ND Commits $500M to WBI Energy's Bakken East Gas Pipeline

The North Dakota Industrial Commission has unanimously voted to commit up to $500 million in state funding as a financial backstop for WBI Energy's planned Bakken East natural gas pipeline. The vote on Tuesday, April 28, 2026, finalizes negotiations that began last summer and advances a key infrastructure project for the state's energy sector.

According to the North Dakota Monitor, the Bakken East pipeline will move 1 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day from McKenzie County in the heart of the Bakken oil field to central and eastern North Dakota. WBI Energy, a subsidiary of MDU Resources, expects to bring the pipeline online by the end of 2030.

The three-member Industrial Commission, chaired by Gov. Kelly Armstrong and including Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring and Attorney General Drew Wrigley, selected WBI Energy's two-phase project over a competing applicant last August. The 2025 state legislature authorized the up to $500 million financing, which is being provided through the state purchasing a portion of the pipeline's transport capacity.

"This is going to be great in the short term, and it’s going to be great for the long term for North Dakota," Governor Armstrong said following the vote. He added that the move fulfills the legislature's goal of providing both financial and promotional incentive for critical energy infrastructure.

The commitment addresses a long-standing challenge for Bakken operators: moving associated natural gas produced alongside crude oil to in-state markets. Currently, a significant portion of this gas is either flared or shipped out of state due to limited pipeline capacity. The new eastward pipeline aims to create a reliable in-state outlet.

Justin Kringstad, executive director of the North Dakota Pipeline Authority, was authorized to execute the agreement. Kringstad stated that after a closed-door briefing last month on the project's status and negotiations with potential shippers and customers, "the need remained for that $50 million per year from the state side to continue advancing this forward."

The state's financial backing is designed to de-risk the project for the company and potential customers, which include power plants and large industrial users. A formal process earlier this year allowed these entities to express interest in the project, and WBI Energy is now negotiating agreements with them.

For Bakken producers, the pipeline represents a future avenue to monetize natural gas production more effectively and support the state's gas capture goals. The project's scale—1 Bcf per day—signals a major expansion of North Dakota's midstream capacity, potentially impacting future drilling economics and reducing flaring in the western oil-producing counties.