Williston – Page 5 – Outrun Change

Does anything exist beyond what I can see with my own eyes? “The Overnighters” as an illustration.

(Lousy photos by James Ulvog of a man camp. This small facility is in a small city between Williston and Minot. There are a lot of these man camps around Western North Dakota that provide basic sleeping and dining facilities. They are all full. Sorry I don’t have pictures of the many that I’ve seen which are far larger than this one.)

Just one aspect of the brilliance of Jesse Moss’s movie “The Overnighters” is that the nuance and subtlety in it creates a springboard for so many discussions. It also serves as a Rorschach test to reveal the worldview of those watching the movie.

One core question forces its way into view after looking at reactions by viewers. A few ways to describe the issue:

Does anything exist beyond the limit of my vision?
Is there anything more to a story than what a camera can see? Beyond what people say when the camera is running?
Is there more to know about any issue than what a movie can cover in 102 minutes?

From reactions to the movie, many people believe the answer to those questions is a resounding “no.”

Continue reading “Does anything exist beyond what I can see with my own eyes? “The Overnighters” as an illustration.”

My favorite lines from movie “The Overnighters”. Some disclosures.

“I will not give in to despair because hopeless should never win and hopeless is a lie.”

Former pastor Jay Reinke, as the Overnighters program shuts down.

I agree. Hopeless is a lie. Despair is a lie.

“The problem is we’re working with sinners and some people are fearful.”

Andrea Reinke, as the family discusses complications of helping someone who is a registered sex offender.

Those are two of my favorite lines from the movie “The Overnighters”, which I watched for the second time last night.

Feet of clay

As Mrs. Reinke pointed out, everyone you will ever deal with is a sinner.

That concept has lots of implications. The movie does a superb job illustrating that concept. Consider:

Continue reading “My favorite lines from movie “The Overnighters”. Some disclosures.”

“The Overnighters” movie available now

A movie about the oil boom in North Dakota, the impact in Williston, and how that played out in one church is now available at Amazon. I preordered a copy and it is downloading as I write.

Have been looking forward to seeing it a second time. I knew the story, particularly the ending, before seeing the movie the first time. Now I can watch the movie knowing how the movie presented the story.

Will have more to say about the movie after I watch it another time or two.

Continue reading ““The Overnighters” movie available now”

New York State bans fracking and economic growth

The official position of New York State is to ban fracking for natural gas.

A December 19 editorial in the Wall Street Journal blasts the decision: Cuomo Bans Fracking – Editorial points out since regulators in New York State have decided that fracking possibly, perhaps, maybe, might have some danger that haven’t yet been established, they must ban fracking in the gas rich Marcellus Shale area of the state.

Ridicule alert

If you don’t like heaping helpings of ridicule poured on the heads of foolish leaders, you might want to skip the rest of this discussion. Might be better for you not to click the link to the WSJ editorial.

Okay, you’ve been warned. Continue reading “New York State bans fracking and economic growth”

The visual appearance of a million barrel a day oil field

(All photos by James Ulvog. Above view of 4 pads, with a pair of flares visible in the middle and workover rig on pad in lower left.)

Following post was written on October 18, when my wife and I flew out of Williston:

We took a 6:25 a.m. flight, so it was still dark. The view on departure was fabulous.

I wish I had the camera equipment (and the skill) to show what I saw.

Words will have to suffice, along with photos taken during daylight.

Sky was clear until several minutes from the airport, then clouds slowly built up.

Drilling rigs are quite visible, what with those tall metal superstructures and the working deck all lit up. Sorta’ like an all white Christmas tree.

Continue reading “The visual appearance of a million barrel a day oil field”

More good stuff on the Bakken – 11/13

Here’s a few quick notes on interesting news from the Bakken that I won’t cover in a separate post.

Hard work, determination, and perseverance will produce superb results in Bakken. With those skills in California, you are underemployed. And that assumes you can even find a job.

Here is one more in a non-ending string of stories of people who find success in the oil patch of North Dakota:

Continue reading “More good stuff on the Bakken – 11/13”

More good stuff on the Bakken – 11/8

Here are a few articles of what’s going on in North Dakota. Focus for this post is infrastructure and employment.

11/7 – Al Jazeera – From the wars of West Africa to the oil boom of North Dakota – Yes, my first link to Al Jazeera.

This is a superb story – in-depth view of the life of two immigrants from Africa (him Sierra Leone, her Liberia) who are making a combined $30 an hour Continue reading “More good stuff on the Bakken – 11/8”

Concentration of Wells

Here are some more photos to show how dense the well sites are in the Bakken.

Following photos by James Ulvog taken from air in October 2014 when landing from the east into Williston.

Check out the number of pads in that short section of road. Probably less than one mile:

Another batch of pads: Continue reading “Concentration of Wells”

Old buildings in downtown Williston

(Out of focus and tilted photos by James Ulvog)

I enjoy looking at older buildings. They usually have ornate brickwork. I think they are beautiful works of art.

Here are a few views of buildings in downtown Williston for your enjoyment. From Main and Fourth, looking south toward Broadway:

At Fourth and Main: Continue reading “Old buildings in downtown Williston”

More good stuff on the open frontiers – 10/28

Wide open frontiers: energy production and one-man documentary production company.

Worlds far away I’ll never visit – Film production

One of the worlds I can only observe from a distance is making a feature documentary. I’ve been watching Jesse Moss as he produced and then marketed his documentary The Overnighters. That is a story of a Lutheran church in Williston that opened its doors to (predominantly) men working in the Bakken but arrived without a place to stay.

I’ll start to mention some of the coverage of the movie that is most helpful for me as I learn about that world.

10/10 – Tribeca – Jesse Moss Talks “The Overnighters’ and Morality in the Heartland – Interview with Mr. Moss goes into detail about how the documentary was recorded. Interesting tidbits are how he had to re-edit the footage to tell the story differently when the final dramatic event changed the whole story.

Since I haven’t mentioned anything about the movie before, that may not make sense.

I’m looking forward to seeing the movie because I know something about Williston, the church involved, and the overnighter program.

One fascinating part of this story is that Mr. Moss found sources, conducted interviews, recorded video, and generally developed this documentary by himself. Post-production work involved a very small team, but until that time, he was the entire crew.

For this month, he is in a different town every few days appearing at theaters where the documentary is being aired.

Energy

10/21 – The Feed – North Dakota Races to Frack Better – Continue reading “More good stuff on the open frontiers – 10/28”

Creative destruction on the farm, with photos

(All photos by James Ulvog, shot in October 2014.)

Just like other areas of economic activity, farming deals with constructive assets deteriorating and being replaced.

Picture what these wonderful houses and barns looked like in their prime. Imagine how productive and helpful they were.

Continue reading “Creative destruction on the farm, with photos”

A drive in the oil fields east of Williston

(all photos by James Ulvog – Two pumps visible in photo; there are 8 pumps on 4 pads I could see along the road from where this photo was taken to the rig in the background)

(Photo of above rig from a few hundred feet down the road from the previous view, showing additional wells.)

I took a drive east of Williston on highway 1804. Drove about 20 miles after getting out of town. Two amazing things struck me.

Number of drilling rigs

First is the number of drilling rigs in operation. I would guess I saw about a dozen rigs. Of course with their height you can see them a few miles away.

Continue reading “A drive in the oil fields east of Williston”

Staffing problems in the Bakken

(Photo by James Ulvog)

While in Williston earlier this month, I saw the above sign in front of Wal-Mart saying they are paying $17 an hour to start. I hear starting pay for night stockers is $19 an hour.

My guess from what I heard while in town is $17 at Wal-Mart is the starting, minimum wage for new arrivals in town. With their staffing need, that might also be the first job upon arriving in town for lots of people.

The Williston Herald had a great article on employment issues in North Dakota: “Labor shortage forcing some restaurants to close”. The article was in the 10/17/14 paper but I couldn’t find it online.

Continue reading “Staffing problems in the Bakken”

My second visit to Williston – October 2014

(All photos by James Ulvog.)

Last week (mid October) my wife and I visited Williston to see our son and daughter-in-law. Got to visit for five days.

This was our second trip to Williston. Our first visit was a year ago, in early October 2013.

I’ll post a series of articles with my observations.

Infrastructure gains

One noticeable change is the infrastructure is starting to catch up.

It was amazing to see the amount of new housing built in the last year. On the west side of town there are an astounding number of large apartment complexes.

Here is one complex of four large buildings of which one is out of view (4 stories each of around 15 units per floor) under construction.

(photo by James Ulvog; the area between the buildings and streets

will be filled with car garages. The concrete is already poured.)

Continue reading “My second visit to Williston – October 2014”

More good stuff on the Bakken – 10/6

(Photo by James Ulvog, showing flaring of natural gas that can’t be tied into a pipeline.)

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

Production may drop for a while

10/2 – Million Dollar Way – North Dakota Oil Production Likely To Start Falling – Rigzone, Reuters – The MDW article quotes Rigzone explain why production will be likely be falling at times over the next year.

Continue reading “More good stuff on the Bakken – 10/6”