$27 Billion Market Cap Oil Company: Largest Investment in Their Portfolio --Tioga, North Dakota -- Bakken

Link here. Regional links break early and often.

In the 2000 census, the population of Ray was 540 people.

Tioga Tribune.com reporting March 15, 2011, data points (some numbers rounded):

• Hess: Ray, North Dakota (Bakken) -- "single biggest investment for Hess in their portfolio."
• Presentation at special meeting in Ray by Hess executives last week; up from Houston
• Hess North American budget: $3 billion; Bakken to get 25 percent of that
• Main focus in 2010: acquire acreage
• Total Hess Bakken acreage: 647,000 core acres
• 18 rigs: enough work for next five years
• Hess spokesman: "This is the most amazing oil I have seen in my 30-year career."
• Hess concentrating on export infrastructure to minimize trucking and flaring
• Hess pipeline corridor: Red Sky Pipeline; extended from Palermo to Tioga; further extension this year
• Railspur under construction west of Tioga: 45,000 bbls daily
• Bakken employees: 250 production, 35 engineers, 85 at gas plant, 76 embedded contractors; thousands of other contractors
• No plans for a Hess refinery in the area

One major concern for emergency response personnel: finding wells

• Solution: an iPad app (not in the original article)

First thought I had when I read the spokesman comment that "this is the most amazing oil I have seen in my 30-year career" -- what was Fidelity doing all those years? Concentrating on natural gas. Hmmm.