Political rhetoric and posturing at some point during a typical state legislative session often prompts outside onlookers to label the atmosphere as an “East versus West” scenario.

Rep. Bob Skarphol, R-Tioga, however, is very firm in casting his opinion on this matter.

“And there is that, that myth, and I really believe it is a myth in North Dakota, quite frankly, that we have that (East versus West) issue. I don’t think we do,” Skarphol said as he addressed the second gathering of the Mon-Dak Energy Alliance recently in Sidney.

“When we have needs in the West, I don’t know that I have ever seen a vote where the Republicans out of Fargo haven’t given us 100 percent support. And you can’t get any further east in North Dakota than Fargo,” Skarphol said with a smile.

The part of the state that does provide a challenge, however, is the middle. “But we can’t get that kind of support out of Minot and Bismarck, quite frankly,” Skarphol said. “So to say that the East is adversarial to the West, I don’t agree with. But our midsection of our state is sometimes more of a problem.”

In sharing a North Dakota legislative perspective on the energy industry with the Mon-Dak group, he said over the last several sessions, the state has created some situations regarding transmission and pipeline authorities.

“We’ve authorized the issuance of $800 million in bonding authority for any entity that wishes to take on a private project to build transmission lines, to build pipelines. We haven’t had any takers,” Skarphol said. “Obviously, the oil industry out there apparently feels that building a substantial pipeline doesn’t have merit, or they would probably do it.”

He also reflected on his trip in October 2008 to the Canadian tar sands region in Alberta, a trip he encourages others to make if they get a chance.

“It’s a phenomenal project. And their intention at that time was to increase production on that to 5 million barrels a day. Rumors had it they were intending to build a 2.5 million barrel-a-day bullet pipeline from the tar sands to Cushing, Okla., with no on and off ramp, so it was strictly to be used for tar sands,” Skarphol said.

He said the change in the United States administration and the decline in oil prices has somewhat dampened enthusiasm in Canada, “but they are still moving forward, I assure you.”

After the recent North Dakota Legislature adjourned, Skarphol traveled to Alaska for a gathering of the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission, of which North Dakota is a member.

“We had a fairly substantial discussion about flared gas and the amount of flared gas worldwide. It’s phenomenal when you think about the amount of gas that is flared worldwide,” he said.

When Skarphol returned from Alaska, he accidentally discovered North Dakota is third in the U.S. in the amount of gas it flares off of oil wells.

“We have companies building pipelines in Mountrail County to get that gas into a refinery, but it takes time to get it accomplished,” he said.

Meanwhile, the state Legislature also has created various energy incentives for coal, beneficiated coal and carbon dioxide.

“I’m not sure what more we can do when we offer the industry the kind of dollars we have made available and they don’t move forward,” he said.

The just-concluded legislative session also passed legislation regarding carbon sequestration and pore spaces that causes some concern for Skarphol. The legislation states the pore spaces below the surface where CO2 may be stored are owned by the surface owner, an aspect with which he doesn’t fully agree.

“I think we’re going to see some potential for lawsuits from that particular issues,” he said of mineral owners who may claim they own the pore space.

He said the idea of enhanced oil recovery via carbon sequestration sounds like a marvelous idea, but it’s only applicable to certain oil reservoirs. Canada’s Encana Oil is the primary recipient of CO2 produced by the Great Plains Synfuels Plant near Beulah.

“They put about 150 million cubic feet a day of CO2 into that formation. They recover 235 million cubic feet of gas, every bit of which has to be reinjected because it is no longer marketable due to the contamination of the CO2,” Skarphol said of the Encana Weyburn, Sask., operation. “So CO2 can be used but it cannot be sold. It’s illogical to think you can use it and market the gas that’s produced after the fact.”

Skarphol believes oil development is going to continue in North Dakota, however, because of price and the productivity of areas in the state like Mountrail County.

“When you have wells that are making 3,000 barrels of oil a day, you are going to drill them,” he said.

Skarphol had the Legislative Council produced an analysis for the Legislature concerning the economic viability price thresholds for the various oil-producing counties in the state. He said Mountrail County was $12 a barrel, Bowman County was $19 a barrel and Divide County was $60.

“It’s widely variable depending on production. But Mountrail County is a phenomenal place for the Bakken production,” he said. “Drilling is going to take place there regardless of incentives, in my mind. By the same token, we don’t want to discourage the business.”