Students looking around the NDPC at the Alerus center, an annual meeting to inform the public about the oil industry in North Dakota. Photo by Megan Hoffman.

North Dakota has one of the most profitable economies in the U.S. thanks to the Bakken oil fields — something many people in the eastern part of the state often aren’t familiar with unless they travel to that side of the state.

The 32nd Annual Meeting of the North Dakota Petroleum Council was held Monday through Wednesday at the Alerus Center in Grand Forks. The council hoped in part to educate people on this side of the state about what is really going on in the Bakken Formation.

The first day of the meeting featured several educational sessions, a showcase of vendors and a community barbeque.

The second and third days were the annual meetings for members of the council as well as a members only showcase, allowing the vendors to present their business to potential clients.

“Monday is the only day open to the public,” Government Affairs Manager Alexis Brinkman said. “The booths allow the vendors to talk to community members.”

The vendors included the UND School of Mines, the North Dakota Housing Finance Agency, Corpac Steel Products and 125 other vendors with interests in the Bakken oil fields.

“Hopefully we’ll give Grand Forks people a taste of what’s going on in the western side of the state,” said Peter Atkinson of DFI — an oil and gas service company. “They will get a greater exposure to the companies.”

The landscape in the western part of North Dakota has drastically changed since the Bakken started booming several years ago.

Although the Bakken has had a huge impact on the economy in North Dakota, there are a lot of positives and negatives regarding the situation in eastern North Dakota. Since everyone can’t get over to look and see what it going on in the oil fields, this expo hoped to help community members understand the issues that they may regularly hear about in the news, firsthand. But as Wade Carlson, President of Carlson McCain, Inc. said, “you can’t really describe it until you go there and see it yourself.”

Carlson McCain, Inc. is a permitting company based out of Bismarck. Several years ago they were the only permitting company in the area, but since the Bakken boom, the number of permitting companies has quadrupled, and they have hired three times the amount of employees they had before the Bakken Boom. The company is at the meetings to help the community and help their business.

“We’re displaying today to help business development and name recognition,” Ryan Krapp, a Natural Resource Specialist for Carlson McCain, said.

Krapp attended UND and majored in Fisheries and Wildlife before getting a job with Carlson McCain.

“I was able to stay in North Dakota and get a job somewhere other than Fish and Wildlife because of the opportunities in the Bakken,” Krapp said.

The first day of the meetings also featured a free barbeque for the public to try and encourage people to get out and learn.

“There is a lot to learn,” Michael Riner of J-W Power Company said. “But the people have to be interested to find out.”

With the Bakken oil fields projected to possibly last for another 100 years, the job opportunities for UND students in the future looks very good, as long as they know what they are getting into.

“I think it’s a good idea for UND students to attend this,” Geological Engineering student Karleigh Lider said. “It gives them an opportunity to see what they’ll be doing with their future.”

Megan Hoffman is a staff writer for The Dakota Student. She can be reached at megan.hoffman@my.und.edu.