BAKKEN BENEFITS
PROGRESS
ADVANCING THE POSSIBILITIES
PROSPERITY
OPPORTUNITY
SUSTAINABILITY
SECURITY
INNOVATION
The building blocks of modern convenience.
We want thing that make our lives better, safer and more fulfilled. That’s all made possible by the oil and natural gas produced here in North Dakota. Petroleum byproducts are responsible for some of today’s biggest advancements, from the parts in your smartphone to artificial heart valves that literally save lives.
Many of today’s modern conveniences com from petrochemicals, specific chemical compounds used in manufacturing various products.
Oil and natural gas are the raw materials in 99 percent of these petrochemicals.
Putting food on the table.
From the field to table, oil and natural gas play major roles in both how we prepare and eat our food, and how our agriculture industry produces food for our state and the entire nation. Oil and natural gas powers the equipment, provides the fertilizer, powers irrigation, and provides the transportation that gives us both easy and abundant access to vital nutrition sources.
In the field, oil and natural gas components can be found in fertilizers and irrigation systems, ensuring a healthy crop for us to eat, and a healthy agriculture industry that continues to provide for families across North Dakota.
Once that food is produced, it has to be transported and packaged in a way that protects both the food and the consumer it’s going to. Oil and natural gas components are used in everything from shipping the food across the country to packaging or freezing food for grocery stores.
Finally, it gets to consumers, where they again use oil and natural gas to power ovens, stoves and microwaves to prepare food for them and their families.
Keeping us warm in winter and cool in summer.
The natural gas we use to heat our homes is mostly methane, the simplest hydrocarbon. But each natural gas liquid, or NGL, has its own unique properties that make it suited for other uses. For example, butane is used in lighters, while propane is used in backyard grills or some home heating systems.
North Dakota winters would be even colder without the many layers of clothing provided by oil and natural gas: nylon jackets and gloves, rubber boots and polyester beanies to help heads stay warm.
Not to mention those frigid winter nights at home. Oil and natural gas bring us Netflix, our favorite couch and the warm glow of a fire place.
A foundation of medical advances.
Oi and natural gas components are used to make many of the modern medical devices we use today to save lives. From simply syringes to complex artificial heart valves, prosthetics and robot surgeons, oil and natural gas are advancing medicine in countless ways.
Oil and natural gas also provide energy for the nation’s largest hospitals. The largest 3,400 hospitals use more than 5 percent of the energy consumed by the entire U.S. commercial sector.
Modern, petroleum-based plastics have allowed for major advancements in life-saving artificial heart valve technologies. These artificial valves offer hope and a better quality of life for the more than 5 million Americans diagnosed with heart valve disease every year.
Petroleum-based silicone is used to make electrode wires safe on human skin, allowing for various medical devices, including cochlear implants. These electronic devices can act as a human’s inner ear, allowing people that experience hearing loss to hear—even if they were born deaf.
Whether it’s through trauma, disease or congenital conditions, millions of Americans have experienced losing a limb. Petroleum-based plastics have led to vast improvements in prosthetics, allowing amputees to move past the trauma of losing a limb.
OIL AND NATURAL GAS:
Advancing the possibilities in tech.
ADVANCING THE POSSIBILITIES
Oil and natural gas are the foundation in nearly all our modern conveniences.
Many of us are well aware that petroleum products are used to fuel our cars, trains, buses and airplanes, but what many of us don’t realize is that we are likely touching – or wearing – a petroleum product nearly every minute of every single day.
One 42-gallon barrel of oil creates 19.4 gallons of gasoline. The rest (over half) is used to make more than 6,000 different products that we use on a daily basis. Here is just a sampling of the different products that are improving our quality of life:
EDUCATION
Petroleum is a building block of nearly everything we use on a day-to-day basis. It can be found in our pens, crayons, markers and other supplies we use in school and work. It’s in our shoes and our bicycles that take us places. It’s in the calculators, computers, keyboards and tablets that help researching, reading and learning easier.
HOME DECOR
Petroleum isn’t just in your natural gas stove to give you that perfect sear—it’s also in the pots and pans you use to prepare your meals, the fabric in your couch and chairs where you lounge, and a majority of the decor on your walls that make your house your home. There’s no shortage of ways that oil and natural gas make your home comfy and cozy.
HEALTH AND SAFETY
From hard hats, helmets and seat belts to car seats, airbags and alarm systems, components found in oil and natural gas keep us safe everywhere we go. Flame resistant clothing protects our firefighters while Kevlar vests protect our police officers. Petroleum-based products from ambulances to stretchers also help our paramedics save lives.
FASHION
Oil and natural gas are a primary component of a majority of fibers used today to make our clothes, including nylon, acrylic, polyester, rayon, and spandex. From your morning workout gear, to your bathing suit or winter jacket (depending on the time of the year), your lazy-day loungewear or your elegant evening wear, oil and natural gas has you covered.
SPORTS, ART, HOBBIES AND CRAFTS
From the golf course to the soccer pitch, the art studio to the recording studio, oil and natural gas are central components of leisure and your passions. Fishing lures and rods, athletic wear and equipment, and even your paints and recording equipment—oil and natural gas are there.
COSMETICS AND TOILETTRIES
It’s there for your morning routine, date night, and special occasion. Toothpaste, toothbrushes, shampoo and conditioner, make-up and lotion, laundry detergent and hand sanitizer are just a sampling of the products made from oil and natural gas that help you keep clean, germ-free and looking your best.