Williston – Page 3 – Outrun Change

More film coverage of Williston. ‘Blood & Oil’ ratings drop as production run chopped from 13 to 10 episodes.

Update 11/20 – I’m wondering if “Blood & Oil” will even make it through the shortened season of 10 episodes. Wikipedia reports episode #7 aired on 11/8. It had same rating/share as week #6 (0.8/2) with a tiny increase in viewers (up 0.15M to 3.40M, for second lowest showing). Show did not air on 11/15 and is not scheduled for 11/22. Next episode, #8, is scheduled for 11/29. ‘Suppose #10 will ever get on the air? Anyone liking the show might just have to catch it on DVD.

A few articles on shows set in the North Dakota oil fields. One ad libs with locals, one actually has a non-oil plot, and one suggests everyone moving to North Dakota is a low life. Guess I’ve been reading enough lately and am aware enough of what is going on in the Bakken that I can recognize heavy agenda when I see it.

Oh, ‘Blood & Oil”, which I discussed earlier, will only have 10 shows in its first season instead of the originally contracted 13. Their ratings & share is still dropping. If I understand some articles correctly, that means the show is on its deathbed.

10/17 – Dickinson Press – Williston on film – Gotta love the opening sentence!

It’s probably safe to say Williston, North Dakota has the highest per-capital presence of filmmakers on earth.

Continue reading “More film coverage of Williston. ‘Blood & Oil’ ratings drop as production run chopped from 13 to 10 episodes.”

Bakken update – 10/20

Two drilling rigs, both running 'round the clock. Photo by James Ulvog. — Two drilling rigs, both running ’round the clock. Photo by James Ulvog.

A few more articles of interest from the Bakken.

10/14 – byline Amy Dalrymple of Forum News Service at Bismarck Tribune – State celebrates $150 million solution to Williston traffic woes – Four lane truck bypass around Williston is complete. This is expected to reroute a lot of the truck traffic that would otherwise be going through town. Construction was still underway when I was in town in September, so I’ve not been on the road yet.

10/16 – AP at Bakken.com – Williston moves toward closing the last of the crew camps – Continue reading “Bakken update – 10/20”

Articles on flaring in Bakken and the new airport in Williston

One of the few wells I noticed with flaring during our September trip to North Dakota. Photo by James Ulvog. — One of the wells I noticed with flaring during our September trip to North Dakota. Seems to me there is a lot less flaring visible now compared to a year ago and two years ago. There is a drilling rig barely visible to the right of the left-most pump. I can pick out two other well sites in this wide view several miles off to the horizon. Photo by James Ulvog.

Here are a few more articles I read during our September vacation in Williston plus another article I’ve been holding since before vacation.

9/25 – Dickinson Press – Environmental group that bashed enforcement of N.D. gas capture policy withdraws analysis – An advocacy group incorrectly stated as a fact that 30 percent of North Dakota wells were non-compliant with flaring rules and the state wasn’t bothering to enforce the law.

The group withdrew their analysis because they did not understand either the flaring rules or the data and therefore reached incorrect conclusions.

State says that all wells required to have a gas capture plan do have one. Thus the actual non-compliance rate is zero.

Continue reading “Articles on flaring in Bakken and the new airport in Williston”

A job slump in Williston would be a boom time in California.

Sign outside Williston Walmart on 9/20/15. Defacto minimum wage in town is still $17 an hour. Photo by James Ulvog. — Sign outside Williston Walmart on 9/20/15. That is the starting rate. Defacto minimum wage in town still looks to be $17 an hour. Photo by James Ulvog.

I wish we had news this terrible in Southern California.

9/23 – Williston Herald – ‘Looking for work? Job fair boasts 400 job openings in sold-out show’ (paper edition so no link) – Two day job fair has 400 jobs or more. There are a dozen companies on the waiting list to get a table at the job fair.

Continue reading “A job slump in Williston would be a boom time in California.”

Oil field housing in North Dakota is in another transition. Oh, every transition is a frightening crisis.

What do you see? I see gasoline so you and I can drive to the grocery store to get dinner. Photo by James Ulvog.

While in Williston a week ago, I saw massive amounts of housing under construction and a lot that had been completed since my last trip there in February 2015. The amount of apartments and houses that have been built in the last two years is staggering.

A lot of new shopping is online too. I walked through the new Menards and Sportsman’s Warehouse. Both are huge, well stocked, and seem to have prices that aren’t ridiculous compared to Southern California. Both stores had crowded parking lots every time we drove by.

Huge, new Sportsmans' Warehouse store in WIlliston. Huge amount of apartments under construction behind the store. Photo by James Ulvog. — Huge, new Sportsman’s Warehouse store in Williston. Large number of apartment buildings are under construction behind the store. Photo by James Ulvog.

Sure do wish the sporting good stores in SoCal had the wide selection of guns along with the several-hundred dollar lower prices I saw at the Sportsman’s Warehouse. Wish there was as good a selection of ammo on the shelves here.

Read a few articles while in Williston on the long-expected transition from temporary housing to permanent housing.

Continue reading “Oil field housing in North Dakota is in another transition. Oh, every transition is a frightening crisis.”

General update on Williston and Bakken – 9/10

Looking south on Main, construction underway in 10/14. Photo by James Ulvog. — Looking south on Main, construction underway in 10/14. In 9/15, road is torn up a block or two behind where this photo was taken. Photo by James Ulvog.

An update on the number of drilling rigs in the state and several posts on Bruce Oksol’s current visit to Williston.

Here is a recap of the North Dakota rig count, all from Million Dollar Way. Some older data repeated for recent context: Continue reading “General update on Williston and Bakken – 9/10”

More good stuff on the Bakken – 9/3

Photo of flaring at two well pad by James Ulvog

Here’s a few quick notes on interesting news that I won’t cover in a separate post:

9/2 – Amy Dalrymple at Forum News Service – Oil patch economy settling into ‘new normal’ – Looks like the Bakken is resembling a merely solid growth economy instead of an exploding economy. The growth of 2010 through 2014 was not sustainable.

The 16 hotels completed since 2010 actually have lots of vacancies. Prices are high, but you can actually find a room.

Update to status of federal charges against Keith Graves: 8/19 – Dickinson Press – Graves indicted for third time, demands evidence from state’s attorney’s office – Mr. Graves was arraigned on the third superseding indictment on 8/19, as scheduled. He entered a not guilty plea.

Continue reading “More good stuff on the Bakken – 9/3”

Bakken update – 8/28

A few articles on what’s going on in Bakken: tougher trafficking laws in effect, Williston Walmart no longer open 24 hours a day, $18 billion in state reserves, and new Williston airport moving forward.

7/8 – Bismarck Tribune – County okays windfarm near Tioga on a split vote – Landowners organized an effort to develop a wind farm which was bought by a commercial company. That effort has now led to a 75 turbine project that has been approved by County commissioners.

Continue reading “Bakken update – 8/28”

News from around the Bakken – 7/27

Mancamp near Ray, ND. Photo by James Ulvog

Williston city and Williams County are working to cut back mancamp housing, which will have the expected unintended consequence of putting upward pressure on housing prices. The new airport in Williston is moving forward. Biggest news is indication that newest wells aren’t seeing production deplete as rapidly as in the past. Continue reading “News from around the Bakken – 7/27”

Thoughts about the Director’s Cut from The Overnighters documentary – part 7

This is the final post in a series discussing my reactions to the director’s cut of the documentary, The Overnighters.

I was privileged to be able to see a screening of the documentary when Jesse Moss, the director, was personally present for a question & answer session after the viewing.

Here is one the questions asked, which is as close to a quote as I can recall:

Why don’t the oil companies, who are making billions of dollars from all the oil, do something to take care of the homeless in Williston?

The questioner wanted to know essentially how there can be any homelessness in Williston with the huge amount of profits made by the big bad oil companies.

I chuckled.

Continue reading “Thoughts about the Director’s Cut from The Overnighters documentary – part 7”

Thoughts about the Director’s Cut from The Overnighters documentary – part 6

This is the sixth and next to last post on my thoughts after viewing the director’s cut. Just a few more ideas before concluding with my reaction to a question asked by a person at the screening I attended.

Role of the newspaper

I think I’ll hold off for another day the role played by a reporter brought into town and the editor of the city paper.

One idea is the appropriate boundary between reporting a story of public interest on one hand and becoming part of the story or creating fear on the other hand.

Continue reading “Thoughts about the Director’s Cut from The Overnighters documentary – part 6”

Thoughts about the Director’s Cut from The Overnighters documentary – part 5

One final lesson that those of us in leadership at local churches or parachurch ministries can learn from the documentary The Overnighters. Previous lessons learned are visible here and here.

Hurting people hurt people. Alan and Paul turned on the pastor. They were quite angry with him and their outbursts were caught on camera. Comments in the director’s cut help me understand that they struck out in anger because of the hurts in their lives. Continue reading “Thoughts about the Director’s Cut from The Overnighters documentary – part 5”

Thoughts about the Director’s Cut from The Overnighters documentary – part 4

Two more lessons learned that leaders in churches and ministries can pick up from The Overnighters documentary. The first three lessons are here.

In this post:

Your sin will find you out.
People lie.

Continue reading “Thoughts about the Director’s Cut from The Overnighters documentary – part 4”

Thoughts about the Director’s Cut from The Overnighters documentary – part 3

This post continues my reflections on a documentary describing the overnighters program at a church in Williston, which provided housing to people looking for work when sufficient housing was not available in the area. First of three discussions on lessons learned from my perspective as one of the leaders in my congregation.

Lessons learned

From the perspective of leadership training in the local church, there are many lessons to be learned from the documentary. Here are six for your consideration:

Beware the Lone Ranger mentality.
Don’t keep secrets.
Set proper boundaries.
Your sin will find you out.
People lie.
Hurting people hurt people.

The first three:

Beware the Lone Ranger mentality. While I loved that TV series as a kid, that show contains a poor model for adults. Ministry in both a local church and a parachurch organization requires teamwork. Continue reading “Thoughts about the Director’s Cut from The Overnighters documentary – part 3”

Where are they now? Followup on people you saw in The Overnighters documentary.

Update 7/17/17: Welcome to those checking out the page. I have some followup on The Overnighters documentary:

The PBS pages set up to talk about The Overnighters documentary have a lot of information. PBS aired the documentary on June 29.

There is a 19 minute interview with Jesse Moss. Most of the comments there will be familiar to anyone who’s read lots of posts on my blog or watched the documentary. If you weren’t aware of what is happening in the North Dakota oil fields before watching the documentary, that interview would be a great way to get up to speed.

Here is some update on the characters and then general goal of the documentary.

Background and follow-up of the main subjects of the documentary

The “About the Characters” page gives some background of many of the people the documentary focuses upon.

The “Film Update” page follows up on several of the people.

Continue reading “Where are they now? Followup on people you saw in The Overnighters documentary.”