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Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Why North Dakota Is Booming -- WSJ Article

Link here.

Be sure to read the comments!

Data points from the article:
  • 3.8% unemployment
Energy
  • Biggest impetus, of course
  • Oil
  • Fourth in production behind Texas, Alaska, and California
  • 650 oil wells drilled last year (2010)
  • Expect 5,500 new oil wells over the next two decades
  • Between 2005 and 2009, oil industry revenues have tripled to $12.7 billion from $4.2 billion
  • Oil industry has created more than 13,000 jobs since 2005
  • Most state officials, including Democrats, are pro-oil
  • "The industry services the old-fashioned liberal goal of making middle-class constituents wealthier."
  • Oil revenue will put an extra $1 billion in state coffers; based on now-low $70/bbl
  • Coal
  • Wind: industry ranks 9th in the country
Agriculture
  • Employs only 7.2% of the state's work force
  • Yet, number one in many grass crops (wheat) and honey production
  • Number one in Premarin production
High tech
  • Great Plains Software, founded in the 1980s; sold to Microsoft in 2001 for $1 billion; over 1,000 employees
  • Headquarters Microsoft Business Systems
  • PacketDigital
  • Aldevron: manufactures proteins for biomedical research
  • State employment in science, technology, engineering and math-related professions grew over 30% --> five times the national average
  • North Dakota now outperforms the nation in everything from percentage of college graduates under the age of 45 to per-capita numbers of engineering and science graduates
Other
  • Median household income increased from $42K (2000) to $50K (2009); the 17 percent increase over that decade was three times the rate of Massachusetts and more than 10 times that of California
  • Taxes are moderate
  • Right-to-work; attractive for manufacturers

4 comments:

  1. Was great to see Harold Hamm on Cramer Today!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I missed Harold Hamm on Cramer today because I was taking care of my grandchildren; sorry to have missed him.

    I have to say that Jim Cramer has really gotten energized with regard to the Bakken. For those folks who have been invested in the Bakken for quite some time, it's very possible we are just now going to see some major Wall Street interest.

    The safety of nuclear energy certainly will enter into discussions regarding natural gas.

    I doubt Harold Hamm said anything he hasn't said before, but did you (anyone) hear him say something new?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Harold reiterated that he expects there will be 100,000 oil-related jobs in the Bakken eventually. (30,000 jobs now)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thank you. That is a new statistic. I had not heard that. I am convinced that Williston Basin could look like Odessa/Midland, Texas, before it's all over. Only difference, alot of folks won't want to make permanent homes in North Dakota.

    I used to think that Williston Basin might look like Tulsa, OK, but I doubt we will have that much storage capacity built. We will ship all the oil south.

    But 100,000 oil-related jobs is huge. Thank you.

    ReplyDelete

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