At Least They Didn't Blame The Dog -- Harry, Formerly Known As The Spare, And Meghan -- May 14, 2024

Locator: 47151ROYALTY.

Link here. 

From A Reader, Perhaps The Most "Poignant" Note Of The Day -- Happy Birthday, Clarence Iverson #1 Discovery Well -- April 5, 2016

From a reader:

Yesterday in ND oil history, April 4, 1951, 65 years ago: North Dakota's discovery well, Amerada Clarence Iverson #1 began flowing oil.

The famous reflection-pool picture of the rig and gas flare was taken by Bill Shemorry.

Bill took the famous picture late on the night of the 4th or early on the 5th. He then drove to Minot to have a photo-plate engraved which he brought back to Williston in time to make his newspaper deadline.

I met Bill Shemorry on two or three occasions while attending Williston High School. I don't think I have ever met anyone who worked so many hours. He was everywhere, all the time, documenting the history of western North Dakota.

His collection is here.

I've posted a few notes about the Clarence Iverson #1 well (#25 - Beaver Lodge-Devonian Unit G-307) over the years. Here are a couple of links:

• http://themilliondollarway.blogspot.com/2014/06/human-interest-story-on-oilfield-worker.html
• http://themilliondollarway.blogspot.com/2011/01/nice-discussion-of-three-wells-over.html

From that second link:

• Perhaps one of the most famous oil photographs ever taken; taken by Bill Shemorry.
• Another Bill Shemorry photograph of the well; from an airplane.
• Crowd scene at the Clarence Iverson #1 well.  

From an Amerada letter dated April 9, 1951, to North Dakota's state geologist:

Since our letter to your office of 4-2-51, we have set oil and gas separator between well and test tank. The well flowed 307 bbl oil and 25 bbl mud & water in 17 hours, ending at 6:00 a.m. 4-5-51. Well was flowing through 3/4" adjustable choke with the pressure of 315# and casing pressure of 1100# at 6:00 am. Well flowed 159 bbls oil through 3/4" adjustable choice from 6:00 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. 4-5-51 at which time it was shut in for tank room. The tubing pressure was 350# and casing pressure was 1000# when oil well was shut in. The well had 3300# Tbg pressure and 3400# casing pressure at 6:00 a.m. 4-8-51 whnen we started to kill the well.

Flashback -- October 25, 2015

This is from a Bismarck Tribune story, dated September 14, 2010, in which experts forecast when North Dakota would be producing one million bopd based on the prolific Bakken:

It's estimated that production could exceed 450,000 barrels a day by 2013 and could reach 1 million barrels a day by 2020.

Wow.

In fact, according to the "Director's Cut" of April 16, 2013, North Dakota was producing 737,787 bopd in January, 2013.

One year later, by December, 2013, North Dakota was producing just shy of one million bopd: 926,687 bopd.

Unfettered, North Dakota could produce in excess of 2 million bopd by the end of 2016, but conditions are such that the time to drill out the Bakken has been extended by decades.

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If You Can, Disregard The Ads

The Washington Times posts a reprint from The Williston Herald on the Bakken bust, a human interest story:

He moved to Williston in 2010 and found work as a mechanic, bouncing around from one better-paying job to another, until being hired as a caser - someone who lays the final pipe after a hole is drilled for a rig.

For several years, work was steady, and money worries disappeared. He saved by living in a camper for several years, and was eventually earning enough to rent a townhouse for $3,000 a month and move his pregnant wife and three children here.

But at the beginning of this year, as the rig count started a free-fall from nearly 200 to the 68 in operation now, rumors started to swirl in the oil patch.

“We all saw it, every single one of us saw it,” Burgess said of the downturn, “it” being layoffs at major companies such as Halliburton, Baker Hughes, Schlumberger and Sanjel.

“We didn’t realize it would fall as far and as fast as it did,” he said. “We knew that there was going to be trouble, but with them telling us it was going to be fine, we just got invested in it.”

Then, in late May, Burgess, 34, walked in to get his paycheck and was handed a pink slip along with it.

The family suddenly found themselves in over their heads, and Burgess, who could no longer afford the rent, was forced to break his lease. He took his wife and kids back to South Dakota, but decided to give Williston another shot.

At first, the job search proved fruitless. The oil industry, where most of Burgess’s training is, wasn’t hiring, and even job fairs seemed to be dead ends.

“A lot of (oil companies) are there (at the fair) just for looks,” Burgess said. “They would tell me, when the oil field picks back up give us a call.”

By the middle of last month, he was staying with a friend in a studio apartment, and was down to just a few dollars. Discouraged and broke, he headed back home a week ago to his family on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and its sky-high unemployment rate. He wasn’t there long before a few welcome job offers came in.

Much more at the link. I didn't want to post the article because of all the "awful" ads at the linked site, but I knew readers would send me the link. 

Human Interest Story For Williston Residents; US Olympic Swimmer WIth Williston Ties To Swim For Stanford; ATT To Announce Deal For DirecTV

Sent to me by a reader, this is a very, very nice story. ESPN is reporting:

Olympic champion swimmer Katie Ledecky plans to swim for Stanford after she graduates from high school next year.

The 17-year-old from Bethesda, Maryland, announced her commitment Thursday. She is a junior honors student at Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart in her hometown.

Ledecky will join Olympic champion Missy Franklin in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Ledecky won the 800-meter freestyle as a 15-year-old at the 2012 London Olympics, where she was the youngest member of the entire U.S. team. A year later, she won four gold medals and broke two world records at the world championships in Barcelona. She was chosen the 2013 FINA world swimmer of the year.

Ledecky swims for her high school team and trains at Nation's Capital Swim Club in Washington under coach Bruce Gemmell.

Ms Ledecky is the granddaughter of Dr Ed Hagan, one of the original family practice physicians in Williston. In another time and place, he would have lived among the gods on Mt Olympus, at least in my young mind. One needs to have grown up in rural North Dakota in the 1950's to know, I suppose. Perhaps hyperbole. Perhaps not.

According to the reader who sent me the link, there is another Williston connection: Ms Franklin's coach is a grandson (and son) of Williston residents, also. I could have some of this wrong; it's hard to keep the genealogy straight. But one gets the point. A lot of reasons for Willistonites to be proud.

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For Investors Only: ATT

A year ago, back in March, 2013, I got into a discussion with my son-in-law. That discussion evolved into a stand-alone post on "the next big thing," specifically Netflix, completely unrelated to the Bakken. I didn't want to lose track of that story, and similar stories; thus, a page linked to "the big stories" was born.

This evening, I was curious how Netflix was doing. My son-in-law thought Hulu would win out over the long run over Netflix; he may be correct. But in the process I became aware of something I was previously unaware of regarding ATT: a onetime Hulu suiter, Peter Chernin, has just agreed to invest $500 million with ATT to form/start-up a new streaming network.

ATT is also in the news for another reason. Reuters is reporting:

AT&T is close to announcing that it will buy the No. 1 U.S. satellite TV operator DirecTV, according to people familiar with the matter, in the second potentially transformative deal to jolt the U.S. television industry this year. The No. 2 U.S. cellular operator, which also has some TV and broadband services, has been in active discussions to buy DirecTV for nearly $50 billion, or low to mid-$90s per share, and has been working to finalize a deal in coming weeks.

I assume the other "transformative deal" Reuters is talking about is the pending Comcast-Time Warner Cable deal. 

Disclaimer: this is not an investment site. Do not make any investment decisions based on anything you read here or anything you think you may have read here.

Note: just as I completed that note on ATT above, I googled the "deal" to see where it stood. According to USA Today, it's a done deal. ATT will announce the deal Sunday. Of course, it needs government approval. This will be in the news for quite some time.

Another Entrepreneurial Story Coming Out Of Williston

Years ago I was stationed in England, a few miles northeast of London.

I remember how surprised I was one day when I called a broker to set up an account. He told me that they were so busy they were not taking new accounts. I had never, never heard of that before. Can you imagine Charles Schwab coming on television to say his firm will accept any new accounts because they are simply too busy!

I was reminded of that experience when reading the story Don sent me earlier this morning. An entrepreneur looks to be highly successful by delivering food for Williston restaurants. She is already very, very busy but wants to set up arrangements with some of larger, more-recognizable franchises.

Munchies Food Taxi has been operating for about three weeks, and word of mouth and social media advertising have Cook and her delivery drivers hopping.

She has four chain restaurants that are interested in having Munchies deliver, but the businesses are already so busy that they’re still figuring out how they would handle the additional volume. Customers have told Cook that once she adds more restaurants, she’s going to be flooded with orders.

Another very interesting story coming out of the Bakken. 

Best Story Out Of The Bakken This Month -- Oilfield Wives; Pride

The Dickinson Press is reporting:

There are the military wives of wartime and the astronaut wives of the Space Age. Now, North Dakota is seeing a generation of oilfield wives.

Groups like Real Oilfield Wives have popped up online in recent years, their popularity signaling to the niche the groups fill for women facing circumstances that few outside their situations understand.

The Real Oilfield Wives Facebook page is a place for the women to seek advice and dump worries — about their husbands’ safety, raising kids, finding housing and dealing with the uncertainty of the lifestyle. At a recent gathering of Bismarck-area oilfield wives, the women described being misunderstood, and how the group has helped them meet other women who just “get it.”

This story is huge. Really huge. 

Thirty years plus one day in the USAF taught me a lot about military spouses (mostly wives, but some husbands). 

Do a word search at the linked article for "pride." It's not there. The one thing every oilfield spouse and every military spouse has in common, I would think, is the pride they should have being part of one of most important endeavors for their country. For the oilfield spouses: being part of one of the biggest revolutions ever to occur in their lifetimes and they are part of it. And a very, very important revolution: providing energy for the nation.

Earlier this week, while watching the "Avatar" cartoon series (highly recommended by the way for elementary, middle schoolers, and their parents), our 7-year-old granddaughter asked what "utopia" meant. After giving her the definition, she said that would be awful: "you have to have problems in life or it would be boring."

That incredible insight came from our 7-year-old; I have no idea where she heard that. I can't believe it was unlearned or unheard. As soon as she heard the definition of utopia she replied. She didn't even have to think about it. Life without problems would be boring. Wow.

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A Note To The Granddaughters

At this moment in time, there is only place I miss: San Antonio.

Chingon - Malagueña Salerosa, Robert Rodriguez
This, of course, does not include the special moments with three beautiful women: a) a Boston apartment rooftop, Beacon Street; b) classified; c) Military Avenue, west Los Angeles.

The best time, perhaps, in my life: either flying back-seat in F-15s over the Mediterranean, off and on for two years, for the excitement; or the two years we spent in eastern Turkey, Incirlik Air Base, for the camaraderie. 

I miss the Boston area, but I don't have any regrets leaving. We did about all we could do the four years you were there.

That is the same with Charleston, South Carolina: I enjoyed it, but I do not regret having to leave.

Eight years in Germany was one long European vacation but I do not miss it. It was fun while it lasted. It was a happy moment, as the Russians say.

But last night while watching Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill Volume 2 (for the umpteenth time), I realize now how much I miss San Antonio. I was not born in Texas but I got here as fast I could, like the bumper sticker says. I am Texan through and through. I say I'm from North Dakota but my heart is in Texas. And having moved to the Dallas-Ft Worth area, I have discovered that more specifically my heart is in San Antonio. I think we lived there for 13 years; if so, that was the longest we lived anywhere; only Williston where I grew up (age 2 to 17) was a longer time period, but several of those years hardly count (years 2 through 4, for example, and perhaps the year I was 13 years old).

I don't regret any life decisions, so I don't regret leaving San Antonio. But I do regret not getting my fill of mariachi music to get it out of my system. San Antonio is a very special city. How can one not get energized listening/watching the video above?

The only thing missing, of course, is an accordion but that's because Robert Rodriguez turned it into a rock song.

The Brady Bunch In The Williston-Watford Metroplex

This is really a cute story. Don sent it to me.

The Dickinson Press is reporting:

“I didn’t want to go. I hadn’t dated anybody up here,” said Propper, who moved from Georgia to Watford City about 1½ years ago. “That wasn’t in the plan. I didn’t want to date, I just worked.”

But the 36-year-old found she had much in common with Chris Kamph, an oilfield electrician from Idaho she met through a mutual friend.

Both have teenage children from previous marriages and moved to North Dakota’s Oil Patch to pursue high-paying job opportunities.

Ever since that blind date in Watford City last November, the two have been practically inseparable. They will be married on Saturday at Williston’s Spring Lake Park.

The ages of the children of the blended family:  13, 14, 15, 16 and 18.

Amy Dalrymple really does a nice job with these stories. This is one of her best, I think. 

Living The American Dream -- Socialism -- The Gift That Keeps On Giving

This story is not unlike all the other stories we've heard from countries like Cuba and Zimbabwe, but it has a very, very happy ending. For American capitalists.

Prior to Mr Chavez nationalizing large farms, redistributing land, and controlling food prices to help the poor, Venezuela was a net exporter of rice. Venezuela is now a net importer of rice. And that's great news for some Americans.

But don't cry for me, Argentina -- oh, that's Argentina, not Venezuela -- whatever --

Don't Cry For Me, Argentina, Madonna
[Is it just me, or does she remind you of Hillary in this clip, especially the line, "I had to change"? But I digress.]

American capitalists are getting rich, exporting rice to Venezuela. I can't make this stuff up. I would have completely missed the story had a reader not mentioned it to me, front page of today's Wall Street Journal. 

Steve Orlicek, a rice farmer here, is living the American dream. He owns a thriving business; he vacations in the Bahamas.

His good fortune springs from many roots, including an unlikely one: He is a prime beneficiary of the socialist economic policies of Hugo Chávez, Venezuela's late president and critic of what he called U.S. "imperialism."

It is a paradoxical legacy of Mr. Chávez's self-styled socialist revolution that his policies became a moneymaker for the capitalist systems he deplored. During his 14 years in power, he nationalized large farms, redistributed land and controlled food prices as part of a strategy to help the poor.

But these policies turned Venezuela from a net exporter to a net importer of rice—from farmers like Mr. Orlicek. "The rice industry has been very good to us," Mr. Orlicek said, sitting in his newly renovated home, appointed with a baby grand piano played by his wife, Phyllis.

And so it goes.

What an incredibly good story, front page. I missed it because I was reading the digital edition and "rice" in the headline did not attract my interest. I doubt I would have missed it had I been reading the print edition. Lousy excuse.

A big "thank you" to the reader. 

Fargo Business Woman Cashing In On The Bakken -- Another Great Bakken Story

The Dickinson Press is reporting:

Carol Rogne’s business is based in Fargo, but its growing customer base is in North Dakota’s Oil Patch.

DFC Consultants, which Rogne founded in Dickinson 24 years ago, offers business software and other services.

Rogne, a Dickinson native, moved the main corporate office to Fargo, but in the past few years she’s watched more and more of her business shift to her home region.

New and expanding companies, particularly oilfield service companies, find that they need more sophisticated software to keep up with the accounting or to track service calls and materials, she said.

Companies also need to be able to compile that information quickly so they can provide an invoice to customers.

“Everything is just so quick-paced out there,” Rogne said.

Don't you just love that "so quick-paced out there" comment? NoDaks have a way of understating things.

In Case You MIssed It ...Life Is What You Make Of It

Posted at YouTube not too long ago:

Williston, May, 2013
This is a nice story to add to this page. The Dickinson Press is reporting:

Patty Kneeland feels so blessed to be an oilfield wife, she wears a reminder around her neck.

Kneeland and her husband, Bruce, moved to the Bakken region of eastern Montana two years ago after they closed a bar and restaurant they operated in the opposite side of the state for 10 years.

The seasonal business in the historic gold mining town of Virginia City west of Yellowstone National Park wasn’t attracting as many tourists in the down economy, and the couple decided it was time to close.

The Kneelands, both in their 50s, had to look outside of their home area for work, and found good-paying job opportunities in Sidney, about 45 miles southwest of Williston.

Now, go back and watch the last bit of the video above, starting at 9:06. Only one thing I would change this: "the oil work is a young man's game."   "The Bakken is for the young at heart, and for those who want to experience life."

I am reminded:

It seems hardly proper to write of life without once mentioning happiness;  so we shall let the reader answer this question for himself:  who is the happier man, he who has braved the storm of life and lived  or  he who has stayed securely on shore and merely existed?   

 -– Hunter S. Thompson, high school yearbook.

The Bakken or Detroit; Manhattan or DC; Portland or San Francisco; Williston or Fargo. Lots of choices. What a great country.

For archival purpose, life is what you make it. If the link is broken google black rush life working the oil fields in North Dakota.  Another jealous Minnesotan who doesn't get it.

The Father Of Fracking Passes On

Platts memorial essay. 

The AP/Yahoo!News is reporting:

[George Mitchell's] technological breakthrough also transformed economies in states like North Dakota, Texas and Pennsylvania is expected to migrate through the world. [sic]

For the entire oil and gas age, drillers had searched for hydrocarbons that had seeped out of layers of sedimentary rock over millions of years and collected into large pools. Once found, they were easy to produce. Engineers merely had to drill into the pools and the natural pressure of the earth would send huge volumes of oil and gas up to the surface.
These pools are exceedingly rare, though, and they were quickly being tapped out as the world's consumption grew, raising fears that the end of the oil and gas age would soon be at hand and raising prices to alarming levels.

Mitchell's idea: Go directly to the sedimentary rock holding the oil and gas, essentially speeding up geological processes by thousands of millennia.

He figured out how to drill into and then along layers of gas-laden rock, then force a slurry of water, sand and chemicals under high pressure into the rock to crack it open and release the hydrocarbons. This process, horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing, is the now-common industry practice known generally as fracking.

Engineers after Mitchell learned to adapt the process to oil-bearing rock. The U.S. is now the world's largest producer of natural gas and is on track to overtake Saudi Arabia as the world's biggest oil producer by the end of the decade, according to the International Energy Agency.

An important bit of trivia in the article:

In some areas fracking has been blamed for air pollution and gas leaks that have ruined well water, but the Obama administration and many state regulators say the practice is safe when done properly.

The naysayers should note:

The firm spent nearly two decades developing horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing, finally finding success in North Texas' Barnett Shale formation in the 1990s.

"There's no point in mincing words. Some people thought it was stupid," Dan Steward, a geologist who began working with the Texas natural gas firm Mitchell Energy in 1981 told The Associated Press in an interview last year. Steward estimated in the early years, "probably 90 percent of the people" in the firm didn't believe shale gas would be profitable, and that Mitchell's company didn't even cover the cost of fracking on shale tests until the 36th well was drilled.

So, since the 1990's -- twenty years of horizontal fracking and not one proven, significant mishap due to horizontal fracking per se, as far as I know.  (Don't confuse drilling with fracking when snoping.)

36 wells before they started covering costs.

Something tells me he never worried about the "Red Queen" while becoming a billionaire, number 239 on this year's Forbes' rankings.

The Wall Street Journal also reported. 

North Dakota With 21,000 More Jobs Than Applicants

A human interest story on North Dakota's demographer yielded this comment:

The state has some 21,000 more jobs than takers at present and the lowest unemployment rate in the nation, at less than 3 percent, Job Service North Dakota data show.

From The Dickinson Press. 

By the way, I have heard that a college graduate, fresh out of college, will find a job almost immediately somewhere in the oil patch. They need to have a place to live, and a willingness to work 80+ hours per week in some tough weather, particularly during the winter. Applicants do not need to ask about opportunities during their off-time, because they will be too tired to do much more than sleep. It goes without saying, the pay is very, very good.

But, if you are a college graduate, do not go out to North Dakota without arranging for a place to live, and having a job already lined up. But if you have a place to live, and love to work 80 hours a week, and enjoy the outdoors, it's hard to pass up this opportunity.

With Menard's, Outlaw Grill, Famous Dave's, Acme Tool, etc., just breaking ground, even mid-level managers not directly related to the oil industry are still needed, I would assume. 

My two cents worth. And some of the jobs, I understand, are not particularly physically tough or dangerous -- just lots of hours.

How Natural Gas Is Keeping North Dakota's Manufacturing Competitive

The Bismarck Tribune is reporting:

Fracking and crude oil production have produced a spinoff story. 

Low-cost natural gas, a byproduct of oil production, has begun to benefit existing North Dakota businesses as an energy source. It’s also creating new businesses as companies and entrepreneurs look for value-added opportunities using natural gas.

The increased use of North Dakota natural gas in the state and region is important for another reason. Demand for natural gas helps drive the process of capturing natural gas at the wellhead and reducing the need for flaring.

The Tribune published a story Sunday on how natural gas is benefiting the state’s businesses and industries.

Guy Moos, president of Baker Boy, talked about using natural gas for the company’s ovens, including one that’s 65 feet long and 13 feet wide. That oven takes 3 million Btu to start and 1.3 million Btu to keep running. When it comes to controlling production costs at the big bakery, the price of natural gas is important.

And other companies like Bobcat and Steffes Corp. are taking advantage of the availability and price of natural gas for manufacturing.

Now, about those Baker boys! Check out their website.

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A Note To The Granddaughters

Earlier I mentioned that my bucket list included a visit to the Petersen Automotive Museum on Wilshire Drive in west Los Angels (Miracle Mile).

Today's article in the Los Angeles Time spurred me into going today. May stayed home; I was on my own.

I used my inexpensive "turn-by-turn-directions" app to get there:

Wow! What an incredible exhibit. I was simply overwhelmed. After about a half-hour I had to take a break; I went down for lunch at the adjoining/inside-the-museum Johnny Rocket's hamburger-restaurant.

The Times article said there were about 400 vehicles in the museum; they were planning to sell about a third of their automobiles.

I think I only saw about 100 cars, including one on loan from Jay Leno's collection. I did not go into the vault which would have cost another $25 --  the vault was open to the public for the first time ever; it will now be open indefinitely; I will go when I have someone to go with.

Photographs of Fred Astaire's 1927 Rolls-Royce:

Of the 150 cars I saw, I cannot imagine that I would want to see any of them sold. And I assume the vault had the multi-million-dollar race cars, collector-vintage-cars, the modern European roadsters, etc., -- and those are probably the ones being sold. There may also be ones not on display that were being sold.

Photograph of the "Sophia" and the description:

If they do it right, they could make it a nicer museum; it is in the best part of Los Angeles; across the street from Los Angeles County Museum of Art. They had a few motorcycles and the current owners want more motorcycles. I think for "average" museum goers, it won't matter; it was overwhelming for me. 150 cars and beautifully displayed; nice descriptions.

Perhaps for old-timers and car enthusiasts it will be very, very difficult, but if they use the money they raise to add to the collection and modernize the museum, it should be fine.

One problem with museums is that people don't go more than once or twice if the pieces are not updated. And the other problem with museums -- or any attraction in the Los Angeles area for that matter -- too many places competing for your attention.

Oklahoma Is "A-OK" With Taking Jobs From California

CNBC is reporting:

The economic success story of the past decade is well documented, but I'll humbly brag about a few highlights. Steinbeck's "Grapes of Wrath" told the story of Oklahomans moving to California, but a reverse trend is well under way that has seen a net migration in excess of 20,000 to Oklahoma from California in recent years.

Boeing has made Oklahoma a strategic division by moving jobs from Long Beach, Calif., and Wichita, Kan. General Electric announced in April that it would build a $110 million global research center in Oklahoma dedicated to driving innovation and technological advancements in the oil and natural gas sector. GE got help from pro-business Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin, who used $3 million from the state's new "closing fund" to close the deal.

These companies and others utilize the state's Quality Jobs program, which provides tax credits in exchange for new hires.

Big brands are fun to name drop, but the real economic growth is by small businesses, many with entrepreneurial, non-energy-sector roots, like mine. Of the 38 Inc. 5000 privately held Oklahoma companies in 2012, only five are energy related, which shows nice diversity.

Energy still carries weight, and Oklahoma's energy sector is unique in that many of our public companies were homegrown start-ups themselves. Devon Energy, Chesapeake Energy, SandRidge Energy and Gulfport Energy (to name a few) have roots with an entrepreneur founder.

Oklahoma is just one of several states taking jobs from California. Texas is another.

The San Onofre Story

The Los Angeles Times is reporting.

This is a 3-page internet story about closing the San Onofre nuclear reactors in southern California. It is a very well-written article. I am posting it only because it is simply a great article detailing why the San Onofre nuclear reactors were shut down permanently.

The plant had been operating since 1968 and was nearing its expected life expectancy when a proposed $1 billion "fix" was suggested. If the "fix" worked, it would help the power plant get a 20-year renewal of its operating license.  San Onofre is one of two nuclear power plants in California; it is a  2,200 megawatt power plant that provides electricity to 1.4 million homes.

The "fix" was in the form of new steam generators which cost in the ballpark of $700 million -- in the story, the reporter says the "fix" was a billion-dollar blunder.

A Very Familiar Story Coming Out Of The Bakken

The Dickinson Press is reporting:

“My dad thought I was crazy when I bought those two trucks,” Taylor said. “But we had some drivers and we were busy. We started hauling water and then got hooked up with a company and started hauling crude oil. In 2008, we bought another truck and it’s just grown and grown since.”

Today, LT has more than 50 trucks in operation and hauls 20,000 barrels of crude oil per day, said Taylor. The company now employs nearly 100 people and, to accommodate the need, the LT shop is staffed around the clock.

“It’s really blossomed,” Taylor said. “We’ve increased our revenue by about 25 times from 2008 to today. You can’t complain about the economy here. There is a lot of opportunity here."

This Is Quite Incredible: North Dakota, South Dakota Rank 3rd, 1st In America's Top States for Business for 2013

Yahoo!Finance is reporting:

South Dakota has climbed to the top of America's Top States for Business for 2013.

It is the best finish yet for the Mount Rushmore State, which has always been a quiet contender in our annual study, rarely finishing outside the Top 10. But more impressive, South Dakota's point total this year-1,639 out of a possible 2,500-is the highest logged by any state since we began keeping score in 2007.

The top five:

• South Dakota
• Texas
• North Dakota
• Nebraska
• Utah/Virginia -- tied for fifth

North Dakota jumped from fifth to third this year. 

North Dakota, a historic economic success story, improves on last year's fifth place finish to come in third this year with 1,592 points. The Peace Garden State ranks second-just behind Texas-in Economy and in Infrastructure. But North Dakota is, in some ways, held back by its own prosperity. With the nation's lowest unemployment rate, workers are in short supply. That raises wage costs. And North Dakota's growing pains leave the state with some of the most expensive rental costs in the country for industrial space. North Dakota finishes 12th in Cost of Doing Business, and near the bottom-46th-for Technology & Innovation.

The Bakken Oil Patch: There Are Still More Places Where Nothing Is Than Something Is -- And That's Likely To Remain True "Forever"

Somehow I missed this great article from The Bismarck Tribune:

If, for example, you are a Wall Street Journal reporter or someone from the BBC, and you fly out from New York or London to Denver and then on a tiny plane to Williston "to make sense of the oil boom," you are going to see a city bursting with energy, enterprise, dust, chaos, congestion, noise, construction and growing pains that make it not a very attractive destination.

But Williston is not the oil boom and the oil boom is not Williston. Williston is one of the choke points of the oil boom.

Wow, that is well said.

I won't post more than that, but I surely hope this article is not archived by the Tribune. This article should remain easily accessible for decades.

All Those Stories About The Challenges Of Moving To Williston ...

... 70 y/o Californian finds a new home, and loves it....

The Dickinson Press is reporting:

Californian Marvin Smith got a second wind at 70 and decided to move to North Dakota to chase one more oil boom.

Smith knew his days as a derrickhand were long behind him, but he thought he was still healthy enough to work in the oilfield.
 
Smith, of Woodbridge, Calif., has a pension but would like to supplement that income, as well as enter the workforce again. That led him to Williston.

“I’m really tired of fishing and I want to go back to work,” Smith said.

The job search has taken longer than Smith expected. He’s lived in Williston about seven weeks and continues to sleep in his pickup. He found temporary work as a carpenter and recently lined up a maintenance job.

Smith plans to work toward renewing his commercial driver’s license while he does maintenance work.

During his downtime in Williston, Smith gets out his guitar and plays gospel music around town. He plays for dinners that Life Church Assembly of God hosts weekly for newcomers to Williston and plans to play for workers at a crew camp.

Too Good To Pass Up

Bakken Shale guns, for sale.

The description for the Bakken shale guns linked here.