FARGO (KFGO-AM) - North Dakota Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem says agents with the state Bureau of Criminal Investigation are part of the battle to stop the theft of trade secrets in the Oil Patch.
As KFGO news first reported, the FBI has been quietly working with petroleum companies to stop the theft of technology and intellectual property.
Stenehjem says the oil boom has given thieves “new opportunities” to steal trade secrets, and then sell them. “Some of these things are ongoing that I can’t comment on” Stenehjem said. “There’s a lot of concern that we have in that area.”
The FBI says plenty of foreign workers, combined with large amounts of money and technology in the oil patch has created a potential threat to national security.