North Dakota officials and oil-industry leaders are pursuing a larger field-scale test of enhanced oil recovery in the Bakken, with financing still being assembled for an expansion estimated at $400 million. Senator John Hoeven outlined the proposal October 16 alongside Governor Kelly Armstrong and federal energy officials, according to Hoeven’s office and North Dakota Monitor. It is a research and financing initiative, not an announced commercial breakthrough.
The proposed second phase of Crack the Code 2.0 would move beyond individual-well experiments to tests across an oil field, involving up to 200 wells. Hoeven’s account says he is working with Energy Under Secretary Kyle Haustveit to make federal loan guarantees available. The Monitor’s reporting likewise describes an effort to obtain that support, rather than an approved $400 million federal award.
Existing pilots are still underway
The expansion would overlap with a first phase totaling $157 million across six pilot projects. Three are underway, one has received an injection permit and two await North Dakota Industrial Commission approval, according to both the senator’s update and the Monitor. Those different stages matter: not every pilot has begun operating, and the new field-scale proposal does not replace the continuing tests.
The research has an established federal component. In its May 8 announcement, the U.S. Department of Energy selected the University of North Dakota’s Energy & Environmental Research Center for $36 million to advance Bakken oil-recovery research. DOE describes a program combining laboratory work, computer modeling, artificial intelligence and field observations to evaluate carbon-dioxide injection strategies. Its stated purpose is to develop evidence for wider deployment, not certify that all technical or commercial questions have been resolved.
Scaling up carries unanswered questions
Enhanced recovery can involve injecting gases into underground formations to restore pressure and extract more oil, as the Monitor explains. DOE’s research description specifically emphasizes testing different reservoir conditions and operating approaches. That experimental design is important context for officials’ optimism: performance in one reservoir or pilot is not, by itself, proof of a profitable solution throughout the Bakken.
Earlier Monitor reporting from the May petroleum conference documented researchers’ and executives’ concerns about choosing effective, affordable methods, obtaining enough carbon dioxide and adapting infrastructure to handle it. EERC chief executive Charlie Gorecki said the industry had not found a single solution. Those technical and economic uncertainties help explain why the DOE program emphasizes comparing results across multiple pilots before drawing broader lessons.
For North Dakota, the next practical questions are who commits financing, which partners participate and what the tests demonstrate. Hoeven’s office says officials are seeking additional industry partners and prioritizing proximity to existing carbon-dioxide supplies and infrastructure. The Monitor reported that Petroleum Council president Ron Ness expects a state-funding request in the next legislative session. That prospective request is not a legislative appropriation, and the larger production gains promoted by supporters remain goals rather than established results.
