Idle Rambling -- The Effect of That 2,500-Bed Man-Camp On Williston -- Bakken, North Dakota, USA

The distance from Tioga, North Dakota, to Williston, North Dakota, is slightly less than 50 miles, forty-five minutes, maybe less.

The distance from Tioga, North Dakota, to Minot, North Dakota, is slightly more than 80 miles, an hour and a half. To get to Minot, from Tioga, one goes through Stanley, a bit more than 30 miles away.

One cannot get to Watford City, North Dakota, from Tioga, except via Williston, the shortest route, or through Stanley, a very long circuitous route.

I think about those distances when I think of the new 2,500-bed man-camp coming to Tioga. The population of Tioga was 1,230 in the 2010 census, and that was probably a bit inflated due to the oil activity (by inflated, I mean, the population would have been lower had their been no oil boom).

There is minimal "entertainment" opportunities in Tioga. There is no commercial airport. Amtrak does not stop at Tioga.

Men in the oil patch work very long hours and work very, very hard. The men living in the new Tioga man-camp won't have much free time, but when they have free time, I assume they will spend it in two places: at Williston food and drink establishments, and at the Williston airport.

In the "old days" the roughnecks "worked on; off two." They were in the field for two weeks, and then had two weeks off. Some of that will change with the man-camps. If the period of time in the field is extended (it certainly won't be decreased), they will spend more time in Williston, and will still continue to fly home when they have at least five days off.

Many Willistonites drive to Bismarck to catch "charter" flights to Las Vegas, "charter" in the sense that the flights are made very economical due to their very nature: full flights; non-stop, round trips. I wouldn't be surprised that once the regional airlines sort out the common destination in Texas / Louisiana for the roughnecks, Williston might see similar "charter" flights to let's say, Houston, or Dallas, or Baton Rouge, possibly New Orleans.  

By the way, not exactly midway, but cutting off a bit of travel time into Williston, will be the new 720-acre industrial park north of Williston. Something tells me the surrounding area is going to be extensively developed.