The 2nd Annual Bakken Infrastructure Finance & Development Summit was held Oct. 24-26, in Denver, CO. The summit was an opportunity for those in any area of the oil industry to meet key decision makers from government, E&P companies, investment houses and financial institutions, midstream and other infrastructure developers and operators who are involved with Bakken infrastructure.
Approximately 350 people attended the second annual Bakken Infrastructure Finance and Development Summit in downtown Denver. Keynote speakers at the summit were Harold Hamm, CEO, Continental Resources, on day one and North Dakota Governor Jack Dalrymple, on the second morning of the summit.
The three-day summit was initiated to be the business center of infrastructure expansion in the Williston Basin and focus on current and future infrastructure projects in the Williston Basin and how this affects the economics of the region. For investors who attended it was an opportunity to learn where the investment opportunities are in real estate and community growth.
Day one of the summit featured workshops on the traditional Bakken and where it is headed today, the latest updates on the growing production from the entire Williston Basin and review on the increasing potential in resource plays outside of the traditional Bakken production. Workshop leaders discussed the expansion of the Bakken play into Montana, Saskatchewan and Alberta. There were detailed presentations covering the geology and the economics of these shale plays.
Day two agenda topics included briefings on every major pipeline project currently under development. With new pipelines for oil and natural gas liquids (NGL’s) and rail transloading stations being constructed in the Bakken, midstream infrastructure providers need to build relationships with the Bakken producers to meet their infrastructure needs and the summit was able to provide a network for these issues. There was also talk of how much additional midstream infrastructure is needed to accommodate increasing production levels.
Another focus was the activity in Bakken E&P, midstream, rail, trucking, housing, labor and power generation. One panel focus was how power companies are involved and can they help with growing drilling activity in the Bakken infrastructure, a discussion of major power issues related to growing drilling activity in North Dakota, what counties suffer with power shortages the most and a question of what are the plans for power plants expansion to secure sufficient power sources for expanding drilling activities.
An important panel discussion held on the second day of the summit looked at overcoming the community challenges related to drilling activities. They discussed the challenges oil and gas producing counties in North Dakota are dealing with and the social impact the drilling activities have on the local communities.
Considering the first summit of this kind a great success, local officials are planning another summit for next year.
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