**Click here to download video. Click here to download audio.**
WASHINGTON — U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer (R-ND) issued the following statement after longtime Director of the North Dakota Department of Mineral Resources, Lynn Helms, announced his intention to retire after 26 years of service, effective June 30, 2024.
“My initial reaction when I heard Lynn was ‘retiring,’ which I don't quite buy – I didn’t know how anybody so young could retire – but he certainly earned the right to do so. Lynn is an invaluable resource to me in the United States Senate, as he was in the House, and as he was when I was on the Public Service Commission. He is a treasure, not just to North Dakota, but a treasure to the entire industry. He is a spectacular regulator who understands the role of regulation, the role of rich mineral resources in North Dakota, and its contribution to American security and America's economy.
“Lynn will be greatly missed, which is why I've decided not to accept his resignation. I refuse. That's it. It's over. You can't go, Lynn. But if you do, thank you for all you have done. Congratulations, and please, if you get bored, you always can have a job working on the Environment and Public Works Committee in the United States Senate. God bless you.”
Throughout Helms’ career, Senator Cramer has worked with him on several efforts and initiatives including the REGROW Act, a bipartisan bill to remediate the nation’s orphaned wells, which was built off the state program Helms implemented. Lynn’s leadership helped Senator Cramer secure its inclusion in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which was signed into law on November 15, 2021.
During Helm’s tenure, the state’s average daily oil production increased from 99,217 barrels per day in 1998 to an all-time high of 1,519,037 in 2019, before stabilizing at roughly 1.2 million barrels per day by the end of 2023. Under his supervision, natural gas capture also reached an all-time high of more than 3.2 billion cubic feet per day.