A Quarter Billion Dollars in Oil Money for Native Americans in North Dakota?

This story was all over the internet, February 24, 2010. It was the headline story on Yahoo news. This story is about the oil-rich Fort Berthold Indian Reservation in the Williston Basin. The big fields inside the reservation: a little bit of the Sanish, about half of the Parshall, and all of the Big Bend and Van Hook fields, as well as the Antelope, Mandaree, and Moccasin fields.

Deep in the story:

"Since the boom began, lease payments of more than $179 million have been paid to the tribe and its members on about half of the reservation land, tribal records show. Millions of dollars more in royalties and tax revenue are also rolling in."

$1 million/month is now flowing into the treasury of the Three Affiliated Tribes. Income from oil development goes to 4,200 tribal members who live on the reservation and 3,000 who live elsewhere. That's more than half the total tribal membership. The drilling program on the reservation has just begun; it was slowed significantly by a 49-step bureaucratic process that required Senatorial intervention to expedite.

How good is this going to be? Look at the numbers. Last year there were ten (10) producing wells on the reservation. This year there are 39 producing wells, and 82 ready-to-go permits.

To date, as noted above, tribal members have received more than $180 million in lease money, but over time production income will far exceed lease income.

Is the Bakken over-hyped? Probably not for these folks!

Oh, one more thing: the boom has just begun. We are only in year four of a projected 30-year boom.

(I could be wrong, but it's my perception that everyone in North Dakota is thrilled how all this has worked out -- that the Native Americans are participating in this boom.)

(Actually, this is kind of sad, takes the luster off: $250,000,000 divided by 10,000 tribal members = $25,000 / member. Spread of 20 years, that's $1250 per member per year, or about $104 per month.)



Money, Money, Money, ABBA