Battered North Dakota oil sector awaits Dakota Access ruling, Interior leasing review

The Dakota Access Pipeline returns to court today for a pivotal hearing. The Biden administration has been asked by the federal judge in the case to disclose whether it supports an immediate shutdown of the pipeline while the Army Corps of Engineers conducts a new environmental review. We spoke with Senator John Hoeven, Republican-North Dakota, about the risks to the state if Dakota Access has to shut down. We also asked him about the Interior Department's federal leasing ban, carbon capture tax incentives, Congress' competing infrastructure packages and US/OPEC relations. North Dakota's oil production plummeted last year from a peak of 1.5 million b/d in November 2019 to a low point of 864,000 b/d in May 2020, losing its status as the second top oil-producing state to New Mexico for a few months. It pumped 1.1 million b/d in February, putting it back ahead of New Mexico by a thin margin.