American Oil and Gas Reporter - August 2019 - 143

ConventionSection: North Dakota Petroleum Council

NDPC's Annual Convention
Shifts To Watford City
By Dan Holder
BISMARCK, N.D.-The North Dakota
Petroleum Council is taking its 2019 convention to Watford City, N.D., for the
first time. Association President Ron Ness
says the goal is to make NDPC's 38th
annual meeting, to be held at the Rough
Rider Center on Sept. 17-19, more of a
community event by opening several programs to the public.
"Watford City has a fantastic meeting
facility and it's in the heart of the Bakken
Shale," he says. "There will be some education sessions, but along with that there
also will be a celebration and acknowledgment of what is happening. It's in
Mackenzie County, the largest oil-producing county in America, about three
hours from Bismarck."
North Dakota's legislative situation
has been quiet since the 2018 elections,
Ness assesses, adding there are not a lot
of prominent elections on the ballot next
time around. The major focus in 2020
will be on the governor's race and several
statehouse seats, but, he says, "By and
large, I think it will be a fairly quiet
election cycle. There probably will be
more questions related to what we will
see in terms of voter-initiated measures
and other ballot initiatives."
Several ballot initiatives that voters
rejected in the last election are likely to
resurface in 2020, he predicts, including
a proposal to legalize marijuana in North
Dakota. "For an industry that is having
significant challenges finding workers,
that proposal is problematic," Ness admits.
"We don't want to see (legalized marijuana) because it will make finding qualified workers that much more difficult."
Working With Tribal Governments
The oil and gas industry's relationships
with tribal governments are getting better,
Ness assesses, citing significant improvement over the past few years. He calls a
tribal tax bill passed in the 2019 North
Dakota Legislature a tremendous victory
for Native Americans and the state.
SB 2312, introduced by Senator Jordan Kannianen, R-Stanley, keeps the

tax rate on oil and gas produced on the
Fort Berthold Reservation the same and
revises the tax revenue sharing arrangement for new oil and gas activity on
trust and fee lands, the state legislative
website says. Under the revision, the
tribes will receive 80% of production
and extraction tax revenues from new

wells on tribal trust lands; the state will
receive 80% on fee lands.
Under the bill, which Governor Doug
Burgum and Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara
Nation Chairman Mark Fox signed Feb. 8,
the tax rate remains at 10%. The rate increases to 11% if average oil prices exceed
$90 a barrel for three consecutive months.

NDPC Annual Meeting - Watford City, N.D.
Tuesday, Sept. 17
2 p.m. Annual Meeting Registration, First
International Bank, Watford City
2:30-4:30 p.m. Bakken 2.0 Education Session, Watford City High School Theater
5:30-7:30 p.m. Social and Hors d'oeuvres for
Annual Meeting Registrants, StoneHome
Brewing and First International Bank
7 p.m. Annual Bakken Pub Crawl
Departs from StoneHome Brewing (transportation provided)

Wednesday, Sept. 18
8:15 a.m. Check-in and Registration Opens,
Rough Rider Center Lobby
10 a.m. General Session, Rough Rider
Center Arena
NDPC Chairman Blu Hulsey, Opening
Remarks
Watford City Mayor Phil Riely
Blu Hulsey, "NDPC Year In Review"
North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum (Invited)
U.S. Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt
(Invited)
Keynote Speaker, TBD
Three Affiliated Tribes-Tax Commission
Director Mark Fox (Invited)
12:05 p.m. Break, Field House
12:10 p.m. NDPC Awards Luncheon, Arena
Distinguished Leader Award
Outstanding Public Service Award
Hall of Fame Award
Membership Awards
1:30 p.m. General Session
NDPC Vice President Kari Cutting, "ONE
BASIN-One Way"
Brent Bogar, WISE Roads Project
EPA Region 8 Director Greg Sopkin (Invited)
North Dakota Department of Environmental
Quality Director Dave Glatt (Invited)

Workforce and Skill Training Panel
Pat Bertagnolli, MBI Energy Services
(Invited); Steve Holen, Watford City
Public School; Kenley Nebeker, Train
ND, Williston State College; Dania Bye
4:15 p.m. Adjourn
6 p.m. Social, Rough Rider Field House
7 p.m. Barbeque, Field House
Entertainment: Dueling Pianos

Thursday, Sept. 19

7 a.m. Buffet Breakfast, Field House
7:30 a.m. Registration Opens, Rough Rider
Center
7:45 a.m. General Session
Kathy Neset, Neset Consulting Service,
Opening Remarks
Representative Kevin Cramer, R-N.D.,
Video Greeting (Invited)
Charlie Gorecki, Chief Executive Officer,
Energy & Environmental Research Center
Department of Trust Lands Commissioner
Jodi Smith (Invited)
N.D. Department of Mineral Resources
Director Lynn Helms (Invited)
Panel: "What's Next for Western North
Dakota?"
Montrail County Commissioner Trudy
Ruland (Invited); Willison City Adminstrator David Tuan (Invited); Watford
City Commissioner Howdy Lawler (Invited); Western Dakota Energy Association Committee Member Gary Wilz (Invited); Moderator: Geoff Simon, Western
Dakota Energy Association
Gas Capture Panel
Justin Kringstad, N.D. Pipeline Authority;
Dan Middlebrooks, Targa (Invited);
Christy Williamson, ONEOK (Invited);
Curt Launer, Bakken Midstream; Moderator: Phil Archer, Whiting
12:15 p.m. Closing Remarks and Adjourn,
Ron Ness, NDPC President
AUGUST 2019 143

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