Tag: Williston

More good stuff on the Bakken – 8/11

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

7/25 – PR Newswire – More than 30% Growth in Shale Oil Output in Bakken, Eagle Ford: Platts’ Bentek Energy – In June ’14, increase of prior year June production was 28.9% in Bakken and 37.6% in Eagle Ford. Compared to where I was four years ago, if I saw that report fresh today, I would write a full length post on that one article. Today, that is old news for me.

Internal rate of return is above 50% in Bakken and 65% in Eagle Ford. The article explains what that means: Continue reading “More good stuff on the Bakken – 8/11”

More good stuff on the Bakken – 7/24

Here’s a few quick notes on interesting news that I won’t cover in a separate post: production levels, a forecast for slowing acceleration of output, employement, infrastructure, and  few other things.

Production level

7/16 – North Dakota oil production passes 1,039,000 BOPD in 5/14

5/30 – Million Dollar Way – That She Is! A Million-Bbl Bakken Well In This Boom – One well has finally crossed the point of producing 1,000,000 barrels of oil. It has been on-line for about 3.5 years. Let’s assume $90/barrel. That would be $90,000,000 gross, or about $26M per year. Still producing 24,000 bbl a month, which at $86 is about $2,000,000 each month. Not even on a pump yet. Initial production was an okay 803 barrels a day. Not great. Not bad. By 12/14, it will have produced $100M of oil.

5/30 – Bakken Shale – Is the Bakken America’s Last Boom? – Continue reading “More good stuff on the Bakken – 7/24”

Fire at Williston oilfield supply company

A large fire broke out at Red River Supply, an oilfield supply company in Williston in the early morning hours on Tuesday July 22. First reports of explosions were at about 12:15 in the morning.

Fire officials decided to let the fire burn itself out because of the nearness to the Little Muddy River. Water runoff from fighting the fire would be contaminated with oil and other chemicals which would then drain into the river.

Continue reading “Fire at Williston oilfield supply company”

More good stuff on Bakken – 2-24-14

I often seen a news article related to the topics discussed on my blogs but the article doesn’t warrant a full post. Or, I don’t have time to develop a full discussion. Those articles are described briefly in “more good stuff” discussions.

Here’s a few quick notes on interesting news that I won’t cover in a separate post: housing prices, pad drilling, and improper disposal of radioactive filters.

Continue reading “More good stuff on Bakken – 2-24-14”

More downsides to the Bakken expansion

Rental prices are sky-high in Williston and elsewhere around the Bakken. When I describe the rent situation in Williston to my friends here in California, I’m not quite sure if they believe me.

Here are five stories over the last few weeks describing the pain that causes.

Amy Dalrymple, writing at The Dickinson Press, describes Faces of the Boom: After return to hometown, 76-year-old struggles to stay. 

Continue reading “More downsides to the Bakken expansion”

Air travel in North Dakota continues rising in Nov. ‘13

The Dickinson Press reports ND airports set November boarding records.

With those increases, I’ll make a wild guess there will be more flights added to Dickinson and Williston.

Here’s the passenger boardings and percentage change from same month in prior year: Continue reading “Air travel in North Dakota continues rising in Nov. ‘13”

Upside and downside of the Bakken boom – in-depth article & videos

The Telegraph has a full length article on Boomtown, USA. In addition to a great feature in words, there are 9 videos, of about 2 minutes each.

Upside

The upside of the oil boom is incredible. Lots of guys are making $100K to $150K by working hard doing difficult work.  The article guesses there are 10,000 men living in crew camps. Each of them is making, by my guess, between $70k and $125K a year.

My guess is most of those guys would be making $40K to $70K if they were working back home. Assuming they even had a job. Most of them wouldn’t.

Business is booming. Consumer stores are crowded. Construction is going as fast as the city can permit projects.

Continue reading “Upside and downside of the Bakken boom – in-depth article & videos”

How would you like to have this problem: labor force in your city grows 2.58% per month. Yes, over 2%. Per month. For three years. And no end of growth in sight.

That’s the calculation from Dr. David Flynn, writing at the Say Anything Blog: Williston Labor Force May Soon Be Larger Than Grand Forks.

He calculates a 2.58% growth per month over the last three years in Williston. Here are the raw numbers:

In August 2010 the labor force in Williston was 18,819, and by August 2013 it increased to 47,060.

How do you cope with that kind of growth. You can’t. No community can.

Continue reading “How would you like to have this problem: labor force in your city grows 2.58% per month. Yes, over 2%. Per month. For three years. And no end of growth in sight.”

Estimates of population in Williston show doubling since 2010

Number of people in Williston is growing so fast that the people who track such things are having a hard time figuring out how many are there.

Latest study is from N.D. State University, reported by AP in Grand Forks Herald: Study: Williston population growth to continue.

Current estimate is somewhere between 25,000 and 33,000 people are living in Williston. That’s up from the official count in the 2010 census of 14,700.

Notice the range of the estimate?

Continue reading “Estimates of population in Williston show doubling since 2010”

Bakken is land of opportunity, but there are cautions to consider before you jump in your truck and start driving

“Williston 101: Tip for Job seekers” contains some cautions if you plan to head out for the new gold rush.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fjj1BuWfh7o&feature=player_detailpage]

My list of things to consider before getting on the road: Continue reading “Bakken is land of opportunity, but there are cautions to consider before you jump in your truck and start driving”

Williston pulls liquor licenses from two strip clubs

There are downsides to a booming economy. Things can get out of control with an overwhelming increase in men who work long hours for good money: they need something to do when not working.

With a serious imbalance in the proportion of men and women in Williston, guess what, those guys wind up at the city’s two strip clubs.

The two places are next door to each other. Not a good deal – get bounced out of one for being rowdy and you can stumble to the other.

As you would expect there has been a surge in police calls to the two clubs.

Continue reading “Williston pulls liquor licenses from two strip clubs”

Wouldn’t it be fun if the Bakken crude going to Delta’s refinery went into their planes flying to Williston?

Amy Dalrymple reports in Delta receives first Bakken shipment that Monroe Energy LLC, a Delta subsidiary that runs a refinery, has received their first shipment of crude from Bakken.

Continue reading “Wouldn’t it be fun if the Bakken crude going to Delta’s refinery went into their planes flying to Williston?”

Rough indicator of growth in Williston – Sales tax collections up 30% in a year

Sales tax collections are a helpful indicator of what is going on.  From the Williston Wire, available by email only:

According to tax department data, Williston’s taxable sales and purchases were $952,804,340 in the third quarter, up nearly 30 percent over the same period last year. Williams County topped the one billion dollar mark with $1,268,689,305 collected up 36.15 percent

Continue reading “Rough indicator of growth in Williston – Sales tax collections up 30% in a year”