BISMARCK, N.D. (North Dakota Monitor) — North Dakota oil shipped on the Dakota Access Pipeline is fetching nearly $7 more per barrel than a U.S. benchmark price amid volatility caused by the Iran war.

State regulators aren’t sure why prices for North Dakota oil at its destination in Illinois are higher than traditional benchmark prices. One possibility is the light, sweet crude can be more easily refined into products like jet fuel and diesel that are experiencing demand surges in Europe and elsewhere.

How much of that higher price benefits North Dakota will be more clear in the coming months, said Justin Kringstad, director of the North Dakota Pipeline Authority.

“Royalty owners, the producers, the state, all share that uplift,” Kringstad said.

North Dakota crude oil typically is discounted compared to benchmark pricing to account for the cost of transportation. Kringstad and Nathan Anderson, director of the North Dakota Department of Mineral Resources, expect to have more information next month about why the prices have been higher in recent weeks and how much of that value is filtering back to North Dakota.

“I would suspect that some portion of it, probably not all of it for sure, does make its way back,” Anderson said.

The new dynamic is a small part of a global oil market that has been thrown into chaos by the Iran war and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a maritime bottleneck for a fifth of the world’s oil production.

“Boy, this is largely dominated by the word volatility. That’s the way I would describe pricing over the last 50 days,” Anderson said. “But over the last seven days, I think we’ve had almost a $20 swing in price, depending upon what talks are occurring between the United States and Iran.”

That chaotic market dynamic and the uncertainty of how long the conflict, and subsequently high oil prices, will endure is a big reason why publicly-traded oil companies have not invested in new drilling, Anderson said.

But the number of maintenance rigs has risen from 110 to 125 since last month, suggesting that oil companies are trying to optimize production from existing wells while oil prices remain high, the director said.

There are 26 active drilling rigs in North Dakota, and companies have indicated plans to add one or two more, Anderson said.

Beyond that, Anderson does not expect publicly-traded companies to increase drilling activity until 2027 because their budgets for this year are already set. Privately-owned oil companies have more flexibility and could potentially invest in more drilling than they budgeted for this year if prices remain high enough to warrant it.

There is little data available on what impact the Iran war has had on North Dakota oil production so far because data is not available in real time. February figures, prior to the beginning of the war, were released Tuesday and showed the state produced an average of nearly 1.13 million barrels of oil per day. North Dakota also produced more than 3.32 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day.

The daily oil production is 1.76% below the revenue forecast used to guide North Dakota’s budget-making process. But Anderson expects those numbers to increase when March production is announced next month.

“One of the things that occurred when the Iran conflict happened was that those operators that had curtailed or shut in production during the low price environment started to bring that production online,” Anderson said.

North Dakota Monitor reporter Jacob Orledge can be reached at jorledge@northdakotamonitor.com.

FARGO, N.D. (KVRR) — For more than 400 miles, 12 runners will trek across North Dakota to carry the stories of love, loss, and resilience from community to community.

“After having run Haven since 2017, the 10.15 Project came, and it just is so exciting because it’s really looking at pregnancy and infant loss and putting it in a new light. And really giving people the opportunity to do something that you can see and it’s meaningful,” said Jen Burgard, Founder and Executive Director of Haven.

The 10.15 Project was co-founded by Haven, an organization that supports grieving families. The relay begins on International Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day. And during the four days, the team hopes to bring awareness to families.

“It gives you pieces of solitude, of quiet, of reflection, and also a purpose. It gives you meaning, and I think endurance is one of the biggest pieces of this. It’s the endurance required to navigate pregnancy and infant loss is extreme. And I think this really mirrors that,” said Burgard.

While many of the runners come from different fields, many have also experienced a loss themselves.

“When it happened in my family, it was kind of something we were all struck by. You realize how common it is. And you know, I want to bring light to that,” said Ty Casey, Runner and Learning and Development Specialist at TrueNorth Steel.

Casey has multiple runs planned over the next few months, but with this run in particular, he hopes this will bring awareness.

“If this is one thing that can help bring light to it and help people be more open and help people to talk about it, and take some of the grief away that would be totally ideal for us just to help out a little bit,” said Casey.

The relay begins on October 15 in Medora and will end on October 18th in Fargo.

Spring Fever

District Game Warden Sam Feldmann

As winter begins to fade and ice fishing begins to slow, everyone gets the itch to be outside on nice days when it’s warming and the sun is shining. People are beginning to think about their garden or outdoor projects around the house they have been pondering all winter.

While others have been thinking about open water fishing, getting the boat ready, hitting the field to look for shed antlers in a favorite spot they’ve been watching deer all winter, or slipping into the field to lure a spring gobbler into shotgun range with a new call they’ve been practicing with all winter.

With the excitement of warm weather and getting out to enjoy everything a spring day has to offer, I would like to remind everyone of a few things while enjoying what North Dakota has to offer.

This year is a registration year for all motorized watercrafts. This doesn’t just mean you have to renew your registration. It means that when you get the new red stickers sporting “28” on them that they must be affixed to both sides of the bow of the boat.

Another reminder is that if you are going shed hunting, there are a few things to remember. Shed antlers are legal to possess. This time of year, our officers receive lots of calls about shed hunters locating “dead heads,” which are animals that have died and the antlers are still attached to the skull plate.

If you happen to locate a dead head, you cannot possess it without contacting your local game warden and receiving a permit for the animal. Also, if you are going to shed hunt on posted private property or a Private Lands Opens To Sportsmen tract, you need to obtain permission to do so. Wildlife management areas and other state and federal lands are open to shed hunting, but a good rule of thumb is to check the regulations on public property before heading out.

If you are going to be chasing turkeys this spring through the timber, there are a few things that should be remembered. Make sure you have your tag with you when you are in the field. Remember that your tag is only legal for one bearded wild turkey. If you are lucky enough to harvest a turkey you fooled into coming to your calling and decoy, you must tag it before doing anything else.

One last reminder for the spring activities. Remember that all licenses, whether it’s a hunting license or fishing license, expired March 31 and needed to be renewed as of April 1, 2026

With these few reminders out of the way, remember to have fun and enjoy what the great state of North Dakota has to offer.