Oil Counties Consider Issues - KXNet - Bismarck/Minot/Williston/Dickinson

Oil Counties Consider Issues

Government leaders from state legislators all the way to the Governor were in Minot today taking part in the North Dakota Association of Oil and Gas Producing Counties annual meeting.

And with the legislative session only a few months away, the meeting was pivotal to transition toward what could be a busy session in Bismarck in early 2013.

The boom continues in western and central North Dakota...and it shows no signs of slowing -- in fact, if anything -- it is getting busier.

Dan Brosz, the president of the N-D-A-O-G-P-C says that makes it even more important for counties to catch up with infrastructure needs in the Bakken and beyond...

(Dan Brosz - NDAOGPC President) "We need enough funds to be able to keep this economic engine driving. If we don't get our roads fixed up we are going to have citizens and people...we may just shut it down. There might be four months out of the year where they don't produce oil or very little oil and that doesn't help anybody."

Brosz says the fact this boom has lasted may actually help the counties and their desire to see a bigger share of oil tax revenue flow back to the local governments.

He says they would like to see closer to 50 percent of those funds come back to counties...and the longer the Bakken keeps producing, the better chance that might happen.

Plus, as people's confidence in the play continues to increase...more projects, and therefore more risks, may be taken.

(Dan Brosz - NDAOGPC President) "I think the more we go the better it is going to be so people can do a long term plan. If we need to bond or do whatever to improve our systems we can feel comfortable that it won't be a bust like last time and all of the sudden we have a bunch of debt to pay off."