Commission OKs grants for oil, CO2 research

BISMARCK — Five research projects designed to boost oil production in North Dakota are among six grant recipients that will share more than $1.6 million in state oil funds.

The North Dakota Industrial Commission voted Wednesday to approve the grants from state Oil and Gas Research Council’s funds. The funds come from a portion of the state’s oil and gas production and extraction taxes.

The sixth is a proposed series of “town hall” meetings in the state’s oil-producing counties “to allow the public to have conversations about oil and gas development” in the area. The $10,000 grant goes to the North Dakota Association of Oil and Gas Producing Counties, which will conduct the meetings and also use some of the funds to produce a new information booklet of frequently asked questions about North Dakota oil development.

The other five grants are:

-To Headington Oil Co. on behalf of Continental Resources Inc., Hess Corp. and Schlumberger Oilfield Services for a 14-month project to monitor hydraulic fracturing of Bakken shale formations to stimulate oil production, $750,000 grant. Total project cost is $14 million.

-To Marathon Oil Co. to study use of two parallel horizontal wells to stimulate oil production in the Bakken formation, $207,550. Six-month project. Total project cost is $415,100.

-To the Energy and Environmental Research Center at the University of North Dakota, $500,000 for phase three of a carbon dioxide reduction program. Total cost of the 10-year program is $135.7 million.

-To the University of North Dakota’s Zhengwen Zeng, $100,000 to conduct a “geomechanical study of Bakken Formation in the Nesson Anticline Area,” a two-year project.

-To Ward Williston Oil Co., $98,000 for a study of a portable production measurement system to measure flow rates from pumping oil wells, a 14-month project.

Janell Cole works for Forum Communications Co., which owns The Dickinson Press.

Tags: industrialcommission, grants, oil, co2, research