North Dakota gets new gas pipeline

A new 80-mile natural gas pipeline in North Dakota will help the state reduce the amount of gas burned off during oil production, the state's governor said. Gov. Jack Dalrymple marked the completion of an 80-mile natural gas pipeline with developer Alliance pipeline. "This state-of-the-art pipeline will help us reduce flaring, add value to our natural resources and support our nation's energy security," he said in a statement Tuesday. Flaring is the burning of natural gas associated with oil extraction. Dalrymple's office said Alliance plans to solicit state producers to satisfy the 12-inch pipeline's designed capacity for 126 million cubic feet of natural gas per day. The pipeline is designed to deliver natural gas from a Hess Corp. gas processing plant near Tioga to the Chicago-area market hub. Alliance started building the $170 million pipeline one year ago. Hess said the pipeline would help link that state's natural gas sector to the refining market. North Dakota said natural gas production in August, the last full month for which data is available, of 1 billion cubic feet per day was a record for the state.