News

Friday, March 1, 2024

The American Petroleum Institute has filed an application for rehearing on the Department of Energy’s indefinite pause on new and pending liquefied natural gas (LNG) permit approvals for non-Free Trade Agreement countries.

API argues that the pause is unlawful, violating both the Natural Gas Act and the Administrative Procedure Act, and that it erodes America’s energy advantage by threatening U.S. jobs, national security and environmental progress. 

“At a time of geopolitical turmoil around the world, the Department of Energy's arbitrary LNG freeze is not only unlawful, it cedes America’s energy advantage to hostile nations while jeopardizing thousands of American jobs,” API Vice President of Natural Gas Markets Rob Jennings said. “U.S. LNG is a cornerstone of global energy security, and its benefits – which include bolstering the American economy, reducing global emissions and strengthening our national security – are well-established. There is bipartisan recognition that this move is political, and we will continue to take any steps necessary to resume American leadership on LNG.”

In the filing, API argues that DOE’s pause contradicts the clear mandate of the Natural Gas Act for DOE to issue LNG export permits to non-FTA countries absent a finding that it is not in the public interest. API also criticized the LNG export pause as “arbitrary and capricious,” highlighting DOE’s failure to provide a justification for changing its longstanding position. DOE implemented the pause without prior notice or the ability to comment as required by the Administrative Procedure Act. 

In the U.S., the natural gas and oil industry supports 10.8 million jobs and contributes $1.8 trillion to the U.S. economy. LNG exports are a critical part of the natural gas value chain, supporting jobs from production facilities in Pennsylvania and New Mexico to pipeline operations Ohio and West Virginia to export and liquefaction facilities in Texas and Louisiana. 

Read the 21-page filing here.

Wednesday, February 7, 2024

Thank you, Creedence Energy Services, for a great presentation from Eric Nelson on Chemistry in Enhanced Oil Recovery.

We will not have a General Members Meeting in March and hope to see you all at the 43rd Annual Chili Cook-Off on March 23.
 
Interested in Sponsoring our Annual Chili Cook-Off? Click here. 

Next API Meeting: April 2nd
Location: McCoy's (Eagle Ridge)
Social Sponsor: Mountain Coil
Presenters: Williston Chamber of Commerce and Williams County
Presentation Topic: Recruitment & Retention Resources in our Area

Monday, January 29, 2024

Ron Ness, President of the North Dakota Petroleum Council, shares his daughter's experience in the hope of saving other lives. 

Earlier this month, as Ron's daughter was headed back to Montana from Bismarck, she hit a deer east of Billings. The airbags deployed, and she lost sight, drove off the road, and hit a big tree. Somehow, she wasn’t severely hurt but was stuck inside her car as the door and windows would not open. A man from another car tried to break her windows but couldn’t break them. She remembered that her mother had put a glass breaker/seat belt cutter (pictured below) in her console.
She found the glass breaker/seat belt cutter, broke the passenger window, and jumped out of the car. Minutes later, her car went up in flames. After a night of observation in the hospital, she is ok and home.

The Ness Family thanks everyone who helped her.

We encourage you to make sure all your vehicles have a safety device like this, readily accessible, and the basic knowledge of how to use it. 

           

Thursday, January 25, 2024

Thank you, City of Williston, for sponsoring last night's meeting and Kathy Neset, Neset Consulting, for presenting "The State of the Industry" on behalf of Ron Ness from the NDPC. The evening offered engaging conversations and insight into how sustainable the Bakken industry has become and how far it has yet to grow.

Ron Ness, NDPC president, was not able to join us but wanted to share a safety moment. His daughter had a collision with a deer while traveling, which trapped her in her vehicle, and emergency services were not on site yet to help. However, she used a Kubaton that Ron and his wife had previously stored in the vehicle to break a window and escape. Moments later, the vehicle ignited and exploded. The Williston Basin API chapter is grateful she is safe and for the shareable safety moment.

Reminder - Registration for the Williston Basin Petroleum Conference, May 14-16, 2024, in Bismarck, ND, is open! Click here for more information.

Next API Meeting - February 6 at McCoy's | Sponsor: Mountain Coil

The State of the Industry Presentation

Tuesday, January 16, 2024

The Williston Basin API Chapter held a special event on November 8, 2023, to honor and award Monte Besler “FRACN8R” of Fracn8r Consulting with the Lifetime Achievement Award. 

The Lifetime Achievement Award recognizes leaders who have made significant contributions to the development of oil and natural gas in North Dakota. The criterion for the award includes at least 25 years of work in the oil and gas industry with the majority of that time being spent in the Williston Basin. In addition, the recipient must have contributed significantly to the functions and activities representing oil and gas in North Dakota and be committed to the industry and organization’s well-being. 

*Pictured left to right: Kathy Neset, President, Neset Consulting Service – Jared Iverson, Managing Director Ops Services, Chord Energy – Monte Besler, President, FRACN8R Consulting LLC – Lynn Helms, Ph.D., Director ND Department of Mineral Resources– John Harju with the University of North Dakota & Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC) VP of Strategic Partnerships

 

Monte’s education began at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology from September 1975 to June 1979, where he received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Geological/Geophysical Engineering. He relentlessly continues his education, having taken in many classes over the years at various Petroleum institutes and conferences.   

He started his Oil & Gas Career as a District Engineer for The Western Company of North America in June 1979, where he managed a regional laboratory performing cement tests, acid break tests, fracturing fluid tests, etc., for several districts in the northern Rockies. He was also responsible for technical sales and engineering support for the cementing, acidizing, and fracturing services provided by the local district. During his tenure at the Dickinson, ND facility, he developed a hydrocarbon-based breakdown fluid that was very effective at breaking emulsions created by invert mud drilling fluids and for Bakken formation breakdowns. He then moved on to District Engineer for Halliburton in March 1984, where he developed an in-situ injection tubing passivation process for air injection wells that helped reduce corrosion and extend the life of tubing in high-pressure air injection in-situ combustion EOR floods in the southwestern Williston Basin. From there, he became a Production Engineer for Hess Corporation in 1998. He provided completion support on all horizontal completions and developed an acidizing program for the Madison horizontal program after determining extreme formation damage during drilling was limiting production. The acidizing program helped the Beaver Lodge Madison Unit, which was near abandonment, instead require a new oil, gas, and water handling system to accommodate production. Within two years, it exceeded the peak production rate of the fieldset 25 years earlier. He also worked with ESP vendors to help design and install high-volume submersible pump lift systems for the high GLR of these wells. His next position was a Technical Consultant for Hohn Engineering, PLLC in 2002 where he helped provide cradle to grave engineered solutions for all types of wells. Much of his work was located within the Williston Basin, but he occasionally worked on wells in the Powder River and Bighorn Basins of Wyoming and the central uplift in Montana. During this time, he also gave technical presentations at the Montana Tech student SPE Chapter Symposium in Butte, MT, and many other SPE and API functions. 

Lastly, breaking out on his own, he became the Principal Owner of FRACN8R Consulting, LLC in 2010, where he currently resides in Williston. He primarily provides completion consulting and supervision services for oil and gas operators, although he has extensive experience in other areas of upstream oil and gas operations. He has worked extensively within the Williston Basin, with experience in over 20 distinct producing intervals, as well as other formations of interest or concern. He is a strong advocate for the application of sound engineering practices in the recent Bakken and Three Forks development. With his work history starting in 1981, he has a unique knowledge of the fracturing behaviors, producing characteristics, etc., of the Bakken formation. He also works in the Powder River Basin of Wyoming, Williston Basin portions of South Dakota and Montana, the Denver-Julesburg Basin of southeastern Wyoming, the San Juan Basin of New Mexico, and parts of the Uinta Basin of Eastern Utah and western Colorado. He has become a well-known proponent of proper fracture conductivity design in low-permeability unconventional oil and gas development using horizontal wells. He also has extensive knowledge of the shallow biogenic gas-producing intervals of North Dakota, South Dakota, and Montana (again dating back to 1981) and the completion practices and fracturing methods required for the economic production of this vast resource. Let’s just say he is well versed in the chemistry of acidizing, fracturing, and production chemicals and the proper optimized application to maximize their benefit. Most recently, he has been involved in the completion of Helium producers using hydraulic fracturing to increase production.

Monte has been recognized for numerous contributions to the oil & gas industry over the years. In 1993, he was recognized by Halliburton Energy Services Research as the first operations engineer from a field facility to be elected as a Contributing Member to the Halliburton Research Technical Ladder. In January 2012, the Williston Basin Section - Society of Petroleum Engineers presented Monte with the Recognition of Lifetime Service Award for his 31 years of service to the Society of Petroleum Engineers and specifically for the Williston Basin Section. In November 2013, he received the Outstanding Achievement Award for an Individual from the Williston Basin Chapter API. Nominated and elected for this award by the general membership of the Williston Basin Chapter of the API. The award is for outstanding achievement within the scope of the upstream oil and gas industry in the Williston Basin. In November 2019, he received the MVP Award from the Williston Basin Chapter API, recognizing his many years of volunteer service.

Monte has demonstrated compassion and persistence in everything he has done for the past 44 years. These honorable and genuine acts could not be dismissed.

The Williston Basin Chapter of the American Petroleum Institute Board of Directors and Advisory Board are proudly honored to present the Lifetime Achievement Award to Mr. Monte Besler – The FracN8R!