Energy Alliance Encourages Dialog - KXNet - Bismarck/Minot/Williston/Dickinson

Energy Alliance Encourages Dialog

Could oil drilling happen soon directly under the city of Sidney, Montana?

And could the same thing happen someday under Williston?

Those questions were topics of discussion Thursday night in Sidney as the MonDak Energy Alliance held a regular meeting.

The group meets a few times per year, bringing together people from Montana and North Dakota to discuss common issues related to energy development in the region.

Williston Mayor Ward Koeser says the possibility of drilling for oil beneath major cities is interesting.

(Ward Koeser, Williston Mayor) "I've always been intrigued by that because this happened in Dickinson a number of years ago and there's been talk of something like that under Williston. They have not come forward with that as of this time but if they would find a way to do this under Sidney and with all the thousands of mineral owners we would have here, I think it would be interesting to our people here to see oil development under actually the city of Williston someday."

The treasurer of the MonDak Energy Alliance says the group - that was formed in 2008 - is designed to get everyone's ideas and concerns out in the open.

(Ken Callahan, MonDak Energy Alliance Treasurer) "Our objective is to gather people together and have them come up with some ideas as members. From those ideas we form some meetings and get the right people to the table and get them to stay

Other topics covered at Thursday's meeting in Sidney included land owner rights and highway speed limits.