November 27, 2020 -- Clear the Road

The December crude oil contract price topped $45/barrel on the WTI index this week for the first time since the beginning of the Russia-Saudi oil price war in early March.

Prices surged on the prospect that Covid-19 vaccinations in the U.S. could get underway within three weeks, with the expectation it would improve the demand outlook.

The rally began Tuesday after AstraZeneca Plc became the latest pharmaceutical company to report a vaccine that protects most people from coronavirus. Moncef Slaoui, head of the federal government’s Operation Warp Speed vaccine acceleration program, said vaccinations will “hopefully” start as soon as December 11 or 12.

Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE were the first to announce development of a vaccine that has proven to be more than 90% effective in preventing COVID-19 in clinical trials. Moderna followed a week later, announcing it had also developed a vaccine against Covid-19 that is strongly effective. The Moderna vaccine reduced the risk of infection by 94.5%, reporting that there were 95 cases of infection among patients in the company’s 30,000-patient study.

Crude oil prices have climbed about 20% in November, but must increase further before North Dakota can expect a resumption in normal drilling activity. State officials have said prices would need to remain consistently in the $50-55/barrel range before many additional rigs would be brought back online. The state had 56 rigs operating in mid-February, but dropped as low as just 10 rigs three months later.

The oil price decline and drop in production has resulted in a steep drop in tax revenue collected through the state's extraction and production taxes. The forecast for the 2019-21 biennium had expected oil production to rise from 1.4 million to 1.44 million barrels per day, and prices to be around $48/barrel. Production fell to 858,000 bbl/day in May, but has since rebounded to just over 1.2 million bbl/day.

The North Dakota Supreme Court rejected arguments from Gov. Doug Burgum that the state constitution provides authority to the governor to fill a legislative seat "if no other method is provided by this constitution or by law."

Burgum's attorney Robert Pathroff argued that there was no provision in state law that covered a situation where a deceased candidate was elected to the legislature. That's what happened this year when David Andahl, a 55-year-old rancher from Baldwin, won election as a Republican to the District 8 legislative seat, despite the fact he died of COVID-19 complications on October 5. While the parties agreed there was nothing in law addressing the situation, the court leaned on other provisions in law that granted authority to replace its members in the legislature.

The court's decision cited Section 44-02-03 of the Century Code which provides that “any vacancy in

a state or district office, except in the office of a member of the legislative assembly, must be filled by appointment by the governor.” The court further concluded that there was no vacancy for the governor to fill at the time of the appointment, and that the vacancy would occur on December 1 when the terms of current legislators expire.

Gov. Burgum had appointed Wade Boeshans, the President of BNI Energy, to the vacant seat., but the District 8 Republican Committee instead appointed current Rep. Jeff Delzer to the position, despite the fact Delzer lost the party's nomination in the June primary. Based on the ruling, Delzer will remain in the House of Representative, and take the oath of office with other new and returning members during next week's organizational session.

In a statement issued following the Supreme Court Court ruling, Burgum said: “This case involved a question of the governor’s constitutional responsibility in a set of circumstances never before seen in North Dakota. The Supreme Court determined that responsibility is not applicable in this case. While we disagree with the findings, we respect the Court’s opinion and will continue to do our best every day to serve the citizens of North Dakota."

Click here to read the Supreme Court's 10-page ruling.

The North Dakota Industrial Commission approved a grant request this week that will extend the Lignite Energy Council's education program another two years, but also urged the council to consider other avenues to influence young people's perception of the coal industry.

NDIC approved a $200,000 Lignite Research Council grant for the program, which helps cover costs of the annual four-day Lignite Education Seminar, program management for the Education Program, and the costs for professional services provided through the ND Energy Career Awareness program. But Governor Doug Burgum, who chairs the Industrial Commission, said although the lignite industry does a great job delivering low-cost power, provides lots of jobs and cares for the environment, more innovative methods of reaching young people should be considered.

Click here to listen to Burgum's comments.

Burgum said he would also like to see the industry do more to promote to young people the many job opportunities it provides, particularly in areas where new uses for lignite coal are being developed.

Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring, who is also a member of the Industrial Commission, said the coal industry would do well to promote ties with the ag industry, and the products and benefits that it provides, most notably reliable electricity.

Click here to listen to Goehring's comments.

The main component of the education program is the four-day Teacher's Seminar held each June that includes tours of mines and power plants, along with presentations and panel discussions on a number of relevant issues including history, geology, mining and reclamation, converting lignite to electricity, converting lignite to synthetic natural gas, economics of the lignite industry, career opportunities, environmental challenges, transmission and research and development topics. In addition, the program has produced several instructional videos, provided materials for hands-on classroom instruction, and offered STEM technology grants to attract career counselors to promote careers in the lignite industry.

Click here to read the Lignite Energy Council Education Grant proposal.

by Jason Bohrer, President & CEO, Lignite Energy Council

President-elect Joe Biden is beginning to publicly announce his Cabinet and closest advisors. One of the early names will be climate-related. Former Senator/Secretary of State/Presidential Candidate John Kerry will be named as “Special Presidential Envoy for Climate” and sit on the National Security Council.

I’m curious to see where Mr. Kerry takes this job, which won’t require confirmation. (I think he could get confirmed to just about any job in the Biden Cabinet, for whatever my opinion is worth.) Mr. Kerry’s background gives him a certain amount of expertise on the inter-relationship between the climate, energy and foreign relations, and Mr. Kerry has remained engaged in the world for the past several years.

What a lot of people miss is that the United States is among the leaders in reducing carbon dioxide emissions since the early 2000s. Also interesting is that there are some who attempt to handwave away that fact by saying “cheap natural gas” is responsible as if that makes the accomplishment irrelevant. That’s stopping the analysis at least one step too soon because the reason we have “cheap natural gas” is the same reason we could have cheap, carbon-dioxide free coal: research and development breakthroughs. So to thank “cheap natural gas” for lowering our carbon footprint while not supporting additional R&D to do more of the same seems shortsighted, and even political adversaries probably wouldn’t apply that description to John Kerry.

Kerry has previously supported—at least rhetorically—a significant investment in clean coal, and his Presidential campaign during 2004 gave him insight into the political importance of coal, although so much has changed since then that who knows how much of what he learned back then is still relevant.

Maybe even more important to the coal industry, John Kerry is a true believer in climate change. Why does that matter? Before the pandemic, the world’s demand for coal was increasing, and projections for global energy demand decades into the future included significant contributions from traditional coal sources. Serious observers believe that without carbon capture technology, it will be impossible to meet the world’s energy needs and meet climate targets. Back in 2014, Wired had an informative article about it: and coverage of the International Energy Agency’s work on the topic here.

So my point with John Kerry is that he isn’t just playing politics—at least not at this stage of his career. If he truly believes that reducing CO2 emissions is necessary for our environment, he can stake out a leadership role in his party by reinforcing the IEA’s message that if CO2 is the problem, then carbon capture technologies must be part of the solution.

Patrons of two Williams County school districts will go to the polls December 8 to vote on a reorganization plan that will merge the two school districts into a new Williston Basin District #007.

Discussions have occurred between Williston Public School District No. 1 and Williams County District 8 for several years, but efforts at resolving the issue became more urgent with a recent decision of the Williston board to turn away D8 high school students due to overcrowding.

Former Williams County Commissioner Dan Kalil, who helps lead the Williston Yes Committee, said it's encouraging to see the two districts working together on a common goal.

Click here to listen to Kalil's comments.

Kalil, who was interviewed by Robin Travers on KEYZ-Radio, said residents have a lot of questions about the tax consequences of the reorganization plan, but he said both districts will see the benefits.

Click here to listen to Kalil's comments.

Talks between administrators and school boards of the two districts resulted in the plan to combine. The new Williston Basin School District #007 would consist of all property within the current boundaries

of the WPSD #1 and D8 school districts. If approved by voters of both districts, the reorganization plan would go into effect July 1, 2021.

Click here to see the Williston District No. 1 reorganization page. Click here to see the D8 info page.

Click here to listen to the full KEYZ-Radio interview with Dan Kalil.

In an effort to assist businesses that are financially impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Bank of North Dakota is offering relief programs in coordination with a local lender as the borrower’s first contact. The local lender initiates the loan application with BND on behalf of the borrower.

The programs provide low cost, long-term working capital to ND businesses and cash flow to re-start a business. If a business has multiple locations, it may only submit one application. The business expenses must be for a ND-based business and may not include costs from out-of-state locations.

COVID-19 PACE Recovery (CPR) Program assists local financial institutions in providing low interest loans to support North Dakota businesses in their economic recovery due to negative impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic. Applications will only be accepted through November 30. Click here for more information and here for a fact sheet.

COVID-19 PACE Recovery II (CPR II) Program assists North Dakota businesses impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The program will pay interest expense accrued on eligible existing debt from April 1, 2020, through September 30, 2020. It does not need to be repaid. Click here for more information and here for a fact sheet.

Small Employer Loan Fund (SELF) assists local financial institutions and certified development corporations (CDC’s) in providing loans to assist very small North Dakota businesses in their recovery from the negative impacts caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Loan applications must be received by November 30. Click here for more information and here for a fact sheet.

Quiz Question: What state’s highway system ranks first in the nation in overall performance and cost-effectiveness?

Answer: North Dakota. The prestigious announcement was made this week in the Annual Highway Report published by Reason Foundation.

“This report recognizes the North Dakota Department of Transportation’s extraordinary efforts in maintaining and preserving our roads,” says NDDOT Director Bill Panos. “The finding of this year’s report illustrates that preserving roads early is a good investment. Thanks to the Governor and state legislature, we have the ability to make these essential infrastructure investments.”

The Reason Foundation’s Annual Highway Report measures the condition and cost-effectiveness of state-controlled highways in 13 categories, including pavement condition, traffic congestion, structurally deficient bridges, traffic fatalities, and spending (capital, maintenance, administrative, overall) per mile.

While North Dakota ranks first overall in safety and performance categories, the state ranks 21st in overall fatality rate, and 42nd in structurally deficient bridges, two areas that are NDDOT's focus in the upcoming legislative session. North Dakota ranks 3rd in traffic congestion, 5th in urban Interstate pavement condition, and 5th in rural Interstate pavement condition.

The North Dakota Department of Transportation maintains 8,624 roadway miles of highway and 1,725 bridges throughout the state.

The ND Department of Transportation's Williston District has published a web page with 400 high resolution photos of construction work on the new Long X bridge over the Little Missouri River on Highway 85.

NDDOT opened the new four-lane bridge on October 30. The 80-foot-wide structure replaces a narrow truss bridge with a 16-foot overhead clearance that was a bit of a nuisance for oilfield truck traffic, and was frequently struck by oversize trucks. For now the bridge is open to only two lanes of traffic, while contractors work to dismantle and remove the old bridge to the west. It is expected to fully open to four lanes of traffic in the summer of 2021.

The photo archive begins with shots of construction work on a tunnel under the road for wildlife crossing. Also included are dozens of photos of different elements of the construction work, artifacts uncovered during excavation work on the project, the ribbon-cutting ceremony marking the bridge's completion, and numerous overhead shots showing panoramic views of the Little Missouri River Valley.

Click here to see the photo archive. All of the photos can be downloaded at their original high resolution or various smaller dimensions.

The event will be streamed live on the NWLA home page https://nwlandowners.com/. Click here to see the agenda. Click here for a summary of issues tracked by NWLA during the 2019 legislative session.

A summit aimed at identifying behavioral health issues in western North Dakota, and developing services and facilities to address those needs is scheduled November 30 - December 1 via the Zoom virtual platform.

The summit is being organized by Vision West ND, in partnership with USDA Rural Development. The conference will bring together local community leaders and professionals working with youth and adults who suffer from mental/behavioral health issues surrounding the use of illegal drugs, opioids and alcohol. It is hoped that what attendees see, hear, do, and learn at the conference will inspire, motivate, and prepare individuals to act within the borders of their own community.

People of all occupational backgrounds are encouraged to participate including counselors, educators, social workers, nurses, hospital personnel, EMS personnel, employers, safety officers, HR personnel, pastors, law enforcement, elected officials, and all other professionals concerned about the topic.

Click here for the agenda, additional details and registration information.

Source: Biden’s ‘Build Back Better’ Begins with American Mining – Inside Sources

January 5