LETTER: Bakken oil field should be further developed

Talk about it

To the Editor:

This is a letter to Gov. Dennis Daugaard, South Dakota, and Gov. Jack Dalrymple, North Dakota.

The purpose of this letter is to request your help by working together in the planning and economic development of the northern region’s oil resources.

Apparently, your office fails to realize the huge economic potential to the Dakotas concerning the Bakken oil field resources.

Within a decade, this oil field will produce approximately 3 million barrels of oil per day. Expansion and development of oil refining near and around existing refineries can provide huge benefits to the northern region. Digging ditches to the south is counterproductive and has a small, short-term impact on jobs.

Education and employment of geologists, chemical engineers, petroleum engineers and technical people will be valuable to the Dakotas and the region’s economy. Expansion of your state’s educational system is required.

Is it wise to export our resources like Wyoming is doing? I think not.

This development will be second in the nation within a decade. We must take the opportunity.

If the American people realize the Keystone XL project is being used to ship tar sands oil to China (China has $10 billion investment), they will be outraged. The wasted electrical energy used to pump crude oil long distances south, the proven unsafe records of pipeline oil leaks, and the exporting of our domestic oil for big oil company profits are reasons for this outrage. Furthermore, this is opening the door for shipping the northern region’s crude oil and water south.

The proposed Keystone XL pipeline is not in the public interest. Geographically, in the big picture, refined oil pipelines going easterly and westerly would be best. Further, there would be less concentration in the south by the big oil companies.

Tags: tar sands, opinion, updates, letters, oil, bakken, keystone, transcanada, pipeline, refineries