Soaring N.D. oil to get another boost
BISMARCK (AP) — North Dakota’s already burgeoning oil production could soar another 50 percent next year as the state’s capacity to export crude catches up with its ability to pump it, state regulators and industry officials say. If oil prices stay above $60 a barrel and contemplated oil transportation projects become reality, the state could be producing 400,000 barrels of oil daily within five years, said Lynn Helms, director of the state Department of Mineral Resources. North Dakota’s current production now exceeds 230,000 barrels a day, which ranks the state behind only Texas, Alaska and California. The state’s output supplies about 2 percent of the nation’s domestic crude oil output. It is expected to approach 350,000 barrels next year, an increase of more than 50 percent, because of a major pipeline expansion and the anticipated startup of a shipping terminal near Stanley that will be able to haul 60,000 barrels a day by rail to refineries near Cushing, Okla.
» Full StoryPolice: Three N.D. college students found dead in pond
DICKINSON (AP) — The bodies of three missing North Dakota college softball players were found Tuesday inside a Jeep after authorities, aided by signals from the women's last desperate phone calls, spotted the vehicle submerged in a farm pond.
» Full StoryGOP lawmakers: Hoeven ‘realistic’ on Senate possibility
BISMARCK (AP) — North Dakota Republican state legislators and officials have had no better luck than anyone else in prodding Gov. John Hoeven for hints about whether he’ll run against Democratic Sen. Byron Dorgan next year.
» Full StoryNDSU president spent $22,000 on D.C. trip
FARGO (AP) — North Dakota State University President Joseph Chapman spent more than $22,000 to take his family to President Barack Obama’s inauguration, according to documents from the donation-funded NDSU Development Foundation that provided the...
» Full StoryFederal money buys about 700 N.D. jobs so far
BISMARCK (AP) — Window installers, arts coordinators and new teachers for children who have learning disabilities are among the jobs credited to North Dakota’s $571.2 million share of federal stimulus money, a new state report says.
» Full StoryNew N.D. council to explore youth incentives
BISMARCK (AP) — For years, state Rep. Lisa Wolf has asked her Minot High School students whether they planned to stay in North Dakota after finishing school.
» Full Story




