A Feel Good Story -- Nothing You Didn't Already Know -- The Bakken, North Dakota, USA

Link here. (Some numbers rounded)

It is no secret that the oil and gas industry has (and will continue to have) a propensity for job creation. Domestically, look no further than the top-five drilling states for validation. Texas, Oklahoma, North Dakota, Louisiana, and Pennsylvania (in order of largest to smallest number of rigs in each state) currently control nearly 80 percent of all land drilling in the United States. All of these states have unemployment rates that are well below the national average of 9.1 percent. Combined unemployment of the five states, for the most recent month averaged 6.6 percent.

Hiring trends favor regions where drilling is most prevalent.

These five states have 80% of US land rigs and lowest unemployment:

• Texas
• Oklahoma
• North Dakota
• Louisiana
• Pennsylvania

(Pennsylvania! Ya think EPA is gonna stop fracking?)

Add Ohio to the list sometime over the next few years.

But, there are clouds on the horizon:

There is some commitment on the part of operators to continue drilling through the soft patch. However, with a lag of approximately four months baked into the drilling equation for rig demand; we will not know for sure if this is really the case until the winter of 2012. Moreover, OPEC's recent decision to cut its demand forecasts for this year and next suggests there is a growing risk that drilling plans may be curtailed next year.