BISMARCK – U.S. Sen. John Hoeven, R-ND, has commended the North Dakota Industrial Commission for its recent approval of $45.1 million to advance the implementation of enhanced oil recovery (EOR) in the Bakken. The state funding supports Hoeven’s Crack the Code 2.0 initiative, which seeks to partner North Dakota’s oil and coal industries to double both the ultimate oil recovery in the Bakken and the operational life of the state’s coal-fired power plants.

As a member of the Senate Energy and Water Appropriations Committee, Hoeven is working to secure up to $50 million from the federal government for the project, which has provided $12 million for the effort to date.

The initial $12 million award enabled the Energy and Environmental Research Center (EERC) and Chord Energy to conduct 18 months of field and laboratory research to study the viability of injecting CO2 and natural gas liquids into unconventional oil reservoirs for the purposes of enhanced oil recovery.

Hoeven said he has since secured commitments from Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Assistant Secretary of Fossil Energy Kyle Haustveit to collaborate with North Dakota on this effort and increase federal support from the Department of Energy. The federal and state funding will be used to leverage $76 million in private investment, bringing the total project funding to about $171 million, according to Hoeven’s office.

Hoeven noted the One Big Beautiful Bill aligned the 45Q tax credit to incentivize the use of CO2 for EOR.

“EOR is a longtime proven technology. North Dakota demonstrates that every day through the Dakota Gasification Company, which has been providing CO2 to the Weyburn Field in Canada for EOR for 25 years. Now through Crack the Code 2.0, we’re working to bring this technique to the Bakken to benefit both our oil and coal industries,” Hoeven said. “Funding from the North Dakota Industrial Commission is an important step in that effort.”