GDP Per Capita By State -- January 7, 2024

Locator: 46479ECON.

Link here.

For the complete list, go to the link.

Per capita, global, North Dakota would rank #8, between the Cayman Islands and Switzerland. Others:

• Qatar: #9

Mercer County: North Dakota Center Of Excellence For Extracting Metals For Batteries? October 19, 2022

Mercer County? Think Beulah. 

From The Bismarck Tribune:

A Minnesota metals company is planning a $433 million minerals processing facility in central North Dakota as part of a federal effort to expand domestic manufacturing of batteries for electric vehicles and the power grid. 

The Biden administration on Wednesday awarded $2.8 billion in grants to projects in 12 states including the one in North Dakota's Mercer County. 

A total of 20 companies nationwide are getting money for projects to extract and process lithium, graphite, nickel and other battery materials, manufacture battery components and strengthen U.S. supply of critical minerals.

US Moves -- State-To-State Move Studies -- January 4, 2022

The studies:

• United Van Line Movers Study, 2020.
• U-Haul Annual Report, 2020 data.
• United Van Lines / Bloomberg / ZeroHedge, March to August, 2020.
  
• United Van Lines Movers Covid-19 study, March to August, 2020.
• United Van Lines Movers Study, 2019.
  
• United Van Lines Movers Study, 2018
• Historical, 2001 - 2018, ZeroHedge.
• United Van Lines Movers Study, 2016: 40th Annual Study 
  

Soybean Oil Manufacturing Plant -- Spiritwood, ND -- MPC, ADM -- Close On Deal -- December 17, 2021

 Link here.

• JV: Archer-Daniels-Midland, Marathon Petroleum Corporation (the refiner)
• product: soybean oil --> renewable diesel fuel
• ADM: 75%
• MPC: 25%
• to be completed in 2023
• product to be supplied to MPC
• 600 million lbs of refined soybean oil per year--> 75 million gallons of diesel per year
• diesel: one gallon = 137,381 Btu
• North Dakota consumption: 100 trillion Btu distillate fuel oil
• 100,000,000,000,000 / 137,381 = 730 million gallons per year
• Spiritwood: about 10% of ND's annual distillate fuel consumption (?)
• disclaimer: I often make simple arithmetic errors.

Drones. For A Little Town Out In The Middle Of Nowhere, Williston, ND, Certainly Gets A Lot Of Attention -- November 12, 2021

Locator: 10010DRONES. 

Link provided by a reader. Thank you.

Williston Economic Development hosted a Workhorse Aerospace demonstration showcasing the latest advances in Unmanned Aerial Systems.

Held at the former Sloulin Field International Airport hangar, the demonstration also featured guests from TrainND Northwest and Vantis. Workhorse Aerospace is a division of Workhorse Technologies in Loveland, Ohio. The company is designing and working towards FAA type certification of its small Unmanned Aerial System (sUAS) called the HorseFly, which visitors got to see in action on Tuesday.

The primary mission for the HorseFly UAS is small package delivery, focusing on the market for 10 lbs. delivered up to 10-miles. Visitors watched as the HorseFly flew around the former airport, carrying a small parcel.

Workhorse has been working with the Northern Plains UAS Test Site (NPUASTS) to partner in programs such as Vantis and eventually Beyond Visual Line of Sight operations.

“One of the big emerging technologies that we’re experiencing here in Williston and the region is the rise of unmanned aerial systems,” Economic Development Director Shawn Wenko told the Williston Herald. “That’s due in part to the Vantis network, which is the statewide non-visual line of sight network that the State of North Dakota has funded. We’re now seeing a lot of companies that want to test their technology on the network, and they’re reaching out to us to find an area, find opportunities on how they can test that.”

Much more at the link.

Holiday Spending "Just In Time" Vs "Just In Case" -- October 23, 2021

NASCAR today: 2:00 CT, Kansas. Second of three, group of eight. Standings here.

Holiday spending:

• first report: $1,000 / person spending this holiday season; "every" media source predicts huge spending season"; link here;
• Adobe forecasts record online holiday spending;
• emarketer, forecast:
• total US retail sales will rise 9.0% to $1.147 trillion
• brick-and-mortar retail: will surge 7.9% to $935.79 billion
• US retail commerce sales will climb a whopping 14.4% to $211.66 billion
• e-commerce to account for 18.4% of total retail sales
• forecast factors in ongoing strength (see my favorite graph below):
• ongoing strength in the consumer economy despite resurgence of Covid-19 (delta variant)
• low unemployment
• rising wages
• booming stock market
• government stimulus
• Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Cyber Monday? see link
• retailers' biggest winners:
• Amazon
• Walmart
• Target
• Best Buy

Amazon:

• high gasoline prices won't affect overall spending
• having said that, Amazon will benefit if high gasoline prices impact spending at all
• three large mailings = Amazon Prime membership
• USPS large flat box:  $22.65; I believe USPS is less expensive than UPS and much, much less expensive than FedEx
• USPS: three days shipping and recently announced that agency purposely extending delivery times to save money
• Amazon: one-day delivery is the norm; same day common;
• Amazon Prime: Prime Video; Amazon music;

Mastercard: sees holiday spending reaching record on 7.4% growth; link here;

Anecdote:

• my wife was looking for a specific $2-item at brick-and-mortar; unable to find it at three different stores
• went on Amazon; found product for $20; aghast until she read the small print: box of ten
• my wife, who was only going to spend $2 for a single item, went ahead and bought the 10-pack
• why does Amazon (generally) not run out of stuff?
• on the flip side -- do folks now understand why there are shortages? Anecdote: my wife just took ten items off the shelf when all she was looking for was one -- and this is happening hundreds of thousands of times per day around the country.  
• we used to buy "just in time"; now, we buy "just in case."
  

Anecdote:

• my wife went with her friend yesterday; early Christmas and Hanukkah shopping
• listening to all the reports that there will be a shortage "of things" by end of November
• retailers doing a great job to get folks out early
  

Tea leaves:

• we're going to see huge retail sales well before Thanksgiving this year
• as we near Thanksgiving the stories on evening news will accelerate, scaring people into buying early to avoid shortages
  

My favorite graph: pending.

Trenton Lands One Of State's Largest Economic Expansion Projects To Date -- Source -- October 14, 2021

Locator: 10201GTL.

Tag: GTL Trenton 

Updates

November 16, 2021: update here. Williams County loan.

Original Post 

If this doesn't blow you away, nothing will.

Population of Trenton, ND: 372 people. 

Link here. 

Trenton, ND: a few miles southwest of Williston, ND.

Gas-to-liquids plant.

Canada-based Cerilon GTL.

But look at this, for little ol' Trenton: a $2.8 billion plant.

Will start with an initial 24,000 bpd of ultra-low sulfur diesel, and:

• military-grade jet fuel;
• naphtha,
• Group III base oils

Construction to begin in early 2023.

Infrastructure already in place:

• rail
• pipeline
• also has carbon sequestration opportunities

Company anticipates future construction phases and more facilities as part of  its overall vision for the complex.

“The Cerilon GTL complex has the potential to be one of the largest economic expansion projects in the history of North Dakota,” he said. “GTL facilities support the oil industry while reducing environmental impacts. The Williams County facility will be one of many expansions that make North Dakota a leader in carbon neutrality.”

If Governor Burgum had anything to do with getting this project in North Dakota, he needs to be declared governor for life.

Now, if he could only get the NDIC website working.

Notes From All Over -- The Slim Chickens Edition -- Part 3 -- September 22, 2021

UK calamity: two UK power companies have collapsed; government braces for more casualties. Avro Energy and Green supplied 835,000 customers between them. No link; google it.

Williston: a building boom:

Bakken economy: Slim Chickens broke ground -- newest location in Williston Square. Williston Herald. 

Williston Square welcomed its first resident on Tuesday with the official groundbreaking ceremony for Slim Chickens. 

Slim Chickens was announced to be one of the first businesses to enter the Square in October of 2020. The restaurant, owned and operated by Preferred Restaurant Group Inc. of Minot, will feature 3,430 square foot building for dining in, along with space for parking and a dual drive-through.

Preferred Restaurant Group owns four Slim Chickens and 14 Taco John's restaurants, including the one in Williston, which President and CEO Mike Sartwell said is the franchises' most successful. That success, he said, will hopefully translate to this newest restaurant offering.

With construction on the building already underway, Sartwell said he's excited to be one the first businesses to set up shop in the 800-acre development. Economic Development Director Shawn Wenko commented that Slim Chickens' location in the Square will feature several restaurant and retail options, with Slim Chickens being the first business to go vertical. Construction is expected to continue through December, with the hope that the restaurant will open its doors to the public in January 2022.

Williston Square? See this link.

Dozens of new businesses have come into Williston this year, and 2020 is expected to be even busier due to redevelopment of the 800-acre Sloulin Field International Airport site, now known as the Williston Square.

Plans for the area include a civic center, casual and fast food restaurants, more apartment buildings or single-family homes, and big-box retailers. Williston Economic Development says due to the old airport’s ideal location within town, interest from developers and investors is high, and moving a lot faster than anticipated.

The Williston Square redevelopment project has been in the planning stages for five years, and within the next two weeks, the layout of roads and infrastructure will be unveiled.

Williston Square: website here. 

Why US Shale Companies Are So Undervalued -- David Messler -- September 10, 2021

Disclaimer: this is not an investment site.  Do not make any investment, financial, job, career, travel, or relationship decisions based on what you read here or think you may have read here. 

Link here.

As an example let’s compare the cash generation between Occidental Petroleum, (NYSE: OXY) and NextEra Energy, (NYSE: NEE). One company produces oil and gas primarily, and the other participates in the “Green Energy” sector building windmill farms for electricity generation.

Investors in NextEra are looking past a mountain of debt to award the company a capitalization of $168 bn at the current share price of ~$85. Some of this is understandable given the figurative, “wind at the back,” of this industry. Windfarms could be the “tulip craze” of the modern era, and are endorsed and sanctioned by local, state, and the Federal government. However, if dividend security is analyzed using conventional metrics in the table above, investors in OXY should be sleeping much better at night, than those holding shares of NEE.

At some point, investors in NEE may have to come to grips with the fact that as attractive as this sector is socially, it is not generating returns sufficient to maintain generous dividends being offered.

Devon:

Another company, Devon Energy, has already begun returning capital to shareholders in the form of an innovative dividend policy and share repurchases. Jeff Ritenour, CFO of DVN commented in their recent analyst call about capital allocation-

“I would say the share repurchases is certainly moving up the list of options for us, potential options for us as we move through the back half of this year. We could absolutely supplement it with some incremental variable dividends and potentially some incremental share repurchases. I think the other thing we'll look at as we get further into the year and probably into 2022 is the potential to increase the fixed dividend as well.”

DVN’s newly implemented dividend policy includes a modest regular dividend of $0.44 per share combined with a special dividend that constitutes a plan to return as much as 50% of excess cash to investors.

Disclaimer: this is not an investment site.  Do not make any investment, financial, job, career, travel, or relationship decisions based on what you read here or think you may have read here.   

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Paddle Boarding -- Grapevine Lake, DFW, North Texas
Sophia and Her Mom

Quick! Name The Fastest-Growing County In The Entire United States This Past Decade -- August 16, 2021

McKenzie County, North Dakota. 

Link to Charles Kennedy. 

The oil boom over the past decade, which made America the world’s top crude oil producer, made a small rural county in [western] North Dakota the fastest-growing county in population between 2010 and 2020, U.S. Census Bureau data showed.

North Dakota’s McKenzie County was the fastest-growing county in America in the past decade, according to the decennial U.S. census.  

The Bakken boom, which began early in the 2010s, contributed a lot to the fastest-growing county in America. [2000 in Montana, 2007 in North Dakota.]

The number of residents in McKenzie County more than doubled over the past decade, jumping from 6,360 residents in 2010 to 14,704 residents 2020, according to the U.S. census.

The growth was “whopping,” Census Bureau demographer Marc Perry said during a press conference, as quoted by the AP.

Williams County, also in North Dakota, registered an 83-percent surge in the number of its residents over the past decade, to 40,950 people in 2020.

Feds Deny North Dakota Request For Early Haying Of CRP Land -- August 12, 2021

This was published some time ago. At the time I did not post it. But at risk the story disappears completely -- it appears the story has no legs ... from AP News, July 24, 2021:

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — The federal government has denied a request by North Dakota leaders to allow ranchers struggling with drought to hay idled grassland while it’s still of good quality.

The Bismarck Tribune reports the state Agriculture Department is looking into the reasons why the request was denied.

The federal government is allowing limited emergency grazing of Conservation Reserve Program land, which typically is idled under a government program that pays farmers to protect erodible land and create wildlife habitat. North Dakota ranchers all summer have been seeking federal government permission to also hay that land.

CRP typically doesn’t open until after nesting season ends, to protect wildlife populations. The season in North Dakota ends August 1, 2021. Ranchers say that after that day, grass might not be of good enough quality to make it worthwhile to hay.

State officials and members of North Dakota’s congressional delegation this summer have pushed the U.S. Department of Agriculture for earlier CRP haying. State Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring earlier this week made another plea. His department has received hundreds of calls from ranchers in recent weeks about the issue.

ADM To Build North Dakota's First-Ever Dedicated Soybean Crushing Plant and Refinery -- May 10, 2021

I've never "understood" Spiritwood, ND. There must be some highly civic-minded, entrepreneurial business leaders and farmers -- Spiritwood seems to pop up frequently when it comes to "production" facilities of some sort. I honestly don't know what it's all about. From wiki, the Spiritwood Industrial Park:

In 2007, ground was broken on a coal-fired cogeneration power plant, built by Great River Energy in Spiritwood Industrial Park. The industrial park, planned and funded the year before, was built coincidental to expansion of the nearby Cargill Malt plant and construction of the power/steam plant was predicated on a co-located ethanol plant. 

After construction was completed in 2011,the power plant was idled due to the recession, and need for a second steam partner (Cargill Malt being the first), after plans for the original ethanol plant fell through. In 2013, Great River Energy began construction on its own co-located ethanol plant, which would utilize the extra steam capacity of the power plant. 

The economic upturn and the promise of a second end-user for waste steam prompted the power plant to begin commercial operations in 2012. Construction of the ethanol plant was finished in July, 2015. The construction of the ethanol plant was financed, in part, with a $75,000,000 EB-5 investment, managed by CMB Regional Centers. The ethanol plant began production in June, 2015, and produced 65 million gallons of ethanol in its first year.

So, now we have this story from businesswire:

ADM today announced its plan to build North Dakota’s first-ever dedicated soybean crushing plant and refinery to meet fast-growing demand from food, feed, industrial and biofuel customers, including producers of renewable diesel. 

Based in Spiritwood, ND, the approximately $350 million crush and refining complex will feature state-of-the-art automation technology and have the capacity to process 150,000 bushels of soybeans per day. 

Strategically located in a major soybean producing area, ADM’s global logistics network will enable the facility to access both domestic and global markets for soybean oil and meal. The facility is expected to be complete prior to the 2023 harvest.

New Hospital In Williston? -- March 2, 2021

Link here.

Williston Square: the old Sloulin Airfield.

A huge "thank you" to a reader for catching this.

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Crawdad Season

I'll check tomorrow -- too late today -- but it appears crawdad season in Grapevine, TX, has arrived! Whoo-hoo!

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A Musical Interlude

Look What They've Done To My Song, Miley Cyrus

Canola -- January 31, 2021

North Dakota leads the nation, by far, in canola production. I assume this is common knowledge.

Remember this post seven years ago, almost to the day, January 25, 2014? CBR -- canola by rail. 

At the time: search the blog for "canola."

North Dakota plants 2/3rds of the nation's canola -- is now at 83% -- see below;
North Dakota company building a canola plant in Oklahoma.
Despite moisture problems, North Dakota likely to remain #1 in canola -- back in 2011.

Today, from Reuters: exports empty Canada's canola bins, driving prices to near records. 

Canada, the world’s biggest canola grower, is running short of the oilseed six months before the next harvest, with strong export demand driving prices to nearly 13-year highs last week.

Supplies of major commodity crops are dwindling worldwide as buyers hoard food supplies during the COVID-19 pandemic. China is loading up on grains and oilseeds that it can feed to animals, raising food inflation and causing some nations to restrict exports of their crops.

Canola, known for its bright yellow flowers, is crushed mainly for oil to make French fries, mayonnaise and salad dressings. Its meal is also fed to livestock like pigs.The roots of Canada’s canola shortage trace back to the autumn, when farmers reaped their smallest harvest in five years. Strong export demand for canola seed and oil then drove a late-summer rally that prompted farmers to sell more crop earlier than usual.ICE canola futures retreated late in the week to less than C$700 per tonne, remaining close to levels unseen since the record 2008 commodity boom.

Production by country:

• Canada: 15.5 million metric tons
• China: 14.7 million metric tons (net importer)
• India: 7.8 million metric tons (net importer)
• Germany: 6.25 million metric tons
• France: 5.5 million metric tons
• US: about 4 million metric tons

In the US, by state: 

Back in 2018, I found that story so compelling, I posted the following:

From Absolutely Small: How Quantum Theory Explains Our Everyday World, Michael D. Fayer, Ph. D., c. 2010.

Some data points:

• fatty acids:
• myristic acid, a 14-carbon saturated fat is believed to increase cholesterol significantly in a deleterious manner
• palmitic acid, a 16-carbon saturated fat, is thought to increase cholesterol to some extent
• stearic acid, an 18-carbon saturated fat, with little effect on cholesterol levels
• linolenic acid, an 18-carbon polyunsaturated fat, and other polyunsaturated fats decrease cholesterol
• oleic acid, a monounsaturated fat, and like many monounsaturated fats, with little effect on cholesterol
• among common oils, going from "bad" to "better" to "best" (in this context)
• butter fat and coconut oil: large amounts of myristic acid and palmitic acid; very little linolenic acid
• olive oil: no myristic acid, significant amount of palmitic acid and some linolenic acid
• canola oil; no myristic acid and almost no palmitic acid; a substantial amount of linolenic acid; ND #1;
  
• grape seed oil: no myristic acid; small amounts of palmitic acid, bur very large amounts of linolenic acid
• safflower oil: same as grape seed oil -- when not processed for high-temperature cooking
• sunflower oil: same as grape seed oil -- when not processed for high-temperature cooking; ND #1 (link here);
  
• chemically-modified fats: for various reasons, many polyunsaturated fats (good) are chemically processed to saturated fats (bad)
• hydrogenation: chemically converting polyunsaturated fats (good) to saturated fats (bad)
• because polyunsaturated fats can be beneficial, sunflower oil and safflower oil are seen as advantageous
• however, sunflower oil and safflower oil are often hydrogenated (bad)
• how can you tell if the sunflower oil product or the safflower oil product has been hydrogenated? Read the label and look at the ratio of saturated / polyunsaturated
• sunflower oil / safflower oil: high ratio of saturated / polyunsaturated, then the oil has been hydrogenated (bad)
• if not hydrogenated (good), sunflower oil / safflower oil will have far greater amounts of polyunsaturated than saturated fats

Having said all that, I practically grew up on slightly salted  / salted sunflower seeds while growing up in North Dakota. 

Back to safflower and sunflower oils: many brands have been partially hydrogenated so they are more usable for high-temperature cooking.

Polyunsaturated (but not saturated) oils more prone to reacting with oxygen and becoming rancid. To extend shelf life, they should be refrigerated.

If polyunsaturated fats are not refrigerated, they should be kept in a cool, dark place; some such oils come in dark bottles to improve shelf life in grocery stores.

Saturated fatty oils will keep for a long time without refrigeration.

Saturated fatty oils are also better for high-temperature cooking, and thus the reason for (partially) hydrogenating safflower and sunflower oil (bad).

We will get to trans-oils (bad) later. If I remember. It is my understanding that McDonald's does not use trans-oils. 

Canola oil is the first oil -- among the seven fatty acids in the frying oil -- usually mentioned when asked what oil McDonald's uses for frying French fries.

***************************************************
My Fair Lady

Wow, the "lov-ely" scene brings forth a lot of tears. What a great story; what a great movie. 

TCM.

*********************
Hard To Resist

Bakken Economy: New Brewery In Williston -- January 13, 2021

Busted Knuckle Brewery opens in Williston, link here:

• opened doors to the public: January 12, 2021
• family brewery - Boreson family
• owners also have a brewery, same name, in Glasgow, MT
• located in former Williams County Highway Dept building across from Cashwise -- sort of kitty corner from the old Happy Chappie's service station;
• the feel of a garage; a tribute to the founder and brewer Ben Boreson's 30-year history as a mechanic -- and wow, what a great building for a brewery

Williston Expansion -- Williston Square -- October 16, 2020

The old Williston airport site, the-800-acre Sloulin Field International Airport site --> Sloulin redevelopment project --> Williston Square.

From KFYR last December (2019):

Dozens of new businesses have come into Williston this year, and 2020 is expected to be even busier due to redevelopment of the 800-acre Sloulin Field International Airport site, now known as the Williston Square. 

Plans for the area include a civic center, casual and fast food restaurants, more apartment buildings or single-family homes, and big-box retailers. 

Williston Economic Development says due to the old airport’s ideal location within town, interest from developers and investors is high, and moving a lot faster than anticipated.

This week several updates released.

Most importantly, the north-south road on the west of this development has been completed. There was a huge gap in 16th Avenue West due to the old airport, but now that avenue has been filled in, connecting 26th Street to the south with 42nd Street to the north. That's a big deal. 

In addition, it was announced that Pizza Ranch and Slim Chickens will be breaking ground at the new Williston Square in 2021.  

Bakken Economy? Say what? Bakken Labor Force Near Record High -- August 22, 2020

By the way, this might help explain the relative increase in the number of Wuhan flu cases in North Dakota. I don't know; just a thought. The following on the net this past week:

 

ND Sets Another Record -- July 25, 2020

From Geoff Simon's top ND stories, and from NDLTAP Truck Weight Expert:

In March, 2020, the Stark County Highway Department authorized LoadPass Permits to issue permits to Mammoet USA South Inc. for two loads, each weighing nearly 1.5 million pounds.

The approved routes authorized travel for three miles on county and township roads. The loads were reactors being hauled to the Marathon refinery west of Dickinson. Two self-propelled modular trailers with 56 axles and 224 tires were used to haul each reactor from the railhead to the refinery. Remote controls were used to steer the trailers. Not only were these loads excessively overweight, they were also very over dimensional. Permits were issued for up to 26’3” in width, 24’ in height and 210’4” in length.  

Just one of the loads weighed the same as nineteen 80,000-pound tractor trailers. That many 18-wheelers lined up on a highway would create a train of vehicles 1,425 feet long – more than a quarter of a mile! The process to find a route for these loads was not any easy task.  

Janet Sanford, Operator for the LoadPass Permit Program, said Mammoet contacted her more than a year ago. The first requested route was denied. Al Heiser, Stark County Road Superintendent, worked with the company on a route that was better designed to accommodate the large loads. A major challenge with the route was that it crossed a two-span, 141-foot-long bridge. Marathon Oil hired an engineering firm and worked with the county and NDDOT Bridge Division to analyze the bridge to assess its capacity to withstand the load. In the end, three bridge analyses were done before the movements were approved by the county and permits could be issued. 

“The Largest GVW I have ever seen by far,” Sanford said. “It was exciting and scary. I was pleased that everything went well.”

Looks like 28 axles at this photo. Amazon Prime free delivery?

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Jeff Bezos?

It May Be A Dip, But It's A Very Small Dip -- January 28, 2020

From The Williston Herald:

• The economy in Williston / Williams County took a slight dip in 2019 compared to 2018.
• workforce, unemployment rate:: 
• Williams County: 1.7%, unchanged from November, 2018
• state: 2.1%, unchanged from November, 2018 
• sales tax distributions:
• Williston, 2019, year-to-date: $22,578,880
• $1,165,907 higher than this time in 208
• $703,030 lower than December, 2018
• Williams County: $29326,060, 2019, year-to-date
• an increase of $5,565,995 more than 2018
• $450,420 lower in December, 2019, compared with December, 2018
• taxable sales and purchases:
• Williston: down 2.56%, 3Q19 over 3Q18
• Williams County: down 1.96%, same time periods
• average sale price of a single-family home in Williston, 2019: $280,672
• $30,354 higher than same period in 2018
• December, 2019, numbers also a bit higher 

Bottom line: too many numbers; in big scheme of things, not much change, 2019 over 2018. But that unemployment rate is incredible to say the least. 

North Dakota Leads All States In Tax Collection Since Great Recession -- State -- Inforum -- January 20, 2020

North Dakota leads all states in tax collection since Great Recession. Link here.

North Dakota once again leads all states in revenue recovery following the Great Recession as it rides stable growth in the Oil Patch even as the farm economy struggles.

Since the peak quarter during the Great Recession, which ran from 2007 to 2009, state tax receipts in North Dakota have risen 71.2% as of the second quarter of 2019, outpacing all other states, according to an analysis by the Pew Charitable Trusts.

North Dakota’s revenue growth was even more impressive as of the end of 2014, when oil prices were soaring, the Oil Patch was booming and state tax receipts skyrocketed 123.9% from their Great Recession peak.

“It’s nice to see we’re in a phase of continued, sustainable growth in all of our revenues,” said Ryan Rauschenberger, state tax commissioner.

Minnesota and South Dakota also were among 45 states where tax revenues rebounded since the recession, and among 16 states that had tax revenue growth exceeding 15%. Tax receipts rose 28.8% in Minnesota and 22.4% in South Dakota.

The state collects an estimated $250,000 in sales taxes for every oil well that is drilled, for example. Similarly, he said, job expansion from petroleum development spurs income tax growth.

“It’s not just oil revenue that’s growing,” he said. So far this biennium, tax receipts are running ahead of projections made last April.

“Across the board we are ahead of forecast,” Rauschenberger said. “We feel pretty comfortable with where we’re at with our general fund budget.”

On Tuesday, Jan. 7, Rauschenberger’s office announced that taxable sales and purchases for July, August and September of 2019 were $5.852 billion, a 4% increase over those months in 2018.

“We’re actually collecting more in a month than we were in a year before the Bakken (boom)” when production was less than 200,000 barrels per day, Rauschenberger said.

Last year, when Pew ran an earlier comparison, North Dakota tax revenues had rebounded 58.7% since the peak of the Great Recession, the highest of all states. That compared to a gain of 27.2% for Minnesota and 21.6% for South Dakota.