How Strong is the Oil Boom in Western North Dakota?

This is a great op-ed piece in the Grand Forks Herald today.

How strong is the boom? From the article:

• Electricity needs in some areas are so enormous that officials even are talking about bringing in a modular nuclear reactor to generate power, one person said.
• The drilling rigs' thirst for water is such that officials also are talking about running a pipe from Devils Lake to the drill platforms.
• "We're in the business of doubling the size of every town in the western region," said another spokesperson.

The water issue is political, not otherwise. From another source:

“The amounts of water at issue are minuscule,” the delegation said in the letter to Darcy. “High-end estimates are that full development of the state’s oil fields would require 1,800 new wells drilled per year, at a total of 4 million gallons of water each.” This totals about 60 acre-feet of water per day, compared to the approximately 40,000 acre-feet of Missouri River water that passes through Bismarck-Mandan each day. More realistic estimates indicate that the wells would require closer to 30 acre-feet per day.

The river flows; it is not a static pool.