I grew up in Williston, in the heart of the Williston Oil Basin (WOB) and have followed the oil industry my entire life, in a very general way. I invest in publicly traded companies through the stock market, but my investments in WOB are trivial compared to my overall investment portfolio. I own no mineral rights, and have no inside information regarding the WOB. I do talk with people who live there and occasionally receive information second- and third-hand.
A few months ago I began subscribing to an "energy newsletter" for the first time, if you can call it that: the NDIC's basic services which provides more specific information regarding oil and gas wells in North Dakota.
About the Name of the Blog
For newbies, "MillionDollarWay" has nothing to do with money per se, at least not in the way most folks might think.
"Highway 2 & 85" heading out of Williston was known as "Million Dollar Way" to all of those watching late night television on Friday and Saturday nights in Williston in the 1960's -- due to the car dealerships (one?), the bowling alley (1), and the A&W Root Beer stand on that highway.
I saw the "Million Dollar Way" as my way out of Williston to see the rest of the world. In fact, in 1973, I hitchhiked from Williston to New York City where I caught Air Luxembourg and then hitchhiked through western Europe for one summer. My mother offered to drive me out to the highway, but I was too proud, and walked. To say the least, I have never been so embarrassed as I was that day when the first car that stopped while I was holding out my thumb was my mom, who drove out to get a photograph of me. (I've never seen that photograph.)
So, "MillionDollarWay" has a significant emotional meaning for me -- it has nothing to do with investing (unless, of course, if you consider opportunities in that one car dealership, the bowling alley, and the A&W Root Beer stand as investment opportunities).
And, coincidentally, I might add that the road that was my way out of Williston has turned out to be my road back into Williston.
So, that's it.
For newbies, or for those who have never read it, you might enjoy the "welcome" page.
[Over the past year, some internal links have been broken because I have moved some of the posts around to make the site easier to navigate. The search engines and search applications at the site are the best way to find information. And, of course, the sidebar on the right is chock full of data. If you don't find something you would like to know about, send me a note.]
The Millionth Visitor (and a few before and a few after)
The 1,000,000th viewer was from Wayzata, Minnesota,
Then, following after that:
- Cottonwood, California
- Minot, North Dakota
- Becker, Minnesota
- Casper, Wyoming
- Puchong Selangor (Malasia) -- Hess natural gas expansion
- Dickinson, North Dakota,
- Garland, Texas
- Parker, Colorado
- Council Bluffs
- Calgary, Alberta (999,999)
- Gig Harbor, Washington (999,998)
- Wichita, Kansas (999,997)
- Seoul, South Korea (999,996)
- Belgrade, Maine (999,995)
- Boulder, Colorado (999,994)
- Scarborough, Ontario (999,993)
- Pasadena, Maryland (999,992)
