Hoeven: America's Energy Security More Important Than Ever

Senator Outlines Efforts to Bolster Domestic Energy Production, Push Back on Biden Administration’s Harmful Policies

GRAND FORKS — During a meeting at the University of North Dakota’s (UND) Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC) today, Senator John Hoeven outlined the importance of domestic energy production, both to ensure the nation remains energy secure and to enhance the security of our allies in Europe. To this end, Hoeven has been working to push back on the Biden administration’s harmful policies, which are undermining U.S. energy production. The senator is also working to:

• Crack the code on carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) technologies, including for enhanced oil recovery, which can be used to reduce emissions from a variety of energy sources.
  • The senator has worked to reform and expand the 45Q tax credit in order to ensure CCUS projects are commercially-viable.
• Press the Biden administration to end its oil and gas moratorium on federal lands and to move forward with all postponed and future lease sales, consistent with a federal court decision from earlier this year.
• Streamline the approval of vital energy infrastructure, including pipelines and transmission lines.
  • Last year, Hoeven worked to secure federal approval of the North Bakken Expansion Pipeline, which recently entered into service and will help to reduce flaring in the region by providing nearly 250 million cubic feet of natural gas takeaway capacity.

“According to the Energy Information Administration, the U.S. is set to become a net importer of petroleum this year. That’s a tremendous step backwards for our nation and is a result of the Biden administration’s efforts to curtail the production of our abundant domestic oil and gas resources,” said Hoeven. “Considering the threat from nations like Russia, we should be doing all we can to ensure the U.S. and its allies are not dependent on energy from our adversaries. We should instead produce that energy here at home, where we will do it with better environmental stewardship. That’s exactly what we’re working to do by advancing CCUS, pressing for the administration to resume energy leasing on federal lands and streamlining the approval process for needed energy infrastructure.” 

Securing the 45Q Tax Credit

The 45Q tax credit provides an important new revenue stream for CCUS projects of up to $50 per ton for CO₂ permanently stored, or up to $35 per ton for CO₂ stored and used for enhanced oil recovery. After helping pass legislation to reform and expand the 45Q tax credit, Hoeven worked to advance its implementation. His efforts included: 

• Working closely with the Trump administration to move the final 45Q regulations forward.
• Passing legislation providing a two-year extension on the construction deadline for the 45Q tax credit.

Cracking the Code on CCUS

Moving forward, Hoeven is advancing the following priorities to crack the code on CCUS, which will enable the nation to continue making use of its abundant energy resources, while reducing emissions: 

• Front end investment in technology development, including bolstering the partnership between the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the EERC.
• Loan guarantees at DOE and the Rural Utilities Service (RUS) to help project developers secure financing to build the equipment and infrastructure needed to capture and store CO₂.
• Enhancements for the 45Q and 48A Advanced Coal tax credits to provide important revenue streams to project developers and encourage adoption of CCUS:
  • Sponsored legislation to modernize the 48A tax credit for CO₂ capture retrofit projects.
  • Helped introduce a bipartisan bill to provide a direct payment option for the 45Q and 48A CCUS tax incentives.
  • Joined legislation to increase the value of the 45Q tax credit and make it more accessible to CCUS projects of all sizes.