I was out in the Bakken today and hope to have more pictures posted by the end of the week.
If anyone doubts the "reality" of the Bakken, he/she needs to take a drive around the area. The unit trains themselves are incredibly impressive, and they haven't even built all the crude-by-rail loading facilities. My dad could not believe the number of tank cars -- stretching a long, long way, and often side-by-side on sidings. Even in the areas that are "slow" -- like the area around Sidney, Montana -- is busy, busy, busy.
I was told that Harold Hamm, CLR/CEO bought almost 100,000 shares of CLR stock last week (September 8 - 9, 2011); I haven't had time to find the link, but it's a very credible source. Trust me.
It is so busy in the Bakken, Williams County commissioners finally had to put a moratorium on man-camps. I have mixed feelings on that, but I'm not going to wade into this issue. There are issues on all sides.