WASHINGTON, D.C. –North Dakota Petroleum Council (NDPC) Vice President Kari Cutting will testify before two U.S. House subcommittees today on the subject of Bakken Petroleum: The Substance of Energy Independence.
In her testimony to the House Subcommittee on Energy and Subcommittee on Oversight, Cutting will address the industry’s safety record and goals, the qualities of Bakken crude, the steps taken by the industry to properly classify and ship Bakken crude oil, and steps taken to ensure emergency responders are prepared to handle any incidences that may occur.

“Three independent studies have now shown that Bakken crude is similar to other North American light, sweet crude oils in gravity, vapor pressure, flash point and initial boiling point,” says Cutting. “According to these studies, Bakken crude oil chemical properties attest to its proper classification as a Class 3 flammable liquid. This category contains most of the valuable fuels and fuel feed stocks offered for transportation in the United States.”

With the increase of Bakken crude being shipped by rail, however, Cutting stressed the industry’s continued commitment to safely handling and transporting this cargo, including its partnership with railroads and local responders to develop a common educational tool to be distributed broadly to fire departments either through web portal or DVDs. This information is available for companies to use in continued interaction with EMS personnel.

The oil and gas industry will also continue development of additional response resources and periodic meetings to keep the lines of communication open to maximize information sharing of the latest data on emergency response for crude and other flammable liquids incidents.

“Hazardous Materials transported by rail arrive safely at their destination 99.997% of the time, but all stakeholders recognize the importance of implementing additional safety measures to reduce the probability of the remaining 0.003%,” says Cutting. “Routing analysis, infrastructure inspection and maintenance, railcar design, and additional training and information for Emergency Management personnel are all efforts being addressed.”

The joint hearing of the House Subcommittee on Energy and Subcommittee will begin at 2:00 p.m. EDT. The hearing may be viewed online at http://science.house.gov/hearing/subcommittee-energy-and-subcommittee-oversight-joint-hearing-bakken-petroleum-substance.

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ATTACHMENT: Cutting Testimony

For media inquiries, contact Tessa Sandstrom by email. (I will not be reachable via telephone, so please email with questions).

Since 1952, the North Dakota Petroleum Council has been the primary voice of the oil and gas industry in North Dakota. The Petroleum Council represents more than 525 companies involved in all aspects of the oil and gas industry, including oil and gas production, refining, pipeline, mineral leasing, consulting, legal work, and oil field service activities in North Dakota, South Dakota, and the Rocky Mountain Region. Our members produced 98 percent of the 313.5 million barrels of oil produced in North Dakota last year.

Publisher’s preface: Every morning we’re inundated with sensationalized accounts of events that are presented as news when, in fact, these accounts are accusing diatribes built on finger-pointing and fact-omissions. We’re digesting our morning coffee along with emotionally charged rants created to serve the agendas of those who prepare them, rants that turn the front page into the editorial page.

Too often the target is the U.S. Oil & Gas Industry, the industry that’s worn a BULLSEYE on its back for the last few decades while, ironically, providing the country’s economy with one of the most important elements for growth: low-cost energy. However, since we at the Bakken Oil Business Journal know the U.S. Oil & Gas Industry is the industry that opens the door to increasing the prosperity of the US more than any other, I present you with something real, an account of some hard-working folks who are showing the world why the US is the greatest country in the world, why it is the land of the free and home of the brave.

By:  Marissa van der Valk

Travis Cooksey is the Safety Coordinator for Continental Resources in North Dakota and Montana.  He performs safety inspections on workover rigs, drilling rigs and well sites.  His overall duties include finding ways to keep the men and women out of harms way in the Bakken oil patch.

How does a California surfer end up in the oil fields of North Dakota?  The simple answer could be that he drove there, but life’s journey wasn’t so simple.  It involved biotechnology, the US Navy, a pregnant wife, a fifth wheel and the love of family and country.

Travis Cooksey was born in Redondo Beach, California located in Los Angeles County, which is known for its white sandy beaches and spectacular surfing. Travis is the baby in a family of four boys. He spent his formative years in Camarillo, California, a suburb 45 miles north of Los Angeles. He was a state ranked 800 meter runner in high school and qualified for Nationals in his senior year.  After high school, Travis first jobs were as a pool cleaner and asbestos remover.

He was first introduced to surfing about 20 years ago through a neighbor turned best friend Leroy, who gave him a wetsuit and surfboard for his birthday. Travis describes this gift as the gift that kept on giving. He started surfing and fell in love with catching the next big wave.

In 1990, Travis was hired to work at bio-technology company Amgen Inc located in Thousand Oaks, California.  For the next 13 years Travis worked as a lab technician in the human genomics laboratory. His coworkers describe Travis as being a hard worker with a penchant for telling hilarious stories. He was also described as being fiercely loyal to his family and his country. This is why at 34 years old Travis decided to join the US Navy.

Travis enlisted in the Navy in 2003 at the ripe old age of 34 just one year away from the cut off age.  And his decision to enlist was triggered by the tragic events on September 11, 2001.  He joined through the Navy’s Delayed Entry Program (DEP) which is a program designed to give the recruit some time to get their life in order before going to boot camp. Travis describes his time in boot camp as ‘not an easy time’.

The training instructors tended to be harder on recruits who were over thirty years old.  Travis describes himself as a highly dedicated loyal American with a heart full of patriotism so even though boot camp was difficult, no one was going to stop him from reaching his goal to succeed.

Travis went into the Navy as a reservist, but right after graduation from hospital corps school he received THE letter from President Bush putting him on full active duty status. He was first stationed at Great Lakes in Illinois and then was stationed in Port Hueneme, California. He also spent time at Camp Pendleton and ended his military career at Point Mugu.  He was attached to shore duty hospitals and squadrons with service to the special E.O.D. (explosive ordinance disposal) unit.

He received three NAM’s (Navy Achievement Medal) awards.  Travis had a tough time finding work in California, Oregon and Washington six months prior to being released from active duty.  And after 8 years in the US Navy Travis was faced with a decision, re-enlist for another tour of duty or go to work for the brother of his Navy Chief, who was hauling crude oil in Williston, North Dakota.

The US Navy’s loss was the Bakken’s gain when Travis decided to take the job in the booming oil patch of North Dakota. He was honorably discharged as a Petty Officer Second Class (PO2).

Travis is the father to four sons: Brandon 22, Braydon 12, Tayln 5, Pacey 2, and he and his wife Michelle are currently expecting their first daughter in July. He moved to Williston in October of 2011. He and Michelle, who was pregnant with Pacey at the time of making the move to North Dakota, loaded up their fifth wheel and took Talyn and their dog on the 1,600 mile drive to Williston.

Travis worked for Montana Mid-West Trucking, which is a sub-contractor for Plains Oil. Their first winter in North Dakota was a tough one; his wife, Tayln, Pacey (Brandon and Braydon live in California) and a dog lived in a 31 foot fifth wheel in the harsh winter of the Midwest. Travis was determined to get his family in a house before the next winter. After working for Montana Mid-West Trucking, he received a job working at Jacam Chemicals hauling chemicals. He worked for Jacam for a little over a year.

Travis was not able to get his family into a home at the start of their second winter in Williston.  He had a house built and with Michelle expecting their newly expected edition he could not have picked a better time.

When asked what he loves best about living in Williston and North Dakota Travis said: “I love the cold and the snow. I also love the people. It is one of the few places left with old school thinking and privileged rights of American freedom” for which he fought while serving his country.

Travis misses the life of a surfer and his family in California, but he has found a new home working and living in the Bakken of Western North Dakota and Eastern Montana.

Travis is one very proud American who still listens to the National Anthem before work every morning and Taps before bedtime each night.

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Travis Cooksey and Marissa van der Valk were co-workers at Amgen, a pharmaceutical company, at their Thousand Oaks, CA headquarters.  Travis worked in the same laboratory with Marissa in which she performed DNA sequencing experiments for the Human Genome Project.  Marissa now lives in Basking Ridge, New Jersey and is the daughter of Bob van der Valk , the Senior Editor of the Bakken Oil Business Journal.

By Mark Barnes, Des-Case Corporation
Based on a Customer Testimonial by Jim Pezoldt, Lubrication Engineers, Inc.

From dozers to graders and loaders to haul trucks, diesel engines are everywhere. For companies that rely on diesel power to make their living, there’s no greater emphasis than diesel engine reliability. But when it comes to diesel engines, they also have some of the shortest life expectancies.

Compared to fixed equipment, where mean-time-between-rebuilds is measured in years, most diesel engine original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) recommend an engine overhaul or rebuild every 12,000 to 15,000 hours. Even with oil analysis, which allows the rebuild interval to be optimized, 20,000 to 25,000 hours is about as good as it gets for engine life in off-highway applications.

So why is it that an engine has such a short life expectancy? The issue is less about maintenance than it is about the operating conditions and environment of a typical engine. With temperatures close to 200 degrees F, severe duty and shock loads, internal contaminants like soot, acids and wear debris, and the possibility of fuel or glycol leaks, engines have a tough life.

But perhaps the biggest engine killer is external contamination in the form of dust and dirt sucked into the engine through the air intake each minute of operation. Particle contamination can be lethal for engines –even microscopic particles no bigger than a red blood cell can result in a significant reduction in an engine’s life expectancy. In fact, studies by General Motors, Cummins Inc., and other engine OEMs have proven that particles in the 0–to–5 and 5–to–10 micron size ranges are three times more likely to cause wear in critical piston rings and bearings than larger particles (Figure 1). To put that into context, particles that are less than a tenth of the diameter of a human hair are enough to reduce an engine’s life expectancy by one half or more! These particles, which are often called silt-sized particles, are so small that a large percentage of those ingested into the engine air intake manifold pass straight through the air filter, which, by comparison, is really only equipped to take out rocks and boulders.

Figure 1: Relative wear rates for engine rings and bearings versus particle size distribution (Ref: Cummins, Inc.).

Armed with these facts–which are widely known by OEMs, lubrication engineers and filter manufacturers alike–why is it that most full-flow engine oil filters are at best 70 percent efficient at removing 10 micron particles and are effectively useless at removing silt-sized particles? The answer is largely a question of flow. With any filter, there is always a balance between flow rate and filter efficiency. With most filters, as the micron rating and filter efficiency improves, the flow rate drops off significantly. This should be fairly obvious: the smaller pore sizes necessary to trap smaller particles create a greater barrier to oil flow. But the problem is exacerbated by simple physics: For most mechanical filters, halving the micron rating, say from 10 to 5 microns, would require a fourfold increase in filter surface area to maintain the same flow rate. Because of this and due in part to the physical limitations in the size of an engine filter, it is almost impossible for filter manufacturers to reduce the micronrating to be more efficient at removing silt-sized particles while maintaining adequate flow rates.

So that’s it, right? We’re stuck with accepting the fact that the most harmful particles to an engine are going to be present in an engine with no hope of removing them? Wrong! By thinking outside the box a little, silt particles can be removed from engines effectively, with a dramatic impact on engine life. To illustrate the effect, consider the following example:

Figure 2: Projected engine life, with oil analysis.

Case Study
A maintenance team at a 25,000-acre surface coal mining operation in Montana was seeking to improve profitability by lowering direct maintenance costs and extending the operational life of the engines. They were well aware that the service life of their engines was being cut short by particles that the OEM fullflow filtration was not designed to remove. They contacted Jim Pezoldt from Lubrication Engineers to help them improve their engine life. Starting with their CAT 992G bucket loaders equipped with CAT 3508B engines, the mine developed an approach to reduce silt-sized particles from the engines. Initial oil analysis data on one 992G in the mine’s fleet indicated a particle count of 22/21/18, with copper and iron levels at 118ppm and 53ppm respectively, levels commonly found across the rest of the fleet. Maintenance personnel also indicated that a typical engine “top end” overhaul interval was approximately every 12,000 hours, and when engines were torn down, they were typically very dirty inside with evidence of scuffing on the cylinders. The team set about lowering in-service contamination levels through an aggressive contamination control strategy, as well as switching to an enhanced diesel engine oil – LE’s Monolec Ultra® Engine Oil (8800).

Figure 3: Schematic illustration of engine oil side stream filtration.

Exactly 931 hours after improving their oil filtration, an oil analysis was conducted to evaluate if any improvements had been made in oil cleanliness. To their surprise, ISO cleanliness levels went from 22/21/18 (c) to 17/16/13 (c), soot levels were maintained at or below 0.1% volume and iron levels dropped from 53ppm to 7ppm. Based on this and the standard life-extension tables (Figure 2), the mine has projected a four-fold life extension, resulting in a savings of $129K over five years, equivalent to a 216 percent return on their investment (Table 1). This is just one of many examples that demonstrate the effect of improving slit particles in engines.

Table 1: Oil analysis data and investment analysis for CAT 992G (3508B engine).

Bypass Filtration
So how did they do it? The answer is fairly straightforward as illustrated in Figure 3. Without changing the flow of oil within the engine, a small slipstream of oil is taken after the full-flow filter using a flow control valve. By regulating oil flow through the valve, only 10 percent of the total oil flow is removed at any given time, which is not high enough to cause any harm to the engine. This side stream of oil is passed at normal engine oil pressure through a depth media filter with an efficiency rating of 99.9 percent at 3 microns (β3(c)>1000). The oil is then returned to the sump. For safety, a relief valve is included to avoid over pressurization of the bypass filter during start-up.

Conclusion
Engine overhaul and rebuilds are a significant cost to diesel engine maintenance budgets. With few exceptions, significant improvement in engine life can be achieved by controlling silt-sized contaminants.

Note: Originally published in the December 2011 issue of Uptime magazine. Bypass Filtration Lubrication consultant Jim Pezoldt, MLT I & MLA II, has represented Lubrication Engineers, Inc. since 1992. His company, Pezoldt Petroleum Products, services portions of Montana and North Dakota and has significant experience working with mining and drilling operations. www.LElubricants.com

By: Bob van der Valk

Steve Unterseher of Smiley’s Energy Service was traveling from Williston, North Dakota back home to Fairview, Montana. He did not know his friend was on the train involved in am accident until after another co-worker told him when came upon the scene of the Amtrak train stalled on the track with major damage to the front portion of the diesel locomotive. About a half a mile further was a bulldozer lying on its side with its operator still trapped underneath. Rescuers were already on scene extracting the wounded man from the wreckage.

A construction company is rebuilding a section of ND Hwy 1804 between Trenton, ND and ND Hwy 58. It appears as though they may be building it into a four lane road. The road runs south of and parallel to 1804 until about 5 miles west of Trenton where the highway turns north then northeast and crosses the tracks. Apparently the bulldozer operator was attempting to cross the train tracks from the north side of the highway going toward the highway facing south. The tracks to the west curve around a hill so it is essentially a blind curve for the train engineer. No injuries were reported on the train by Amtrak officials; however, the train passengers were not allowed to get off the train pending the arrival of a replacement diesel engine.

The dozer operator was transported to Mercy Hospital in Williston, North Dakota by Life Flight helicopter, where he passed away.

(Photo) Damage to Amtrak diesel locomotive right after the accident – 7-30-13

The accident was caused by the Amtrak train coming around a blind corner and the engineer not seeing the bulldozer on the track ahead of him. Road 1804 is under construction and parallels the tracks between Trenton and Highway 58. No one on the train was hurt but passengers were not allowed to disembark to get rides with waiting friends. Amtrak waited for another diesel engine to arrive to take over for the damaged one.

A hole in the front of the diesel locomotive of the train was observed along with severe damage to the bulldozer, which landed on its side next the railroad track.

Dick Reed and his wife, who live in McMinnville, Oregon, were on the train while Amtraking to Little Rock, Arkansas via Chicago. Dick Reed stated that it got pretty hot inside the coach because of the lack of HEP*. After the night air started cooling off the train the crew opened doors to try to get an air circulation to the passengers.

*Head End Power is a system of electrical power distribution on a passenger train in which a power source in a central location on the train (usually a locomotive or a generator car) generates all the electricity for “hotel” power (non-traction, or non-motive power uses) needed by the train. Virtually all modern passenger trains have their electrical needs met in this fashion. The acronym HEP is its common usage.

(Photo) Temporary repairs made to damaged Amtrak diesel locomotive parked in Trenton, ND
Pictures by Steve Unterseher
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by North Dakota Housing & Finance Agency

The Industrial Commission of North Dakota has reported that more than 600 private investors have successfully capitalized the $15 million state Housing Incentive Fund (HIF).

“Thanks to North Dakota citizens and our business community, the Housing Incentive Fund is fully capitalized and available to move forward on affordable housing projects in western North Dakota and across the state,” members of the Industrial Commission said in a joint statement. “With legislative approval, we will continue to utilize the Housing Incentive Fund to encourage even greater affordable housing development.”

The Industrial Commission, consisting of Governor Jack Dalrymple as chairman, Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring and Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem, oversees the North Dakota Housing Finance Agency, which administers HIF.

Created by the 2011 Legislature, HIF is used to develop affordable multifamily housing. Contributors to the fund receive a dollar-for-dollar state income tax credit for their contributions. Dollars given can be targeted to a specific project or community.

Ninety percent of the contributions were by individuals who contributed an average of $10,021. The largest corporate supporter was Marathon Oil Co., contributing $3 million. Gate City Bank contributed $1.25 million, the most by a financial institution.

“Developer interest in the program was strong from the start, with all of the available financing spoken for in less than a year,” said Mike Anderson, NDHFA executive director.

NDHFA has conditionally committed HIF dollars to 26 projects to create 739 new units in Beach, Belfield, Bowman, Crosby, Devils Lake, Dickinson, Grand Forks, Kenmare, Killdeer, Kulm, Mandan, Minot, Parshall, Ray, Watford City and Williston. Total construction cost for the projects is $104 million.

“Our greatest challenge was getting the word to taxpayers that they could direct their tax dollars to affordable housing development,” said Anderson. “We are grateful for assistance from our housing partners, business groups and the media in reaching this goal.”

Governor Dalrymple has proposed transferring $30 million from the state general fund for direct investment in HIF for the 2013-15 biennium. An additional $20 million in tax credits would bring the total fund to $50 million. The proposed legislation has been pre-filed as House Bill 1029.

For more information on HIF, contact NDHFA at (701) 328-8080, (800) 292-8621 orwww.ndhousingincentivefund.org.

Posted on 1/3/2013. Retrieved January 10, 2013.

By: Bob van der Valk
June 5, 2012
Dateline: Terry, Montana

The Irving Oil refinery in St. John, New Brunswick, Canada became the third oil refinery on the East coast to receive 72,000 barrels of Bakken crude oil in a delivery on June 2, 2012.

Irving Oil owns and operates a 300,000 barrrels per day (b/d) refinery and Bakken light, sweet crude delivery is expected to complement the refinery’s feedstocks, which could include both sweet and/or sour crude oil. Bakken crude should help boost St. John refinery’s refining profit margin known in the industry as the crack spread. Bakken crude oil is currently priced at about from $7 to $10 a barrel discount to the benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil. Railroad tank car freight charges run at about 12-$15 a barrel to the East coast.

Irving could receive about 10,000-15,000 b/d of Bakken Oil crude when the rail delivery operations stabilize in Canada.

The other two Northeast refineries receiving limited volumes of Bakken crude are Phillips 66’s 238,000-b/d Bayway refinery via Global Partners and Sunoco’s 330,000-b/d Philadelphia refinery via Sunoco Logistics.

Bayway refinery is expected to raise its Bakken crude oil intake to about 57,000
b/d in the summer. The Philadelphia refinery is receiving about 20,000-30,000 b/d of Bakken crude oil, and volume could increase in the future, depending on the fate of the
Philadelphia refinery sale to Delta Airlines.

North Dakota March crude oil production jumped by 10.14% from the previous month to 575,489 b/d, according to the latest data issued by the North Dakota State Industrial Commission. About 95% of North Dakota crude production is from the Bakken field.

The information in this article was previously published by Oil Price Information Service (OPIS).

Bob van der Valk is a petroleum industry analyst working and living in Terry, Montana. He can be contacted at (406) 853-4251 or e-mail: tridemoil@aol.com

His viewpoints about the petroleum industry are posted on his web page at: http://www.4vqp.com/pages/12/index.htm

We are excited to join the conversation on the web & in print with exciting news and information about the incredible growth in the Bakken!

Our publication will be chock full of Oil Industry News, State-specific policies and politics, Employment resources, and the Businesses and Services that are successfully working in and around the Bakken Oil region. The Print Edition of the BAKKEN OIL BUSINESS JOURNAL will be distributed directly to all local and national companies affiliated with the oil industry in the Bakken, as well as to our Subscribers, and will be distributed to all affiliated Professional Associations and Exhibition Trade Shows. The Print Edition will be printed on high-gloss paper in full-color throughout with editorial, vivid photographs and illustrations.

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