South Dakota Oil and Gas Association

South Dakota Oil and Gas Association
SDOGA

Friday, August 29, 2014

Potential Game Changing Technology removes H2S from #Bakken Oil

A potential “game-changer” in the oil industry will be highlighted during a featured presentation at the 2014 Black Hills Bakken & Investor Conference October 1st and 2nd at the Spearfish Holiday Inn Convention Center, Spearfish, S.D.

Two western South Dakota entrepreneurs, Tom Wilson and Dan Johnson, have created an innovative and environmentally friendly method of turning hazardous oil into safe and profitable oil.  Tom and Dan have extensive backgrounds in the oil industry with nearly 70 years combined experience.

The company, Blue Bull, LLC, turns sour crude into sweet crude by removing Hydrogen Sulfide (H2S) from the oil.  Hydrogen Sulfide is the second-most-deadly, naturally occurring gas.  It kills by paralyzing the nervous system area that controls the involuntary function of breathing. The result is lack of oxygen to the brain, followed by death in minutes.  Stricter regulation of H2S makes it more difficult to blend large volumes of H2S oil with crude, leaving H2S oil more difficult to transport by rail and pipeline, as it’s highly corrosive.

Their first, fully operational processing plant in Sidney, Montana has been in operation for a few months and they are processing approximately 2000 barrels of oil a day.  The company’s patent pending processing system doesn’t just remove H2S from oil; it eliminates it completely without residue or additional cleansing. 


Prior to their system, the only way to treat sour crude was with chemicals, which added between $4 and $15 per barrel.  With chemical cleansing, H2S is only reduced, not eliminated; and trace chemicals remain after the process.  This new process leaves no chemical residue because chemicals aren’t used in any part of the process.  

SDOGA Oil and Gas Industry Afterwork Social a Huge Success

On August 27th, the South Dakota Oil and Gas Association hosted an Oil and Gas Industry Afterwork Industry Social at Minerva's in Rapid City, SD.  The social was held from 5pm to 8pm, and featured sponsors Caber Engineering and Black Hills Corporation.

The goal of the social was to simply get the conversation started in South Dakota on what is happening, what our future holds, and how South Dakota companies can make a collaborative effort to work together.  This is the culture of doing business in South Dakota.  This was clearly evident when it came to helping our ranchers this past winter after winter storm Atlas, and the thousands of people supporting the losses through the Rancher's Relief Fund.

As I approached on how to put an industry social together in South Dakota, I realized the overwhelming need to put forth the efforts to get the industry to work together now.  South Dakota is quickly becoming a service-related business hub to the region.  With companies like Adams ISC, Caber Engineering, Black Hills Corporation, Broadwind Services, and many more, I've listened first hand how the Bakken has increased business and evolved how these companies do business in the years to come.

I put together a simple gathering in a room that could hold about 40 people.  We filled it with over 40 for nearly two in a half hours.  This couldn't have been done without the support of the sponsors and our members helping spread the word.  As I look back on how the social went, it was a huge success.  Everyone was engaged in some sort of fashion, and I think everyone met someone new!

One of the critical pieces to the social was getting immediate feedback from the attendees before they left.  I did this by getting a beautiful wine basket donated by my good friends and owners of Belle Joli Winery in Sturgis.  In order to be register, attendees were asked to give us feedback on the event.  This is proving to be really helpful.  All of the feedback received (more than half at 27) was very positive, and only a few things stand out that we will improve upon for the next event.  Here are some of the comments from attendees:

"Good opportunity to meet people and promote the new Petroleum Systems Engineering Program at SD School of Mines and Technology... which was created to serve the regional Oil and Gas Industry!" Brad Johnson, VP at SDSM&T

"Very good networking with people in the industry" Tom Wilson, Blue Bull, LLC

"Great gathering, good info, fantastic networking" Tory Stugelmeyer, Camo Ltd

A couple of people felt we should have some sort of a presentation at the social.  I'm not sure why, because typically a networking social is meant to do just that, socialize and network with your peers and not have a presentation or agenda pushed on people.  I didn't want the atmosphere to be about the SD Oil and Gas Association, but about helping our members meet new people in the industry.  But I love the idea, and we will certainly look to bring good topics of discussion from several of our most valuable resources in our member companies.  I have no doubt South Dakota School of Mines and Technology would be more than happy to provide a brief presentation on their new Petroleum Systems Engineering Program, and I have a few other companies in mind that could provide some great educational pieces.  Another piece would be to provide Bakken updates to attendees on an ongoing basis, and this could include interaction from attendees if they are seeing any new trends or changes in the work environment.  If our attendees are saying they want to learn more while still coming to socialize with other industry professionals, I will certainly listen.  After all, the events are meant for our members and attendees to grow both professionally and help provide networking opportunities for their businesses to succeed.  

I want to say thank you to our sponsors and our members, and I really appreciate everyone that came to the event just to check it out and see what we have going on.  I am both humbled and excited to see the turnout for our next event!  If you want to stay tuned in, become a member and make sure you are subscribed to our e-newsletter at www.sdoil.org.

Cheers,
Adam

SD Dept of Ag proposes new Oil and Gas Mediation Rules

The South Dakota Oil and Gas Association recently received notice on the proposed new rules for the expansion of the mediation program for federal lands mediation, and oil and gas mediation.  The reason for adopting the new rules, according to the Department of Agriculture is to enhance the existing farm loan mediation program and to adopt rules for the federal land mediation and oil and gas mediation areas.
SDOGA has obtained a copy of the new proposed rules to the oil and gas mediation.  I am currently reviewing the rules, and can provide a copy to anyone interested in reviewing it themselves.  The rules are open to the public for review.  I recommend any members who have interest in the mediation process to voice their concerns directly to SDOGA via email or by calling me, so I can voice concerns at the public hearing on behalf of members.  A copy of the Notice of Hearing can be found here. 

Black Hills Bakken and Investor Conference

The South Dakota Oil & Gas Association is hosting the 2014 Black Hills Bakken & Investor Conference October 1-2 in Spearfish, SD.  The event will be held at the Spearfish Holiday Inn & Convention Center.

Inc. Magazine’s Norm Brodsky will kick off the conference October 1 as the keynote speaker.  Brodksy is the co-author of Inc. Magazine’s “Street Smarts” column.  He has invested his own capital in the Bakken region of North Dakota and is the founder of several businesses, including a three-time Inc. 500 company.  

CEO Chris Faulkner of Breitling Energy is also featured to speak, along with a private viewing of his movie Breaking Free: The Shale Rock Revolution immediately after.  

In addition to the full agenda will feature several industry investment guru's, like Joel Block and Mark Anderson.  The investor section will feature how to use crowdfunding to your advantage, and investing in oil production.  

I can't stress this message enough to South Dakota companies that want their foot in the door in the Bakken.  This is a must attend event you will not want to miss.  The Conference will offer critical information on industry, technology, investments, and help the attendees become more profitable in the energy marketplace.

The conference will feature speakers from several different states with topics ranging from investing in North Dakota oil, to raising private equity, to crowdfunding.  Seating is limited and the 2012 conference sold out early.  More information can be found at www.BlackHillsBakkenConference.com

Don't miss out on your slice of the pie. 

Adam