Infocast in the News

Bakken Infrastructure summit this week in Denver

10/22/2011

By Nick Smith
Williston Herald
Published/Last Modified on Saturday, October 22, 2011 7:52 PM CDT

The Bakken will be rocking downtown Denver this week with the kickoff of the second annual Bakken Infrastructure Finance and Development Summit.

The three-day conference begins Monday and will feature several state officials and industry executives.

The city of Williston and Williams County will have strong representation in Denver.

Several local leaders will be taking part in panel discussions on issues including economic development and real estate.

The summit begins on Monday. The first day of the summit features a number of workshops. These workshops will outline the geology of the Williston Basin as well as the opportunities for drilling in the Dakotas, Montana and Canada.

Kathleen Neset, president of Neset Consulting out of Tioga, will be leading a Monday morning workshop. She'll be presenting an overview of the Bakken and Sanish Formations.

The main conference begins on Tuesday with a keynote address by Harold Hamm, CEO of Continental Resources.

Continental Resources is the largest acreage holder in the Bakken, with control of more than 901,000 net mineral acres as of June 30.

Cole Gustafson with North Dakota State University's Department of Agribusiness and Applied Economics will be leading a presentation on Tuesday afternoon.

Gustafson will be discussing power issues in the Williston Basin.

Williston Economic Development will be sponsoring a networking reception from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday.

The conference concludes on Wednesday, with several western North Dakota speakers on hand.

North Dakota Gov. Jack Dalrymple will be the Wednesday morning keynote speaker.

Highlighting the Wednesday morning sessions is a presentation on temporary housing by Target Logistics.

Target Logistics CEO Brian Lash will be outlining the importance of man camps in the Williston Basin.The Boston-based company has several large camps in western North Dakota. The company will be sponsoring a luncheon following Lash's presentation.

A series of panel discussions on western North Dakota infrastructure issues will dominate Wednesday afternoon.

Several northwest North Dakota officials will be sitting on these panels.

First will be a discussion on labor needs.

Williston Workforce Development Coordinator Shawn Wenko and Maren Daley, executive director of Job Service North Dakota, will take part in this discussion.

The next topic is community challenges in oil country such as infrastructure.

Williston Economic Development Director Tom Roflstad and McKenzie County Job Development Authority Executive Director Gene Veeder will be on the panel.

The third panelist is Paul Lucy, director of the North Dakota Department of Commerce' Economic Development and Finance Division.

The conference winds down with a discussion on real estate opportunities.

Tate Cymbaluk with Basin Brokers, also a member of the Williston City Commission, will be on the panel. Williams County Planning and Zoning Administrator Jill Edson will also be on the panel.

The Williston Herald will be providing coverage of the Bakken conference from downtown Denver. A full roundup of the conference will also be published in the November issue of Talkin' The Bakken.

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