AT LEAST FOR NOW

 
Badlands NGL LLC is a California start up company. At least for now.

According to the North Dakota Governor Jack Dalrymple, the firm plans to move to Colorado and build a $4billion plastic manufacturing plant in Dalrymple's state. Gov. Dalrympled made the announcement today at a new conference with the CEO of Badlands, William Jeffery Gilliam.

The fracking boom in North Dakota no doubt has something to do with the location choice of Badlands.

The plant will convert ethane, a byproduct of natural gas processing, into polyethylene, which is used to make a wide variety of plastic consumer and industrial products, according to the governor’s office.

The project will be the largest private investment in North Dakota’s history, according to the office.

Badlands, which currently has fewer than 10 employees, is establishing its headquarters in Denver, as well as offices in Bismarck, North Dakota, according to The Associated Press.
Badlands’ plastic plant, along with two proposed fertilizer plants, would help soak up the abundant supply of natural gas in North Dakota.

Currently, about a third of North Dakota’s natural gas is burned off in a process called “flaring” because there are no pipelines nearby to carry the natural gas to market.


Manufacturing plants in North Dakota’s Bakken oil field, such as the Badlands’ proposal, would be good news for Colorado-based oil and gas companies with operations in the state because North Dakota officials have enacted policies that will restrict oil production if flaring is not reduced.

“This project is fully aligned with our goals to reduce flaring, add value to our energy resources right here in North Dakota and create diverse job opportunities across the state,” Dalrymple said. “By advancing the responsible development of our energy resources and by adding value to all of our resources, the opportunities in North Dakota are boundless.”

The facility will be able to produce 1.5 million metric tons of polyethylene, or 3.3 billion pounds annually, and will employ 500 highly trained people in manufacturing, marketing, administrative, safety, financial and executive positions. The project will take at least three years for full development, the office said.

Meanwhile, California considers a hold on fracking in its state.

But a recent report from the Bureau of Land Management apparently cleared the way for new leasing agreements in 2015.

The Bureau of Land Management has announced plans to resume oil and gas leasing for fracking in California at the same time it has released an independently produced report finding that current fracking methods aren’t fouling air and water and don’t raise the risk of earthquakes in the state.

The California Council on Science and Technology, with researchers from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the Pacific Institute, drafted the independent technical study for the BLM after a lawsuit filed by environmental groups alleged the agency did not know the risks of fracking in the state. 

The suit was filed in 2012 by the Center for Biological Diversity and the Sierra Club.
Last year, the BLM suspended auctions for oil and gas leases. The CCST’s report moves the federal government closer to reopening lease auctions in California; the next step is an environmental review, which will incorporate the report’s findings.

Expect the turmoil to continue at least for now.