Peace Garden News

Senator John Hoeven addressed the future of North Dakota’s coal industry at the Lignite Energy Council’s annual meeting in Bismarck. During a panel discussion with representatives from the Lignite Energy Council, North Dakota Petroleum Council, the Energy & Environmental Research Center, and Rainbow Energy, Hoeven described his ongoing efforts to strengthen energy production in the state.

Hoeven highlighted his Crack the Code 2.0 initiative, which aims to bring together North Dakota’s oil and gas sectors by using enhanced oil recovery (EOR) methods. The goal is to double oil recovery in the Bakken region and extend the operational life of coal-fired power plants in North Dakota. This approach has been made possible through a provision Hoeven included in the One Big Beautiful Bill (OB3), which adjusted the 45Q tax credit to encourage using carbon dioxide for EOR.

The policy allows coal producers to generate new revenue by selling CO2 to oil producers, making EOR a commercially viable method for extracting additional oil from the Bakken formation. According to Hoeven, this could unlock access to at least five billion barrels of previously unreachable oil.

To support these efforts, Hoeven is seeking up to $50 million for deploying EOR technology in North Dakota and has already secured $12 million toward this objective. He also obtained a commitment from the nominee for head of U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development to collaborate on using federal credit programs that could speed up this initiative.

In addition to supporting technological advances, Hoeven discussed regulatory changes intended to ease restrictions on energy producers. He worked with former President Trump’s administration earlier this year to rescind both the Clean Power Plan 2.0 and Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) rule—federal regulations imposed during President Biden’s administration. Previously, he and then-Congressman Kelly Armstrong led legislation aimed at blocking new EPA MATS rules.

Hoeven also joined other members of North Dakota’s congressional delegation in sponsoring legislation that overturned a Bureau of Land Management Resource Management Plan for North Dakota. The plan would have restricted access to nearly all federal coal resources as well as most oil and gas acreage within the state.

“Crack the Code 2.0 is about realizing the potential of North Dakota’s vast, untapped energy reserves, particularly our oil, gas and coal resources,” said Hoeven. “We know EOR works, because we’ve been shipping CO2 from the Dakota Gasification Company up to Weyburn Field for this purpose for 25 years. Now, due to the changes we made under OB3 and with the federal support we’re advancing, we can utilize this approach in the Bakken. Doing so gives our coal producers a new revenue stream while opening up at least 5 billion barrels of additional oil for production, both of which are supported by our efforts to roll back the regulatory onslaught imposed under President Biden. The result is continued access to reliable baseload power and more domestic oil and gas – that’s a win for American consumers, our economy and U.S. energy dominance.”