Here are the special guest and industry experts for This Week In Energy, the popular radio podcast:
Duane Sand, businessman and nuclear energy consultant, is a graduate of the United States Naval Academy, and was a U.S. Navy officer during the Iraq War. Sand served as a submarine officer in the United States Navy. He served on three different nuclear submarines, eventually achieving the rank of lieutenant commander.
Currently, Sand serves as president and CEO of North Star Water and Whitehorse Water, an oilfield water services company. He is also a former inspector for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and advocates for nuclear energy and establishing nuclear power facilities.
Trades Powered By Her is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization based in Watford City, North Dakota, with a mission to empower and support women in trades. Founded by Kara Glenn, this organization aims to break barriers and open opportunities for women to excel in traditionally male-dominated fields such as construction, welding, electrical work, and more.
Kara Glenn is a creative professional and educator, known for her work in welding and helping women understand trades, specifically oil and gas.
She has applied her background and leadership skills to this initiative, striving to provide women with the necessary tools, training, and resources to thrive in the skilled trades industry.
Through workshops, mentorship programs, and community outreach, Trades Powered By Her promotes gender equity in the workforce by enabling women to gain technical skills, confidence, and job placements in the industry.
In addition to educational support, the organization fosters a sense of community among women in trades, offering networking events and collaborative projects. This helps create strong bonds, ensuring that participants not only succeed individually but also lift each other up within their professional journeys.
Lori Hinz of BEK News joined Townsquare Media’s Talk of the Town with Steve Bakken to discuss Enhanced Oil Recovery in regards to Summit Carbon Solutions and their attempt to build a CO2 pipeline across 5-states with the terminus storage for carbon in North Dakota.
The project basically consists of a proposed high-pressure CO2 pipeline that would be built close to residential Bismarck, ND. This has become the topic of controversy among residents and rural landowners along the pipeline’s route.
The pipeline would transport carbon dioxide captured from ethanol plants in five Midwest states to an end point north and west of the Bismarck-Mandan area, in Oliver and Mercer counties.
The three storage facilities Summit is applying for will serve as the end point for the company’s Midwest Carbon Express project, a 2,000-mile pipeline expected to collect carbon dioxide from 57 ethanol plants and one sustainable aviation fuel facility across five states and transport the CO2 to North Dakota for permanent storage underground.
According to Hinz, the four companies involved in these test wells will be Hess Chevron, partnership with ExxonMobil, XTO, Continental Resources, and Liberty Energy.
BEK TV host Lori Hinz brings weekly updates in Capturing America’s Heartland: CO2 Pipeline, which invites experts on all sides of the issue to weigh in on a variety of concerns and benefits regarding building an unusually large pipeline so close to residents and property owners. From reducing greenhouse gas emissions and increasing domestic oil production, to significant technical, regulatory, and health and safety challenges, the series explores how the proposed route could affect the Heartland of America.
Capturing America’s Heartland: CO2 Pipeline airs weekdays at 9 AM.
Hinz, reporter for BEK News, gives an update from the research on her daily feature on Capturing America’s Heartland: CO2 Pipeline.
Warren Martin, Kansas Strong, gives an energized movie review on Friday Nights Lights
"Friday Night Lights," directed by Peter Berg, is more than just a football movie—it's a poignant reflection of the socio-economic realities of West Texas, where the oil and gas industry holds both the lifeblood and the vice grip on communities. Based on the true story of the 1988 Permian High School Panthers, the film captures not only the fierce and deeply ingrained culture of high school football in Odessa, Texas, but also how the town's identity and power structures are intertwined with the oil and gas sector.
The film’s backdrop is unmistakably tied to the rise and fall of oil prices, which mirror the fortunes of the townspeople and, by extension, the football team. Odessa’s economy, heavily dependent on oil and gas, creates a landscape where success on the football field seems as essential as a new well producing black gold. The stadium lights don’t just illuminate a game; they cast shadows over an entire community whose prosperity and morale are often dictated by the volatile energy market.
Oil money in Odessa isn’t just wealth; it’s influence, a near-omnipotent presence that drives community decisions, funds local politics, and dictates social status. The boosters—local businessmen and oil executives—are portrayed as powerful puppeteers, their donations and pressures serving as constant reminders that winning isn’t just about school pride; it’s about sustaining an economy and lifestyle. The job security of Coach Gary Gaines, played by Billy Bob Thornton, often feels as precarious as the next well’s production figures, with every loss reflecting not just on the team but on the economic anxieties simmering beneath the surface.
The film’s portrayal of power dynamics fueled by oil and gas money is strikingly accurate. In many oil towns, those who control the rigs often control the narrative. The pressure on high school athletes to perform isn’t just about scholarships or dreams; it’s a reflection of a town’s collective need for a win, a respite from the economic cycles that dominate their lives. These young players are unwittingly thrust into roles as local heroes, their performances on the field scrutinized as intensely as any market report on oil futures.
The boosters’ influence over Coach Gaines and the team speaks volumes about how money and power often go hand-in-hand in these communities. They’re not just funding the team; they’re trying to buy a sense of pride and distraction from the economic uncertainties of the oil market. The high-stakes environment parallels the oil field's boom-and-bust cycles, where fortunes can change overnight, and so too can the social standing of the town’s leaders.
Kunal Patel, Dallas Federal Reserve, gives an update on Lithium Mining from their recent energy survey and also discusses the latest energy survey and discuss their upcoming Energy and the Economy: Meeting Rising Energy Demand in November.
The Dallas Fed conducts a quarterly survey of about 200 oil and gas firms located or headquartered in the Eleventh District—Texas, southern New Mexico and northern Louisiana—which operate regionally, nationally or internationally.
The information collected is a valuable component of economic analysis and serves as input for Federal Open Market Committee monetary policy deliberations. Survey respondents are asked whether various measures of their firms' business activities have increased, decreased or remained unchanged relative to the prior quarter and the year-ago quarter. Responses are aggregated into diffusion indexes; positive values indicate expansion while negative values indicate contraction.
Activity in the oil and gas sector grew in the second quarter of 2024, according to oil and gas executives responding to the Dallas Fed Energy Survey. The business activity index, the survey’s broadest measure of the conditions energy firms in the Eleventh District face, increased from 2.0 in the first quarter to 12.5 in the second quarter.
Anne Hyre of the Bettering Human Lives Foundation gives details for their upcoming 5K Fundraising Event
One-third of humanity prepares meals over open fires or polluting stoves, contributing to premature death and limiting human potential.
“The Bettering Human Lives Foundation aims to increase access to clean cooking fuels by directly supporting local innovators and entrepreneurs to start and grow their businesses,” Hyre said. “Together, we are committed to providing families with a pathway out of poverty through access to modern energy that betters human lives.”
The launch of the Bettering Human Lives Foundation (BHL Foundation) complements Liberty Energy’s initiatives focused on alleviating poverty.
“Currently, one-third of the global population relies on open fires or polluting stoves for meal preparation, contributing to poor health and premature deaths, and hindering human potential,” Hyre said. “This issue is urgent, and the foundation is committed to increasing access to clean cooking fuels.”
The Bettering Human Lives 5K Event is October 19, 2025 at the City Park in Denver, CO.
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This Week In Energy: Nuclear Energy, Women Welders, Lithium Mining, EOR and CO2 Pipelines