pipeline last week in Washington. Sac and Fox Nation Chief George Thurman fears that workers would place the pipeline through sacred ground in Oklahoma without consideration of the tribe. The nation’s historic preservation offi cer, Sandra Massey, said there are count- less unmarked burial sites throughout the tribe’s historic lands in north-central Oklahoma. President Barack Obama announced the previous week he was directing fed-


eral agencies to expedite the southern segment of the pipeline, which will run from Cushing, Okla., to Texas’ Gulf Coast. A spokesman for Keystone pipeline operator TransCanada said the company


EPA moves closer to approval of 15 pct ethanol gas DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The federal government announced April 2 it has


works closely with tribes whenever its operations have a potential impact on their lands.


taken a step toward wide distribution of gasoline mixed with 15 percent ethanol by allowing manufacturers to register as suppliers. While the EPA is moving the process forward by allowing the registration, E15


Thursday, April 5, 2012 ■ Page 25


still must clear another set of federal tests and become a registered fuel in indi- vidual states. Ethanol makers then must convince petroleum marketers to sell it at gas stations. Most ethanol fuel sold for passenger cars and pickups today is 10 percent etha- nol and 90 percent gas. The new blend that boosts ethanol to 15 percent would only be sold for use in 2001 and newer vehicles. The 20 ethanol makers that have registered to sell E15 so far include large corn ethanol manufacturers like Archer Daniels Midland Co., based in Decatur, Ill., and Cargill Inc., which has headquarters in Wayzata, Minn. Four corn ethanol makers in Iowa, the nation’s leading corn producing state, also registered. Others are based in Colorado, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, South Dakota, Texas, and Wisconsin.


Trinidad makes new oil discovery PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad (AP) — Trinidad’s state-owned petroleum com-


pany said it has discovered 48 million barrels of crude oil off the island’s southwest coast. Petrotrin President Designate Khalid Hassanali said it is the company’s biggest discovery in a decade. He said the crude oil is located in 60 feet of water.


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