North Dakota and fracking

{{#badges: FrackSwarm|Navbar-fracking}} In May 2012, North Dakota passed Alaska to become the No. 2 oil-producing state in the country, which the Wall Street Journal attributed to the use of fracking. North Dakota's daily production of oil rose to over 575,000 barrels by 2012, slightly above Alaska but still far below Texas, which pumped 1.7 million barrels a day. By June 2014 North Dakota was producing 1 million barrels a day, the most the state had ever produced. As global oil prices dropped in late 2014 and early 2015, some analysts claimed the oil shale boom was in danger, others believed shale oil production would decline, but only temporarily.

Introduction

North Dakota's total oil production has approximately tripled since 2005 due largely to development of the state's Bakken formation. Operators increased North Dakota’s production from 98,000 b/d in 2005 to over 307,000 b/d in 2010 and close to 400,000 in 2011, and some experts anticipate that the Bakken field could produce a million barrels daily by the end of 2020. According to US Geological Survey there are at least 4 billion barrels of recoverable oil in North Dakota; other estimates indicate 4-5 times more.

The Bakken is a tight oil deposit. It is considered to be light-sweet crude oil that is 10,000 feet below the surface within shale rock. Bakken shale consists of three layers, an upper layer of shale rock, a middle layer of sandstone/dolomite, and a lower layer of shale rock. The middle sandstone layer is what is commonly drilled and fracked.

As of 2011 there were 6,664 producing wells in North Dakota, and as of April 2012 there were 210 drilling rigs. North Dakota's Gov. Jack Dalrymple has urged energy companies to see his administration as a "faithful and long-term partner."

An industry report released in 2012 by Bentek Energy stated that the Williston Basin's production of natural gas is expected to grow nearly sixfold, to 3.1 billion cubic feet per day, by 2025. As of October 2012 companies operating in North Dakota spent $2 billion a month on drilling operations.

History

For the past 60 years North Dakota has been an oil producing state. However, in recent years the state has seen a boom in the state's Bakken region. As such, North Dakota has become the fourth largest oil producing state in the country and one of the largest onshore oil producing region in the United States. The Bakken shale formation extends beyond North Dakota into Eastern Montana and neighboring territories of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north in Canada. While its success has been largely attributed to advances in oil field technology, primarily horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing, it has been argued that a number of circumstances have come together to make the Bakken a successful oil play, including high oil prices, widespread and ready access to privately held prospects, and low natural gas prices.

Horizontal drilling in North Dakota's area of the Bakken began in the 1980s, but was not widely used until the last decade. In the early 2000s Bakken developers began drilling horizontal laterals into the Middle Bakken formation, the sandstone layer between the two shale layers. Over the past several years fracking in the Bakken has increased dramatically. While this increases the cost of drilling, it also increases initial production rates and the ultimate recovery of oil from the well.

The first commercial Bakken well at Elm Coulee, located in Richland County, Montana, was completed in 1981 by Coastal Oil and Gas. As of 2007 the total number of horizontal Bakken wells drilled in the Elm Coulee area was more than 500 and included more than 800 lateral drilled wells.

Bakken formation

Bakken producing zones are mainly present in Western North Dakota, Southern Saskatchewen, and Eastern Montana. The Bakken is one of the largest (possibly the largest) continuous oil accumulation in the world. It is an over pressured system; the high pressure in the formation suggests that the oil remains in place and is tightly contained throughout the geologic structure.

Wells have been drilled along the Bakken formation in North Dakota and Montana. Industry experts say oil appears to extend from the Bakken formation of eastern Montana into Alberta, Canada, and south to the foot of the Rocky Mountains. Fracking will likely be used to extract the oil, if it is found. Land leases for fracking in the region have increased dramatically in recent years. In North Dakota, fracking is already underway in the state's section of the Bakken. Fracking in this area is extracting oil and not natural gas.

The Bakken Formation.

The first commercial Bakken well at Elm Coulee, which is located in Richland County, Montana, was completed in 1981 by Coastal Oil and Gas. As of 2007 the total number of horizontal Bakken wells drilled in the Elm Coulee area was more than 500 and included more than 800 lateral drill locations. In September 2015 North Dakota had 1,000 wells were drilled but not fracked due to lack of profitability as oil prices continued to stagnate.

Oil production estimates

Interest in North Dakota developed in 2007 when EOG Resources of Houston, Texas reported that a single well it had drilled into shale below Parshall, North Dakota was anticipated to produce 700,000 barrels (110,000 m3) of oil. This, combined with other factors, including an oil-drilling tax break enacted by the state of North Dakota in 2007, shifted attention in the Bakken from Montana to the North Dakota side. The number of wells drilled in the North Dakota Bakken jumped from 300 in 2006 to 457 in 2007. Those same sources show oil production in the North Dakota Bakken increasing 229%, from 2.2 million barrels (350,000 m3) in 2006 to 7.4 million barrels (1,180,000 m3) in 2007.

The state Industrial Commission said crude production in September 2011 totaled 464,122 barrels a day - 123,000 more barrels than September 2010. Ron Ness, president of the North Dakota Petroleum Council, said the state should end 2011 with about 150 million barrels of oil extracted.

According to North Dakota government statistics, daily oil production per well seems to have peaked at 145 barrels in June 2010. Although the number of wells doubled between June 2010 and December 2011, oil production per well remained essentially unchanged. However, overall oil produced continues to increase, since more wells are continually brought online.

In April 2013 a government study doubled its estimates for the Bakken's recoverable crude supplies. The U.S. Geological Survey estimated 7.4 billion barrels of undiscovered, technically recoverable oil in its study.

Bakken formation production peaked at 1.22 million barrels per day in December 2014. Since production has varied. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) predicts Bakken production to drop by 23,000 barrels in November 2015.

The Associated Press reported as of January 2016 less than 60 rigs were operating in the entire state. It was the state's lowest levels since 2009. In January 2015, 171 rigs were operating. In January 2012, 192 were operating.

Bakken land leases

Small and independent oil companies that made their start developing natural gas resources moved into the Bakken and accumulated acreage before the oil boom in the area. As such, the most sought after lands have already been leased for development. New Entrants into the Bakken must participate in joint ventures or buy out another company. This has not discouraged investment as several billion dollars were exchanged in mergers and acquisitions in the Bakken in the fourth quarter of 2010 alone.

Public lands and drilling

In 2009 oil drilling began outside Theodore Roosevelt National Park.

In October 2011, it was reported that about 80 applications for oil and gas projects in North Dakota's national grasslands will be put on the fast-track through the federal review process. President Barack Obama announced that infrastructure projects in the Dakota Prairie and Little Missouri National Grasslands had been designated among 14 high priority projects nationwide, and would be expedited through permitting and environmental review processes so construction could begin as soon as possible. The Dakota Prairie Grasslands cover more than 1.2 million acres in southern and western North Dakota and northern South Dakota.

Economic impact on North Dakota economy

Oil production in North Dakota accounts for six percent of domestic production in the state and is largely responsible for reversing two decades of declining oil production. Currently North Dakota is running a surplus economy. According to the North Dakota Petroleum Council, crude oil taxes on production and extraction averaged 10.3 percent in 2010, bringing in $749.5 million in state revenues. Additionally, the industry spent $1.49 billion in taxable sales and purchases. In 2010 natural gas brought in over $10.1 million in extraction taxes.

On the downside, it has been reported that as a result of the oil boom in North Dakota that "inadequate housing and crime" are emerging concerns for the state. In an investigative report on life in the town of Williston, the biggest Bakken boom down in North Dakota, journalist Mark Ebner writes:

"There’s not a motel room to be had in the city, housing prices are double what they were a year ago ($300,000 for a two-bedroom home), and the daily onslaught of new arrivals is reduced to living in their cars, RVs, sporadic tent cities or the rapidly proliferating “man camps” – clusters of trailers in an open field that pack in oil patch workers dormitory style, sometimes six to a room. Access to running water and simple sanitation is so rare that public businesses have had to lock their bathrooms to discourage makeshift sponge baths or the dumping of wastewater"

In April 2012 a study conducted by Headwaters Economics concluded it would be beneficial if the state of North Dakota funneled more oil and natural gas tax revenues to communities in the pathway of Bakken and hints at increasing the state tax rate on oil and gas development, which could in turn help these growing communities pay for roads, schools and other infrastructure. Currently North Dakota does not have the policies in place to reap the full economic benefits of the Bakken oil boom.

In October 2015 Occidental Petroleum announced that it was selling all its North Dakota holdings. Occidental claims their North Dakota assets worth $600 million.

OilPrice reported in November 2015 that PBF Energy and Monroe Energy will likely to decrease their purchases of oil from North Dakota. Philadelphia Energy Solutions has cut its North Dakota oil purchases by 80 percent. The company is favoring oil from Nigeria, Chad and Azerbaijan.

The Bismark Tribune reported in December 2015 that North Dakota drillers were in the process of selling more than 700 wells.

Forbes reported in November 2015 that only 4% of horizontal wells drilled since 2000 meet the Estimated Ultimate Recovery (EUR) threshold needed to break even at current oil prices, drilling and completion, and operating costs. Forbes repotred in November 2015 only 1% Of the Bakken play breaks at the November 2015 prices.

Petroleum geologists and Forbes analyst, Art Berman, conducted a study of the profitably of the Bakken formation Shale. The leading producing companies evaluated in his study are losing $11 to $38 on each barrel of oil that they produce, the companies evaluated were Continental Resources, EOG Resources, Hess Corporation, Marathon Oil, Statoil, Whiting Petroleum Corporation and XTO Energy, a subsidiary of ExxonMobil.

Bloomberg reported that Flint Hills Resources, the refining wing of the Koch empire, said it offered to pay $1.50 a barrel January 15, 2016 for high sulfur North Dakota Sour. This sour goes for a lower price than low sulfur Bakken

It was reported in February 2016 that Continental Resources and Whiting Petroleum, the two top producers in the Bakken, will stop fracking and bringing new wells into production. Continental plans to drill wells in the Bakken through the rest of 2016, but will leave them uncompleted to cut costs. Bloomberg reported that Continental Resources has no more crews in the Bakken. Whiting Petroleum estimates it will leave 73 uncompleted wells in the Bakken by the end of 2016.

The other side of the oil boom in North Dakota.

Labor Injury and Fatalities

According to the investigative journalism organization, Reveal, from 2006 to 2015 there have been at least 74 workplace deaths in the Bakken formation.

On September 14, 2011 oil rig at a bend in the Missouri River exploded at an Oasis Petroleum well pad. Worker Brendan Wegner had been exposed to oil and petroleum vapors and died immediately. Ray Hardy died the following day. Michael Twinn had both of his legs amputated.

From October 2014 to March 2015, at least eight workers died in North Dakota's oil fields, which was more than the preceding 12 months. It is believed by fracking critics that these accidents are a result of cash cutting measures.

Water usage

In 2012 it was estimated that 1.5 million gallons of water were used per fracked well in North Dakota's Bakken formation. However, other estimates put the range between 1.5 million and 3.5 million gallons of water used per frack. Additionally, The North Dakota Department of Mineral Resources estimates that 20 million to 30 million gallons of water is used per day in fracking operations in North Dakota, or 7.3 billion to 11 billion gallons of water a year. These projections state that this amount of water will be needed to produce oil from fracking in the Bakken for decades to come.

The 2013 Western Organization of Resource Councils report, "Gone for good: Fracking and water loss in the West," found that fracking is using 7 billion gallons of water a year in four western states: Wyoming, Colorado, Montana, and North Dakota.

As North Dakota's Bakken shale fields have grown, it has been reported that the fight over who has the right to tap into the multimillion-dollar market to supply water to the energy sector. It's been reported that "the state draws water from the Missouri River and aquifers for its hydraulic fracturing, the process also known as fracking and the key that has unlocked America's abundant shale deposits. The process is water-intensive and requires more than 2 million gallons of water per well, equal to baths for some 40,000 people."

A co-op, backed by the government, to ensure fresh water in an area where its drinkability is compromised. "The co-op has decided to sell 20 percent of its water to frackers to help keep prices low and pay back state loans. That has not gone down well with the Independent Water Providers, a loose confederation of ranchers, farmers and small businesses that for years has supplied fracking water ... The Independent Water Providers have fought back, arguing that the co-op shouldn't be selling fracking water at all. The state Legislature stepped in with a law last month designed to quell the tension and nurture competition, but industry observers expect the acrimony to continue."

Wastewater

In 2013, the state produced more than 15 billion gallons of wastewater. North Dakota brine is 13 times saltier than the ocean.

Wastewater spills

In 2006 a spill of almost one million gallons caused a massive death of fish and plants in a tributary of the Missouri River, called the Yellowstone River. To clean cost almost two million. The Association Press reported that two even larger spills since then destroyed vegetation along the tributary.

Oil companies in North Dakota reported more than 1,000 accidental releases of oil, drilling wastewater, or other fluids in 2011, about as many as in the previous two years combined, according to data obtained by ProPublica. Many more illicit releases went unreported when companies dumped truckloads of toxic fluid along the road or drained waste pits illegally, state regulators acknowledged.

Of the 1,073 releases reported in 2011, about 60 percent involved oil and one-third spread brine. In about two-thirds of the cases, material was not contained to the accident site and leaked into the ground or waterways.

According to ProPublica: "State officials say most of the releases are small. But in several cases, spills turned out to be far larger than initially thought, totaling millions of gallons. Releases of brine, which is often laced with carcinogenic chemicals and heavy metals, have wiped out aquatic life in streams and wetlands and sterilized farmland. The effects on land can last for years, or even decades."

According to Earthjustice research more than 22 wastewater spills that occurred between 2012 and 2015.

In July 2014, one million gallons of wastewater leaked from an underground pipe owned by Crestwood Midstream. An EPA found investigation that the waste made it to Lake Sakakawea, the primary drinking water source for the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara (MHA) Nation.

January 2015 three million gallons of oil spilled in Blacktail Creek after a pipeline leak.

In August 2015, it was reported that 4,000 barrels of brine spilled near the Canadian border in North Dakota. The North Dakota Dept. of Health stated that 225 barrels were recovered. It was the sixth such incident reported in 2015. The brine is used to help recover gas and oil in shale deposits. The Federal Environmental Protection Agency stated such brine may contain toxic metals and radioactive substances.

Radiation

Shale often contains higher levels of radium -- a chemical element used in industrial X-ray diagnostics and cancer treatments -- than traditional oil fields.

Retrieving gas and oil through hydraulic fracturing, displaces radium-tinged subterranean water that comes up through the wells, where it can contaminate soil and equipment. Radiation, such as radium, build up in the muddy sludges at the bottom of tanks, pipelines and other material that comes in extended contact with wastewater.

Solid Waste

Filter socks are mesh filters, several feet in length, that capture the solids in flowback wastewater. The socks often contain radioactive materials, often radium. Filter socks tested by a Williston landfill were found to emit up to 47 picocuries per gram. The state prohibits disposal of waste that emits more than 5 picocuries per gram of radiation.

The filter socks are often illegally dumped or snuck into landfills because according to John Harju of the Energy and Environmental Research Center at the University of North Dakota, the only disposal options are out of state. The state Department of Environmental Protection claims not seen problems with illegal filter sock disposal.

Thousands of pounds of filter socks on a truck bed in Watford City illegally dumped in February 2014.

Forbes reported in 2015 that North Dakota wells could produce 27 tons a day of filter socks. According Scott Radig, director of the North Dakota Health Department’s Division of Waste Management, illegal dumping of filter socks still exists.

Regulatory enforcement

Under North Dakota regulations, agencies that oversee drilling and water safety can sanction companies that dump or spill waste. Yet state data obtained by ProPublica suggests they seldom do: from 2009 to 2012, they issued fewer than 50 disciplinary actions for all types of drilling violations, including spills. State officials say they rely on companies to clean up spills voluntarily.

The Health Department took just one action against an oil company from 2009-2011, citing Continental Resources for toxic oil and brine spills into two streams. The department initially fined Continental $328,500, plus about $14,000 for agency costs. Ultimately, Continental paid just $35,000 in fines.

Former Governor Ed Schafer served on Continental Resources's Board of Directors from 2011 to 2015.

Refining and transport

Due in large part to tight oil in North Dakota, US domestic oil production has surged to its highest level since 1997, increasing the demand for domestic refining and transport. There are proposals to receive oil trains at shipping terminals in Washington, California and Alaska, as well as proposals for an oil terminal in Tacoma and three in Grays Harbor. In 2008, the largest US railroads carried 9,500 carloads of crude. In 2012, they carried more than 200,000.

The state has about 17,500 miles of pipelines, including the 2012 addition of 2,470 miles, roughly the distance from New York City to Los Angeles.

Oil pipeline spills

On October 10, 2013, over 20,000 barrels of crude oil (nearly 865,000 gallons) was reported as having spilled out of a Tesoro Corp. oil pipeline in a wheat field in northwestern North Dakota -- among the largest spills recorded in the state. The spill began nearly two weeks earlier, and is believed to have been reported later than many spills due to furloughed federal government workers. Emergency crews initially lit fire to the oil spill to reach the leaking pipeline, burning an estimated 750 barrels.

After the spill, the AP uncovered records showing 139 other pipeline leaks had been recorded so far in 2013, and 153 leaks in 2012, totaling over 1200 barrels of spilled oil. North Dakota authorities did not publicize any of the spills. State officials are not required to disclose spill information publicly.

Rail transport

Of the million barrels per day that are pumped from the North Dakota's Bakken Shale, 630,000 barrels are shipped by train to refineries on the East, West and Gulf coasts. Critics note that trains carrying fracked oil are highly combustible, noting an explosion that took place outside Casselton, North Dakota as well as an accident in Quebec that killed 47 people. Federal officials are currently investigating whether fracked oil from North Dakota should be stablized, a process of using heat and pressure to force light hydrocarbon molecules, before the oil is shipped along railways.

In October 2014 the Wall Street Journal reported that California rail depots that will begin to handle oil from North Dakota’s Bakken Shale. In order to handle the demand, Alon USA Energy Inc. is building the state’s largest oil-train terminal Kern Country. That terminal, which is to be completed in 2015, will receive 150,000 barrels of oil a day in Bakersfield, California. Additionally, Plains All American Pipeline is opening a 70,000-barrel-a-day oil-train terminal, also located in Bakersfield. The oil for this terminal will also come from fracked gas from North Dakota's Bakken Shale.

Gas flaring

"Over 35 percent of North Dakota's natural gas production so far in 2011 has been flared or otherwise not marketed," the Energy Information Administration reported in November 2011, "due to insufficient natural gas pipeline capacity and processing facilities in the Bakken shale region." There are also few penalties for the practice: in North Dakota, producers can flare natural gas for one year without paying taxes or royalties on it - and ask for an extension due to economic hardship associated with connecting the well to a natural gas pipeline.

In the US, gas flaring has increased from 78 billion cubic feet (bcf) in 2007 to 251 bcf in 2011 - a 223 percent increase, according to the World Bank. That makes it the fifth largest gas flarer in the world, up from fourteenth in 2007. Most of the US increase is due to North Dakota, where the percentage of flared gas is far higher than the national average. North Dakota officials say the state's flaring is responsible for about a quarter of the US total. (Less than 1 percent of natural gas produced in the US overall was vented or flared in 2009, the EIA found.)

Flaring produces carbon dioxide emissions and is therefore less harmful than venting natural gas (methane) directly to the atmosphere. But it still releases GHGs. In 2011 about 5 trillion cubic feet of natural gas were flared or vented without burning worldwide - roughly equal to a quarter of all natural gas consumed in the US annually, according to the the World Bank. Flaring also released 360 million tons of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere in 2011, equal to the exhaust of 70 million cars.

A 2013 report by Ceres, "North Dakota Natural Gas Flaring More Than Doubles in Two Years," calculated that flaring in North Dakota throughout 2012 resulted in $1 billion dollars of gas burnt, with greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to one million cars.

It was reported in November 2013 that gas flaring in North Dakota was responsible for an increase in "ammonium nitrate, a fine particle that causes haze, as well as fine particles ammonium sulfate and black carbon, also known as soot."

Lawsuit

In October 2013 North Dakota mineral owners filed lawsuits against 10 oil and gas companies seeking damages for natural gas that was flared. Bismarck attorney Derrick Braaten said the plaintiffs are owed millions in lost royalties for the flared natural gas, and the case will likely grow to include more companies.

Proposed tax nixed

In October 2013 Wyoming legislators rejected plans for taxing flared natural gas in an 8-2 vote, after the energy industry threatened to file suit. Legislators said the $300,000 in projected annual tax revenue from the flaring plan was not worth the protracted legal battle promised by the Petroleum Association of Wyoming.

Air pollution

Silica

In July 2012, two federal agencies released research highlighting dangerous levels of exposure to silica sand at oil and gas well sites in five states: Colorado, Texas, North Dakota, Arkansas, and Pennsylvania. Silica is a key component used in fracking. High exposure to silica can lead to silicosis, a potentially fatal lung disease linked to cancer. Nearly 80 percent of all air samples taken by the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health showed exposure rates above federal recommendations. Nearly a third of all samples surpassed the recommended limits by 10 times or more. The results triggered a worker safety hazard alert by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

Impacts on wildlife

The US Geological Survey conducted a survey between 2012 and 2014 and concluded that most bird species near fracking operations in North Dakota are avoiding not only the fracking infrastructure itself, but also the surrounding habitat. Researchers looked at 1,900 acres of land spread across seven counties in northwest North Dakota, where fracking is most present. They also found that three species, the Baird’s Sparrow, Chestnut-collared Longspur, and Grasshopper Sparrow, stayed as far as 1,800 feet from fracking wells.

Citizen activism

The Smithsonian Channel featured Jim Fuglie, the former North Dakota former head of the state Democratic-Nonpartisan League Party, former state Tourism Director and author of The Prairie Blog, in the series Boomtowners has been an outspoken critic of the influx of oil money in North Dakota politics and lack of government oversight.

Fracking studies

In a Government Accountability Office report released in July 2014, the independent oversight agency reported the "EPA’s role in overseeing the nation’s 172,000 wells, which either dispose of oil and gas waste, use 'enhanced' oil and gas production techniques, store fossil fuels for later use, or use diesel fuel to frack for gas or oil. These wells are referred to as 'class II' underground injection wells and are regulated under the Safe Drinking Water Act. Oversight of these wells vary by state, with some coming under the regulatory authority of the EPA, including the 1,865 class II wells in Pennsylvania. The GAO faults the EPA for inconsistent on-site inspections and guidance that dates back to the 1980′s. Of the more than 1800 class II wells in Pennsylvania, the GAO reports only 33 percent were inspected in 2012. Some states, including California, Colorado and North Dakota, require monthly reporting on injection pressure, volume and content of the fluid. As more oil and gas wells across the country generate more waste, the GAO highlights three new risks associated with these wells — earthquakes, high pressure in formations that may have reached their disposal limit, and fracking with diesel."

Oil Issues on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation

In November 2014, voters on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation, which is home to roughly half of the 14,000 members of the Three Affiliated Tribes of Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation (also known as MHA Nation), will vote on a new chairman, both of whom have said they will crack down on oil production on their lands. The outgoing chairman, Tex Hall, is a former oil-field services company executive. Less than half of the residents on the reservation own mineral rights. Many have voiced concerns with environmental and health impacts, as well as ways the Tex Hall has allocated oil revenue since he became chairman in 2010. Mark Fox won the election on a reformist platform. 1,300 oil wells make their home on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation. The wells pump out more than 386,000 barrels of oil daily. This accounts for a third of all oil produced in North Dakota.

Legislative issues

In January 2012, North Dakota regulators approved new rules to reduce the number of open pits used to dump oil drilling wastes. The rules also require oil companies to disclose the makeup of fluid that is used in hydraulic fracturing, requiring that the chemicals used in "frack" fluids be posted on a website two months after a well is completed.

The new rules took effect April 1, 2012.

Regulations

Following a draft proposal for fracking regulations, North Dakota lawmakers requested to be exempt, stating, “The unique geology, technology, and innovation in North Dakota exemplifies why a one-size-fits-all approach to oil and gas regulation does not work,” wrote Sen. John Hoeven (R), Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D), and Rep. Kevin Cramer (R) in an Aug. 23 letter. “The federal government should allow states and tribes to move forward with their own sophisticated regulatory framework instead of stifling them with a generic blanket of federal regulations. We believe such federal regulations will hamper innovative approaches being developed throughout the country.”

Citizen groups

• Bakken Watch
• Dakota Resource Council

Industry groups

• North Dakota Petroleum Trade Council

Companies operating in Bakken

• Complete Production Services
• Continental Resources
• Key Energy Services
• Superior Well Services
• RockPile Energy Services
• Frac Teck

Reports

Diesel in Fracking

From 2010 to July 2014 drillers in the state of North Dakota had reported 4,778.51 gallons of diesel injected into 32 wells. The Environmental Integrity Project extensively researched diesel in fracking. The organization argues that diesel use is widely under reported.

The Environmental Integrity Project 2014 study "Fracking Beyond The Law, Despite Industry Denials Investigation Reveals Continued Use of Diesel Fuels in Hydraulic Fracturing," found that hydraulic fracturing with diesel fuel can pose a risk to drinking water and human health because diesel contains benzene, toluene, xylene, and other chemicals that have been linked to cancer and other health problems. The Environmental Integrity Project identified numerous fracking fluids with high amounts of diesel, including additives, friction reducers, emulsifiers, solvents sold by Halliburton.

Due to the Halliburton loophole, the Safe Drinking Act regulates benzene containing diesel-based fluids but no other petroleum products with much higher levels of benzene.

Gas flaring

A 2013 report by Ceres, "North Dakota Natural Gas Flaring More Than Doubles in Two Years," calculated that flaring in North Dakota throughout 2012 resulted in $1 billion dollars of gas burnt, with greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to one million cars.

Road damage

A 2012 study estimated that it will cost North Dakota $7 billion over the next two decades to maintain county and township roads, in large part due to heavy truck traffic from increased drilling and fracking. The state will need to pay $834 million over the next two years alone to maintain county and township roads, two-thirds of that amount in western North Dakota, where oil production is booming.

The study was presented to the state Legislature's budget committee. The state said it has an oil-driven budget surplus, expected to reach $1.6 billion by June 2013, and incumbent Republican Gov. Jack Dalrymple has previously recommended increasing state spending on roads.

Institute Director Denver Tolliver said the 28 percent increase in the group's spending recommendation was due to rising construction costs and an 80 percent increase in the number of wells that regulators expect companies to drill in the state.

Resources

Related SourceWatch articles

• United States and fracking
• Bakken formation
• Montana and fracking
• North Dakota and coal

Click on the map below for state-by-state information on fracking:

External links

• FracTracker
• "America's Oil Rush: Boom or Bust," NBC, March 2012.

External articles

• Evelyn Nieves, "The North Dakota Oil Fracking Boom Creates Clash of Money and Devastation," AlterNet, September 22, 2012.

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