There was a longform article in a recent issue of The New Yorker, which profiled the life and work of Rachael Van Horn, a female oilfield pumper in Oklahoma. This article offers a day in the life perspective of the work of a pumper, and [...]
This time of year is brutally cold, and most of us try to stay indoors as much as possible. However, the oil and gas industry doesn’t break for winter, so our outdoor workers are dealing with the rugged and frigid weather every single day. If [...]
The Bismarck Tribune reports that Phillips 66 and Bridger Pipeline have announced preliminary plans to build a new pipeline which would transport crude oil from the Bakken and the Rocky Mountain production areas down to Corpus Christi, Texas. The companies report that the new Liberty [...]
Methane is a gas produced by landfills, coal mines, and wastewater treatment plants, in addition to oil and gas facilities. For years, energy companies have complained that the environmental restrictions requiring them to test for emissions were expensive and difficult, amounting to nothing more than [...]
The recent U.S. shale revolution has brought drilling and oil production to places that previously had little industry of the type, like our Bakken Shale Formation. Before, we never had the infrastructure to move product away—but all that changed with the advent of “virtual pipelines,” [...]
Two drilling rig employees were recently injured in a fire that's under investigation by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). The accident occurred around 5:30pm on July 2 at a Continental Resources site between Keene and New Town. According to an article in the [...]
Earlier this year we reported on the harrowing statistics surrounding the oil and gas extraction industry in North Dakota, and how workers seem to be required to take their lives in their hands to do their work. We questioned whether safety was a priority because [...]
Most truck drivers are required by federal law to get enough sleep and rest. The oil field industry, however, is exempted from parts of the federal laws on driving and fatigue, administered by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA). The exemptions were created in [...]
The oil and gas industry is hard on its workforce. Yes, it helps keep our economy running – but it poses a lot of dangers to its workers. Among the most serious is toxic chemical exposure: not only can corrosive materials lead to serious burns, [...]
The North Dakota oil fields, especially the Bakken formation, have provided our people with jobs and security for well over a decade. Our workers are strong and dedicated, and we appreciate all the hard work they do for our state. But when safety takes a [...]
