Oil extraction has a valuable side effect: Natural gas.
The trouble is, without somewhere to put it – or, more precisely, distribute it – oil producers are left to burn it off. It’s a great financial waste and bad for the environment, too.
Another problem: As oil wells age, natural gas production increases compared to the volume of oil collected. But because of environmental concerns, the companies can’t just flare the higher volume of gas. That conundrum could result in lower oil production and correspondingly less money coming to the state from extraction taxes.
Meanwhile, factories and large development projects need natural gas.
What if there was a way to efficiently deliver that natural gas from western North Dakota’s Bakken oilfield to the developments rising in eastern North Dakota? That’s been a question on the minds of many for years now.
Good news: In 2025, the Legislature authorized funds to help finance a project, which was essential to push the project forward. Gov. Kelly Armstrong believes it’s a crossroads of sorts for North Dakota.
“We have stranded gas in the Bakken that will, in the very near future, start curtailing oil production, which is bad for the state,” Armstrong recently told the Grand Forks Herald. He believes the pipeline to be a “really unique infrastructure project in the history of North Dakota that is going to be a win-win for everybody involved.”
How so?
Mostly because industry development needs natural gas. Large new projects – especially things like value-added agriculture projects – crave it.
But also, natural gas is something that can be used right here, in North Dakota. It’s different than oil, which needs to be shipped far away to be refined and then distributed nationwide for use. Natural gas will be used here, by us. It will power our factories and heat our homes.
Whereas the Dakota Action Pipeline – as controversial as it is – has been key to transporting oil from North Dakota to be purchased and used elsewhere, the new natural gas pipeline could be just as important, and perhaps more so, for North Dakotans. That’s a prediction from Ron Ness, president of the North Dakota Petroleum Council.
“Weighing the values of DAPL and looking at it years later and then looking at what this Bakken (natural gas) pipeline would be for North Dakota is a good analogy,” Ness told the Grand Forks Herald last summer. “(A natural gas pipeline) is a huge piece of infrastructure and I don’t think it’s being highlighted for what it means to the future of North Dakota. It’s incredible.”
As proposed, the pipeline will run to a point just west of Fargo, then eventually split, allowing other geographic areas to access it. That means places like Grand Forks and Wahpeton would eventually benefit as well.
A Forum Communications Co. report from 2021 noted that a natural gas pipeline would result in somewhere around at least $200 million in new annual oil and gas taxes for the state.
Last summer, the North Dakota Industrial Commission voted to begin contract discussions with WBI Energy Transmission for the state to purchase transport capacity on the proposed line. That came after the Legislature authorized $50 million per year for 10 years to kickstart the project.
It was imperative that the state provide this financial support. Now, it looks like it could result in a pipeline, to be up and running by 2030.
As reported last year by the North Dakota Monitor, “in a worst-case scenario, the state would provide up to $500 million, or $50 million a year for 10 years, and not be able to recoup its investment. The funding would come through a loan from the Bank of North Dakota, to be repaid with state dollars from the Strategic Investment and Improvements Fund.”
So is it a gamble? Sure, but it’s one the state needs to make.
“Nobody wants flaring anymore. I agree with that,” Armstrong said. “But if you can’t get gas moved and you aren’t going to flare it, the only answer is to not drill new wells or shut down existing wells. We want to ensure it continues. And before we talk about workforce or housing, if you want economic development, you need power. This will help.”
The investment by the Legislature and the work of many – Armstrong doles out credit to others – to get things moving on the natural gas line will eventually pay off in spades for North Dakota.
Herald editorials are written under the byline “Herald editorial board,” since they sometimes include the thoughts, opinions or written input of multiple authors. Editorials generally reflect the opinion of a newspaper’s publisher.