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North Dakota governor charts his path to Interior with a rosy state oil and gas outlook

President-elect Donald Trump has given his choice for Interior secretary a mandate to “Drill baby drill,” and on Wednesday his pick, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, offered a rosy budget picture to lawmakers based largely on his state’s success in extracting near-record levels of oil and gas from the ground. Burgum, whose term ends next week, noted North Dakota's status as the nation's No. 3 oil-producing state in his final proposed budget before he begins his role in Trump's administration, pending Senate confirmation.

US economy grew slightly in recent weeks, Fed survey says

"Though growth in economic activity was generally small, expectations for growth rose moderately across most geographies and sectors," the U.S. central bank said in its regular temperature check on the economy, drawing on observations from the business and community contacts of each of its 12 regional banks through Nov. 22. "Business contacts expressed optimism that demand will rise in coming months." While growth in most Fed regions was minimal, it was "modest or moderate" in three districts and was "flat or slightly declining" in two others.