Industrial Commission awards $45.1 million in funding for Enhanced Oil Recovery projects

BISMARCK, N.D. - The North Dakota Industrial Commission, comprised of Gov. Kelly Armstrong, Attorney General Drew Wrigley and Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring, approved $45.1 million in matching grants during its 62^nd grant round of the Oil and Gas Research Program.

The Oil and Gas Research Program was established in 2007 to provide grants for projects that enhance the production of oil and natural gas in North Dakota. The program is funded entirely by oil and gas production and extraction taxes, and applicants must provide a match of fifty percent or greater. In the 69^th Legislative Assembly of North Dakota, the legislature also dedicated an additional $25 million to the Oil and Gas Research Program for projects related to Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR), providing funding to help companies de-risk these capital-intensive projects.

"EOR projects have the potential to change the trajectory of the state's oil and gas production," the Commission said in a joint statement. "If successful, these projects can increase and extend, perhaps by decades, oil and gas production in the Williston Basin."

Enhanced oil recovery, also called tertiary recovery, is the process by which fluids or gases are injected into oil and gas formations to aid in the extraction of oil not otherwise recoverable by primary and secondary recovery means. Nathan Anderson, Director of the Department of Mineral Resources, stated "The approved projects will help North Dakota move up the learning curve with EOR."

The approved Oil and Gas Research projects include:

• $13,998,200 to Chord Energy for "Large-Scale Hydrocarbon Gas Injection EOR Pilot"
• $9,836,905 to Continental Resources for "A Multi-Well, Multi-Zone EOR Project Utilizing Produced Gas in Williams County"
• $8,771,905 to Continental Resources for "Large-Scale miscible Gas Huff n Puff EOR Pilot in Dunn County"
• $5,000,000 to Cobra Oil & Gas Corp. for "EOR and Advanced Completion Design for Tight Carbonate Reservoirs in Western North Dakota"
• $1,535,000 to Devon for "Proposal for Surfactant-Based EOR Pilot Testing Program, Bakken - Three Forks formations"
• $6,000,000 to EERC for "Bakken Production Optimization Program (BPOP) 5.0"

The next submission deadline for the Oil and Gas Research Program is to be determined. More information about the program may be found on the Industrial Commission's website at https://www.ndic.nd.gov.

Additional information at the following link:

IC awards $45.1 million in funding for Enhanced Oil Recovery projects