ND projects aimed at tapping Missouri River water for oil companies

Oil companies to tap Missouri River water

BISMARCK, N.D. — Oil companies will be able to tap more than 5 million gallons of Missouri River water daily for drilling operations under a pair of projects announced Friday by North Dakota Gov. John Hoeven.

The state and a water district in McKenzie County will share the cost of a $7 million project that will pipe about 4 million gallons of Missouri River water daily from Williston to a water depot some seven miles away, where it would be sold to oil companies.

A second project, pegged at $150,000, will tap into an existing pipeline near Dodge in Dunn County to provide up to 1.4 million gallons of water daily to the oil industry. The pipeline brings water to Dickinson from Lake Sakakawea, a 180-mile-long reservoir on the Missouri River.

Both projects could be online this summer, Hoeven said.

Increased drilling activity in western North Dakota has put a strain on groundwater supplies in some parts of the state’s oil patch, state officials say.

More than 100 drill rigs are operating in North Dakota and each needs about 1 million gallons of water to fracture rock for oil recovery in the rich Bakken shale formation.

Hoeven said revenue from water sold to oil companies could be used to extend water service rural communities.

“This is a good deal to the whole region,” Hoeven said. “It helps the energy industry moving forward and it’s also good for farmers and ranchers because it won’t be depleting groundwater supplies.”

Water from the projects would be sold to oil companies for $8 to $10 per 1,000 gallons, or about twice what municipal or rural water systems would be charged, said Todd Sando, an assistant engineer for the North Dakota Water Commission, the agency that manages the state’s water.

“It’s a really good thing to be able to tap into the Missouri,” he said.

Ron Ness, president of the North Dakota Petroleum Council, said oil companies will be willing buyers for the water.

“The more water that’s available the better,” said Ness, whose Bismarck-based group represents about 160 companies. “Water out of the lake is the best for everyone and we’re very fortunate to have that lake in the middle of the Bakken.”

Sando and Lance Gaebe, a policy adviser for the governor, said water drawn from the Missouri River would have no affect on the river’s flow or level.

“It would be immeasurable,” Gaebe said.