How North Dakota Became Saudi Arabia

Wall Street Journal ^ | OCTOBER 1, 2011 | STEPHEN MOORE

[radpolis]

Harold Hamm, the Oklahoma-based founder and CEO of Continental Resources, the 14th-largest oil company in America, is a man who thinks big. He came to Washington last month to spread a needed message of economic optimism: With the right set of national energy policies, the United States could be "completely energy independent by the end of the decade. We can be the Saudi Arabia of oil and natural gas in the 21st century."

"President Obama is riding the wrong horse on energy," he adds. We can't come anywhere near the scale of energy production to achieve energy independence by pouring tax dollars into "green energy" sources like wind and solar, he argues. It has to come from oil and gas.

You'd expect an oilman to make the "drill, baby, drill" pitch. But since 2005 America truly has been in the midst of a revolution in oil and natural gas, which is the nation's fastest-growing manufacturing sector. No one is more responsible for that resurgence than Mr. Hamm. He was the original discoverer of the gigantic and prolific Bakken oil fields of Montana and North Dakota that have already helped move the U.S. into third place among world oil producers.

How much oil does Bakken have? The official estimate of the U.S. Geological Survey a few years ago was between four and five billion barrels. Mr. Hamm disagrees: "No way. We estimate that the entire field, fully developed, in Bakken is 24 billion barrels."

[dsrtsage]

What? North Dakota became Saudi Arabia? So that means women can’t drive there? Must have the lowest accident rate in the lower 55!

[Vigilanteman]

We can't come anywhere near the scale of energy production to achieve energy independence by pouring tax dollars into "green energy" sources like wind and solar . . .

I think that's the idea of ObaMao and his puppet masters, isn't it?

How will the U.S. get relegated to third world status if we achieve energy independence? Do you think there are enough third worlders to crash through our borders to achieve that goal?

[PieterCasparzen]

As one form of energy grows more expensive, alternatives are developed. Of course, the more the changeover from the old to the new is handled by the private sector and the less fiddle-faddling is done by the government, the more efficiently it is envisioned and implemented.

[PA Engineer]

What? North Dakota became Saudi Arabia? So that means women can’t drive there? Must have the lowest accident rate in the lower 55!

Actually Saudi has one of the highest accident rates in the world. You would have to experience it. I did.

[HiTech RedNeck]

worse than tijuana taxi drivers?

[Recon Dad]

Thanks very much for the post. In 2013 I hope Mr Hamm’s vision comes into being.

[ncfool]

Drill baby Drill.. Obummer doesn’t want to support America. We need a President who is for jobs in America.

[Former Proud Canadian]

Just for the record, the Keystone pipeline project is routed right through the Bakken field. It is designed to bring Alberta oil AND North Dakota oil to market.

Obama is stalling on the Keystone project. Obamanomics?

[ballplayer]

I think The Herman Cain Train should Get this Guy On Board

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks radpolis.

[headstamp 2]

Obama and his fellow Marxists are experiencing “An Inconvenient Truth” regarding US energy production. It’s interfering with there idiotic “Green” fantasy.

Look for more hostility from them toward the Oil and Gas industry. Hopefully they will be thrown out on their asses in 2012.

[PA Engineer]

worse than tijuana taxi drivers?

Oh yeah. An entirely different dimension of worse.

[wardaddy]

I like the Northern Plains...good folks. Cold winters though.

[Lurk-know-more]

Wow! Like your reference the “all 57 states” statement by BHO. What are the sales tax rate and income tax rates in the other 5 or 7 depending on where you are counting?

[Bringbackthedraft]

How much oil does Bakken have? ..........................................And is it on Indian tribal land?

[ROTB]

If they were smarter, they would ...

1) unleash producers of oil and gas
2) use the tax windfall to FUND “green” energy research

... rather than constricting oil supply to where “green” energy is cheaper.

[Virginia Ridgerunner]

His only beef these days is with Washington. Mr. Hamm was invited to the White House for a "giving summit" with wealthy Americans who have pledged to donate at least half their wealth to charity. (He's given tens of millions of dollars already to schools like Oklahoma State and for diabetes research.) "Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, they were all there," he recalls.

When it was Mr. Hamm's turn to talk briefly with President Obama, "I told him of the revolution in the oil and gas industry and how we have the capacity to produce enough oil to enable America to replace OPEC. I wanted to make sure he knew about this."

The president's reaction? "He turned to me and said, 'Oil and gas will be important for the next few years. But we need to go on to green and alternative energy. [Energy] Secretary [Steven] Chu has assured me that within five years, we can have a battery developed that will make a car with the equivalent of 130 miles per gallon.'" Mr. Hamm holds his head in his hands and says, "Even if you believed that, why would you want to stop oil and gas development? It was pretty disappointing."

The sheer stupidity of this president and his minions is astounding.

[ConservativeDude]

To quote Mr. Hamm and the story again, b/c it deserves to be repeated:

“Mr. Hamm believes that if Mr. Obama truly wants more job creation, he should study North Dakota, the state with the lowest unemployment rate in the nation at 3.5%. He swears that number is overstated: “We can’t find any unemployed people up there. The state has 18,000 unfilled jobs,” Mr. Hamm insists. “And these are jobs that pay $60,000 to $80,000 a year.” The economy is expanding so fast that North Dakota has a housing shortage. Thanks to the oil boom—Continental pays more than $50 million in state taxes a year—the state has a budget surplus and is considering ending income and property taxes.”