Montana Technological University students tour Bakken oilfield operations to learn about petroleum industry

Students tour a pump jack operated by Continental Resources 

Thirty-five students from Montana Technological University joined Petroleum Engineering Professor Dr. Todd Hoffman in an educational field trip to the Bakken oilfield on March 7-9 to learn about energy production.

Students at a Kraken Resources drilling well

Many of the students were in Hoffman’s Intro to Petroleum Engineering class, however some were also geological and mechanical engineering students interested in working in the petroleum industry. The students arrived Friday night in Sidney. Their first stop was a well being drilled by Kraken Resources in North Dakota.

Students look at heater treaters at a rig managed by Continental Resources

“They gave a great tour, and explained to us how they are able to horizontally drill the well, and the math needed to make sure to stay in the formation,” Hoffman said.

A group of students stand in front of a drilling rig run by Continental Resources

After lunch the students visited a “frac spread” run by Liberty Energy.

“They shut down their operations for almost an hour so that we could see all the aspects of fracing: sand, fluids, mixing, pumping, wireline, and more,” Hoffman said. “The fact that they were willing to do that for us was wonderful.”

On Saturday evening an alumni reception and dinner was held at Meadowlark Brewery in Sidney, with 10 alumni. On Sunday the students got an early start with a visit to Continental Resource’s shop in Sidney, where they received breakfast.

“They took us out to the field to a couple different locations to see production equipment: pump jacks, separators, heater treaters, and a brand new jet pump,” Hoffman said. “Then Continental took us to another drilling rig where we got to watch them run and set 7" casing in the well.”

The students arrived back in Butte on Sunday night.

“All in all, it was a great trip,” Hoffman said.