Bakken Midstream Natural Gas LLC

Our Value-Added Vision

Bakken Midstream was founded in 2018 to develop and own value-added natural gas infrastructure in North Dakota.  North Dakota has been successful developing value-added agricultural products and is currently exporting agricultural commodities and products throughout the US and to over 80 countries.  Bakken Midstream believes that the State has the potential to become a world-class leader in value-added natural gas related products. North Dakota has tremendous natural gas resources. What’s lacking is natural gas infrastructure, in particular infrastructure for value-added products.  The mission of Bakken Midstream is to develop and own that infrastructure.

North Dakota Based Projects

Investment in North Dakota’s natural gas supply chain will ensure North Dakota businesses and the State achieve the benefits of expanding and maturing, in-state hydrocarbon processing, feedstock production and utilization. Value-added projects strategically target deficiencies in the existing infrastructure that are currently limiting economic activity.

Experience and Commitment

The founder of Bakken Midstream, Steve Lebow, is a visionary who was the financier of early stage businesses that went on to become world-class companies including Costco, Starbucks, PetSmart and Ulta Beauty.  Steve has been studying the natural gas situation in North Dakota for the past 5 years.  He is committed to helping North Dakota transform its natural gas situation from one plagued by flaring and underdevelopment to one that fully leverages its natural gas resources into commercially attractive, value-added products.  Bakken Midstream is led by CEO, Mike Hopkins, an entrepreneur from Alberta Canada who has led or participated in the development of over $12 billion in natural gas-based infrastructure.  The Bakken Midstream management team includes world-class experienced executives from the energy and financial industries.

The Alberta Model

The achievements in Alberta, Canada are attainable for North Dakota and the Bakken region.  The Bakken Midstream team and the conditions are in place to develop Alberta-style accomplishments in North Dakota that will benefit from a range of world-class processing and production capabilities.

The Challenges

• Almost all the natural gas production in North Dakota is so-called associated gas. This is natural gas produced in association with the oil being produced.  Recent data and projections show a rising gas/oil ratio in the Bakken field. The increasing gas production, combined with inadequate natural gas gathering and processing and limits on flaring is forcing the curtailment of oil production.
• Due to insufficient infrastructure, natural gas is flared to support oil production. Current state rules to limit flaring are in place and support the Bakken Midstream vision.  The burned raw gas contains natural gas (methane) and valuable natural gas liquids (NGL) used to produce a number of purity products and industrial feedstocks.
• Because of prioritized oil production and limited in-state processing options, the vast majority of North Dakota’s natural gas liquids are currently transported out of state.  North Dakota is currently a captive exporter of natural gas as a raw commodity with an opportunity to become a world-class producer of value-added products.