The Montana Petroleum Association will hold its annual meeting in Billings on August 30 and 31, at the DoubleTree Hotel. This year the event will feature Bruce Larsen, President and Chief Executive of Kraken Resources, as speaker at the annual Petroleum Industry Appreciation Day Luncheon, to which the public is invited.

Larsen has 20 years of oil and gas exploration and production experience specializing in business development, resource identification, geologic modeling, and operational geology. Before forming Kraken, Larsen was Executive Vice President of Ursa Resources Group LLC, where he led the company’s Williston Basin entry, developed the company’s Bakken Shale geologic model, and oversaw leasing of 120,000 net acres. Prior to Ursa, Larsen worked at Legend Natural Gas where he evaluated acquisition opportunities in nearly every onshore U.S. basin.

The Appreciation Day Luncheon will be on Wednesday, August 31 from 11:30 am to 1:30 pm. following a forenoon program of presenters and panel discussions about the status of the industry.

The event also includes a golfing and a barbecue dinner at the Pryor Creek Golf Course on Aug. 31.

For more information and costs contact mpa@montanapetroleum.org .

“You did that.”

“We need to talk about it more,” said Blu Hulsey, Senior Vice President of Government Relations and Regulatory Affairs at Continental Resources. The accomplishments and technological development of the petroleum industry goes far too much unremarked upon, Hulsey told the audience at the Montana Petroleum Association’s Appreciation Luncheon at the DoubleTree in Billings, on August 28.

The technology that has been developed within the industry “is equal to the technology of putting people on the moon,” he said,

Continental Resources is one of the largest oil producers in the Bakken.

“We are the greatest oil country in the world,” Hulsey unequivocally stated at one point.

The accomplishments of the industry “has changed the world,” said Hulsey, pointing to the recent antics of Iran capturing oil tankers and threatening other countries militarily “…and the price of gas in Billings doesn’t go up a penny,” he exclaimed. In the past, with the US dependent upon the Middle East for oil, any kind of incident like those recently witnessed, would have caused oil prices to sky rocket, but not anymore.

“You did that,” he told the room packed with representatives of all aspects of the petroleum industry. The US petroleum industry is now the world’s largest producer of oil and an exporter of oil and gas to the rest of the world.

As the cost of production continues to decline because of the new technology, and the level of production continues to increase there will continue to be a lot of changes to the world and to the industry itself.

The industry is changing how it looks at itself. “Everyone is looking internally,” he said about petroleum businesses.

You don’t need 150 rigs in the Bakken, 60 will produce just as much, now.

Returns that were projected on $70 per barrel oil prices are now being experienced with $50 per barrel oil prices. 

“We have almost doubled production in four years because of technology,” said Hulsey.

At one point it was impressive that there were 12 wells in the Bakken that hit 100,000 barrels of production in the first 90 days. Now there are 157 wells that hit that level of production in 90 days, and more and more continue to hit that goal.

“You are going to see long-term growth in the Bakken,” predicted Hulsey, “and we are going to continue to get more recovery.”

Investors are not being apprised of this reality as much as they should be, Hulsey lamented.

Hulsey praised the people in the industry. When the industry encounters barriers, “our people get better – American ingenuity is making a difference.”

Hulsey talked about the Bakken as a world class resource, saying that 150 miles wide and 150 miles long, it is comparable to the Permian Basin, which while impressive and larger doesn’t have the same quality of oil. There is more water in the Permian oil. Having considerably less water reduces production costs in the Bakken. Efficiencies being achieved in the Bakken are not necessarily found in every oil field – many won’t be found in the Permian.

The Bakken will eventually produce 30 to 40 billion barrels of oil.

Hulsey lauded the Trump administration. “We have an administration that is not stopping us from doing long-term development…that means big improvements for the long term.”

By Jenna McKinney, Montana Petroleum Association


 The Montana Petroleum Association (MPA) applauds the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel that recently ruled the injunction put in place last fall by U.S. District Court Judge Brian Morris is no longer in effect. This decision comes shortly after the Trump administration issued a new Presidential Permit on March 29, 2019. The new permit supersedes the previous permit and allows TransCanada to now continue construction of the Keystone XL pipeline project.

The continued delays of the Keystone XL pipeline project have gone on since the first Presidential Permit was issued in 2008. In Montana the four year permitting process resulted in a Major Facilities Siting Act permit in 2012, seven years ago. The initial hold ups were due to standard protocols for Environmental Impact Studies (EIS) and determining the most advantageous route for the pipeline to go from Canada to Houston, TX. The subsequent delays and court appeals have become a battle ground for political gamesmanship and conflicting ideologies. The Keystone XL pipeline project is one example of how political posturing has harmed our economy by stifling employment and slowing reasonable access to markets. With a projected $3.4 billion added to the U.S. GDP, and the creation of tens of thousands of jobs, isn’t it time for the Keystone XL to be built?

Montana Petroleum Association Executive Director, Alan Olson responded to the news with, “Oil and gas development and industry growth means significant job opportunities for Montanans, it means energy independence for America, and provides responsible, safe, and efficient transportation for the oil and gas industry.  We appreciate the Trump Administration’s support of Keystone XL pipeline and the Oil and Gas industry.”