The magnitude of North Dakota's oil revolution is hard for outsiders to grasp. Superlatives fail to convey the speed and scale of the transformation and its impact on the economy of the state.
The fracking boom is upending the traditional petroleum geography of the United States. On current trends, North Dakota will overtake California as the third-largest oil-producer in the United States by the end of Q1 2012. Output is likely to exceed production from Alaska by the end of 2012 or early 2013. Only Texas will be producing more crude.