RockPile Gets Bought Out; Expands -- September 24, 2016

Headline from today's Williston Herald: "Bill promoting tourism in Native American communities on President Obama's desk." Senator Heidi Heitkamp said she expects the bill to be signed soon.

It looks like North Dakota is ahead of the curve already, like it so often is. We have hundreds of visitors from all over the world already at the Standing Rock Reservation, no doubt in anticipation of the bill being signed.

Key officers of the companies involved in the Dakota Access Pipeline will probably not attend the bill-signing ceremony.

By the way, the DAPL developer bought the land being contested north of the Standing Rock Reservation. Another story for another day. Google it. It's worth the read. I drove through that area seven months ago: the land is filled with ravines ("badland") and cannot be farmed. It is mostly brush land and can't support many head of cattle. It's the kind of land that the "white man" gave back to the Native Americans during the 19th century. 

************************************

RockPile Gets Bought Out, Expands

Also from The Williston Herald today:

• Houston-based White Deer Energy buys RockPile
• White Deer: a private equity firm focused on oil and gas
• acquisition puts RockPile in a debt-free situation
• RockPile: 400 employees nationwide with more than half in North Dakota
• RockPile was previously a subsidiary of Triangle Petroleum Corp
• RockPile will expand
• one week after the announcement, RockPile acquired American Well Service, Kenmare, ND
• American Well Service: a workover rig company

The RockPile has been one of my favorite companies to follow. I track it here. Now that it's become part of a private equity firm much less information will be available. But just imagine -- a company that did not exist five years ago now has a "nationwide footprint" with more than 400 employees, more than half in North Dakota. By the way, a company like RockPile then becomes a toehold for an equity firm like White Deer to expand in the Bakken.

*****************************

North Dakota Tax Collections Continue To Fall Below Forecast

Also from The Williston Herald today. August tax revenues for the state:
forecast: #139.3 million

• $9.2 million less than forecast
• it does not say when this forecast was made; if made in 2014, that would be quite a difference than a forecast made in early 2016; I assume the forecast was made shortly before the tax revenues were tallied