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The buzz is slowly returning to the Bakken Shale, with state and industry stakeholders eyeing a return to more robust production and bottom line numbers by the end of this year and through all of 2018.

While a Sioux tribal leader and some supportive congressional members painted a different picture, the senior executive in charge of the beleaguered Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) project on Wednesday told a U.S. House subcommittee that opponents of the $3.8 billion oil pipeline through four states have resorted to terrorist tactics.

Since gaining its federal easement Feb. 8, builders of the $3.8 billion Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) have been drilling the tunnel to traverse 90 feet below the bottom of a dammed portion of the Missouri River in south-central North Dakota, a spokesperson for the project backers told NGI’s Shale Daily.

The Standing Rock and Cheyenne River Sioux Tribes on Tuesday filed a motion in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to set aside the Trump administration’s approval to allow the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) to be completed at a Missouri River crossing in south-central North Dakota.

Given fresh life on Tuesday, the $3.8 billion Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) may be in service before mid-year with the capacity to transport more than half of current Bakken Shale oil production in North Dakota, but opposition to the project is still loud and determined to block the 1,200-mile pipeline route from the finish line.

Following a boost from the Trump administration, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) on Tuesday returned to its original assessment and granted an easement to the backers of the controversial $3.8 billion, 1,200-mile Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) for its final leg, a water crossing in south-central North Dakota.

Based on a supportive memo from the Trump administration last month, the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) is expected to receive an easement from the U.S. Corps of Engineers (USACE) needed to complete the $3.8 billion, 1,200-mile oil transportation project.

President Trump signed two presidential memorandums Tuesday to advance construction of the controversial Keystone XL (KXL) and Dakota Access (DAPL) oil pipelines, projects that had been thwarted or delayed by the Obama administration.

The change of presidential administrations and a federal district judge in Washington, DC, could free up for final construction the stalled $3.8 billion Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) project in the next weeks. A start-up of the nearly 1,200-mile pipeline for moving Bakken oil from North Dakota could happen in May, according to analysts.