Building Permits in Williston Rise in 2012 -- This is Huge On So Many Levels -- Halliburton In The Housing/Real Estate Business -- Love's Trucking, Ditto

From the Williston Herald: building permits on the rise in 2012.

Data points:

July building permits: $50 million (rounded)
To date, through July 31, 2012: $190 million (for all of 2011: $355 million)
In July: housing - $15 million; commercial - $30 million

Weatherford International: tops in July with three permits at one location -- $12 million, $3 million, and $1.3 million
Schlumberger: two permits, $5 million; The Herald says the location is 13959 Highway 2; Google maps show this near the Montana state line; if so, this is well west of their huge new location nearer Williston

Mercy Medical Center: $2.7 million
Wyoming Casing Services: location yet to be determined
R&T Properties: two permits, $500,000 (separate/total?)

And this is why I noted that this is a huge story on so many levels:

• Halliburton received the most residential permits for their new permanent housing project on Sleepy Ridge Ave: two permits on new apartments valued at $3,793,758 and 10 permits on new Duplexes, all valued at $332,425.


• Love’s Travel Stops had a permit approved for a $900,000 apartment complex.   

I may be off-the-mark here, but $300,000 for a duplex doesn't seem too out of line; is that $150,000 for a housing unit? If so, are housing prices starting to moderate in Williston? Likewise, $900,000 for an apartment complex is not out-of-line at all. 

As noted a long, long time ago, BEXP also built houses for its employees, buying a whole development and putting in its own sewer and utilities because the city would not be able to get to it right away -- I don't know how accurate that is; not confirmed; from reliable source.

The Weatherford expansion was a huge story in mid-2011; it is amazing how fast/slow everything is moving in Williston. Whether it is fast/slow; accelerating/decelerating seems to depend on the observer.

For reference, the Herald reported back in early 2012:

The hub of North Dakota's oil boom issued a record number of building permits in 2011. The city issued more than $355 million worth of permits. That is more than three times what Williston issued in 2009.

At $190 million through July, 2012, the city is on pace to exceed the $355 million in permits last year.

Someone wrote to tell me yesterday the boom won't last forever. And that the oil will eventually run out. I think this boom is affecting the third generation of North Dakotans, and is the biggest boom to date. But yes, the boom won't last forever, and the oil will eventually run out.

As a reminder: CLR is stacking rigs; increasing CAPEX significantly; will increase wells drilled to 330 in 2012 (from 249 originally planned for 2012); and, had raised guidance on how much oil it expects to produce in the Bakken this year. One rig expense: $10 million/well/month. Stacking one rig: $120 million/year. Stacking five rigs: $600 million/year. Companies are stacking rigs and Schlumberger, Halliburton, and Weatherford increasing their footprint, and some are increasing their housing units for their employees. Investors take note.

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