North Dakota Gas Flaring Litigation

North Dakota Gas Flaring Litigation The Monts Firm is an Austin, Texas based law firm representing individuals and small businesses acro Paul and Chicago in size.

North Dakota mineral owners filed ten class action lawsuits in North Dakota state district court against oil companies operating in North Dakota’s Bakken oilfield, seeking damages for natural gas flared – or burnt off into the atmosphere – from oil wells in violation of state flaring laws. Copies of the complaints filed are available at www.ndgasflaringlitigation.com

The named plaintiffs an

d the class members they seek to represent in each case are western North Dakota mineral rights owners who potentially have lost millions of dollars in royalties due to producers’ practice of burning off large quantities of gas rather than selling it. The lawsuits seek to force operators to comply with state law and pay royalties to mineral owners on the value of flared gas, and by so doing create a compelling economic incentive for producers to reduce and eliminate the wasteful practice of flaring. Bakken natural gas is some of the most valuable gas in the country due to its density of natural gas liquids (NGLs). Flaring of natural gas from North Dakota oil wells is a controversial practice that has more than doubled in volume in the last two years, according to recent reports. NASA photos of flaring in North Dakota oilfields taken from space resemble a large urban area rivaling Minneapolis-St. The North Dakota Industrial Commission, which regulates the state's oil and gas industry, is working hard to regulate the recent Bakken shale oil and gas boom and with public support is looking for ways to reduce wasteful wholesale flaring of valuable gas. Gas flaring in North Dakota has risen meteorically over the past few years, triggering growing public concern on a local and national scale. In 1999, North Dakota flared only 3% of its gas production. The North Dakota Department of Mineral Resources announced recently that operators flared off 30% of the gas produced in July 2013. An estimated $100 million worth of gas is flared in North Dakota each month. In March 2012, a group of investors representing $500 billion in assets sent a public letter to twenty-one of the largest U.S. shale oil producers, asking them to reduce flaring because it might ultimately “threaten the industry’s license to operate.” On August 25, 2013, the Bismarck Tribune editorialized on the need for “a harder line” by the state on flaring. North Dakota law allows limited flaring during the first year after an oil well enters production if certain oil production limits are followed; then after a year, a producer must apply for a written exemption for any future flaring. If it fails to do so it must pay royalties and state taxes on the flared gas. In the lawsuits, the plaintiffs allege that operators are flaring in excess of production limits during the first year, and flaring beyond a year without exemptions, and without paying royalties on flared gas, which violates North Dakota law. Presently around 1500 wells are flaring gas in North Dakota without connections to pipeline and processing plant infrastructure. Other wells supposedly have pipeline connections in place but producers continue to flare the gas anyway. Counsel for the royalty owners are five law firms from North Dakota, Colorado, Texas, Montana and Wyoming with oil and gas and class action experience:

Baumstark Braaten Law Partners
Murdock Law Firm, PC
The Monts Firm
Balzer Law Firm,PC
Tarlow, Stonecipher & Steele, PLLC

North Dakota Supreme Court cozies up to Oil Industry too … says landowners cannot enforce anti-flaring law in court; ins...
06/04/2016

North Dakota Supreme Court cozies up to Oil Industry too … says landowners cannot enforce anti-flaring law in court; instead must rely on state regulators who already have said in writing they will not voluntarily enforce the law. Oil money rules the Bakken (and North Dakota state government). Once again, the people lose, and big business wins.

BISMARCK — Legal challenges over flared natural gas hit a roadblock this week when the North Dakota Supreme Court ruled that a mineral owner's lawsuit should have been dismissed. But one of the attorneys who claims mineral owners are owed royalty payments for natural gas that was flared said t...

In March, oil companies flared and wasted 5.14 billion cubic feet of natural gas in North Dakota (9.7% of all gas produc...
05/17/2016

In March, oil companies flared and wasted 5.14 billion cubic feet of natural gas in North Dakota (9.7% of all gas produced). For the first time since 2007, flaring dipped below 10%. Change has been slow coming, but it is a good thing nonetheless. Keep expressing your opinions and keep demanding less waste in the Bakken. Thank you.

"According to the study published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, the Bakken Formation, a gas and oil field...
05/06/2016

"According to the study published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, the Bakken Formation, a gas and oil field located in North Dakota and Montana is emitting about 250,000 tons of ethane every year, which is about 2 percent of total global ethane level.”

North Dakota Oil and Gas Regulators propose to limit public participation in oil and gas hearings by limiting those who ...
04/10/2016

North Dakota Oil and Gas Regulators propose to limit public participation in oil and gas hearings by limiting those who can appear and speak to oil companies, operators and landowners of subject tracts only.

Hey Lynn Helms, read the declaration of policy the Legislature wrote for you to follow … and follow it dude. The "general public” are the people. Power to the people!

§ 38-08-01. Declaration of policy.

It is hereby declared to be in the public interest to foster, to encourage, and to promote the development, production, and utilization of natural resources of oil and gas in the state in such a manner as will prevent waste; to authorize and to provide for the operation and development of oil and gas properties in such a manner that a greater ultimate recovery of oil and gas be had and that the correlative rights of all owners be fully protected; and to encourage and to authorize cycling, recycling, pressure maintenance, and secondary recovery operations in order that the greatest possible economic recovery of oil and gas be obtained within the state to the end that the landowners, the royalty owners, the producers, and the general public realize and enjoy the greatest possible good from these vital natural resources.

https://www.dmr.nd.gov/oilgas/2016_43-02-03-etal-NDAC.pdf

Oil companies flared and wasted 6.6 billion cubic feet of natural gas in North Dakota in January 2016.That’s enough gas ...
03/16/2016

Oil companies flared and wasted 6.6 billion cubic feet of natural gas in North Dakota in January 2016.

That’s enough gas wasted in one month to heat roughly 20% of all homes in North Dakota for a year.

https://www.dmr.nd.gov/oilgas/directorscut/directorscut-2016-03-11.pdf

Keeping it clean: Using natural gas as a smart energy source.
03/07/2016

Keeping it clean: Using natural gas as a smart energy source.

Reality: Low oil prices are forcing oil companies to be efficient and cut costs.Which proves: Enforcing North Dakota’s a...
03/03/2016

Reality: Low oil prices are forcing oil companies to be efficient and cut costs.

Which proves: Enforcing North Dakota’s anti-flaring law (that requires these companies to pay royalties and state taxes on gas they flare and waste) will force them to waste less of it.

Pretty simple.

Some of America’s biggest shale producers are beginning to ratchet back oil and gas production for the first time in years, bending to the reality that a global glut will keep prices depressed.

The U.S. Department of Interior estimates oil companies waste enough gas in a year to power a million homes."The Gov’t i...
02/24/2016

The U.S. Department of Interior estimates oil companies waste enough gas in a year to power a million homes."

The Gov’t is changing its rules on federal lands to limit flaring and venting of gas.

A proposed nationwide flaring regulation has North Dakota oil industry officials worried.

In December 2015, oil companies in North Dakota flared and wasted over 7.7 billion cubic feet of gas (15% of all gas pro...
02/20/2016

In December 2015, oil companies in North Dakota flared and wasted over 7.7 billion cubic feet of gas (15% of all gas produced).

That’s enough natural gas to heat more than 80,000 homes for a year (roughly 25% of all the homes in North Dakota).

Oil companies come and go.North Dakotans weather the storm.
02/08/2016

Oil companies come and go.
North Dakotans weather the storm.

Minot, North Dakota Native Josh Duhamel Promotes State Tourism
02/07/2016

Minot, North Dakota Native Josh Duhamel Promotes State Tourism

You'll be seeing quite a bit more of actor and North Dakota native Josh Duhamel, thanks to a new campaign North Dakota Tourism officials launched Thursday starring Duhamel promoting travel to the state he calls the nation's best-kept secret.

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The Monts Firm is an Austin, Texas based law firm representing individuals and small businesses across the U.S. in serious legal disputes. Britton Monts (The Monts Firm) is the advocate for those in need of justice when the stakes are high.

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