Nice Human Interest Story on Middle-Aged Man Willing To Start New Career in the Oil Patch

This story was also picked up by Rigzone.com if the link below is broken. 

Link here (regional links break early). Data points from The Dickinson Press; read the entire story at the link.

Steve Kass of Hayward, Wis., is one of those relocators.

He moved to Dickinson after work in Wisconsin slowed.

He added a few people in his community were moving to North Dakota because they had heard a lot of places were hiring.

“One thing that really surprised me was how nice everyone in North Dakota is.”He added other things that surprised him were the lack of trees, general landscape and the amount of wind.

“Everyday there is wind,” Kass said laughing.

Two days after the job fair both men were hired.

“I had no experience,” Kass said. “I did not even know what an oil field looked like, but they trained me and things are going well.”Kass said sometimes he feels like a fish out of water yet because of his lack of experience and because most of his coworkers are younger than him.

“My boss is 21, I’m 42,” Kass said. “I never thought I’d have to start over again.”

Kass said what he misses most is his family.

Megaloads Through Idaho Given Permits; Moving Again

Link here (regional links break early).

The first of two oversized loads of Exxon Mobil refinery equipment set to leave the Port of Lewiston over a five-day span has started moving in northern Idaho.

The shipment left at dusk Friday and went through Moscow on its way to connect with Interstate 90 near Coeur d'Alene en route to the oil sands of southern Alberta, Canada.

The Idaho Transportation Department on Wednesday issued permits giving the company five days to ship along U.S. Highway 95. It was thought the load would start moving at 10 p.m., and it's earlier departure Friday surprised some area residents.

And this says it all:

"It was the regular traffic coming through," said Moscow resident David Hall. "It didn't look like a particularly big load at all."

XOM "spent millions of dollars" to make the loads smaller to satisfy all parties; those costs, of course, will be passed on to the consumer. 

Williston Studies Annexaction Possibilities -- Bakken, North Dakota, USA

Link here (regional links break early).

Five areas are being considered for annexation:

–North of city limits between U.S. Highway 2 and 85 and 13th Avenue East and 11th Avenue East.

–North of city limits between U.S. Highway 2 and 85 and 25th Avenue West.

–West of city limits and north of Sand Creek .

–West of city limits and south of Sand Creek.

–East of city limits on both sides of East Broadway.

Sitting Bull Statue Unveiled at Williston State College -- Heart of the Bakken, North Dakota, USA

This is REALLY cool! I did not know this was going to happen. What a great surprise.

A life-size statue of Chief Sitting Bull was unveiled at the Williston State College this past week.

Link here (regional links break early).

To commemorate the 130th anniversary of his return from Canada and to honor who he was Williston State College unveiled a statue of Sitting Bull outside its Stevens Hall on Saturday.

On July 19, 1881 Sitting Bull presented himself at Fort Buford after exile in Canada following the Battle at Little Bighorn.

This is the first of three commemorative statues to be unveiled. A second honoring "lewisandclark" will be unveiled next year, and a statue honoring the pioneers of the west will be unveiled two years from now. 

Bakken Pumper Meets the Missouri River -- Bakken, North Dakota, USA

This is a dynamic link and will probably be here for only a few days.

But for those who want to see what an oil pumper looks like when it meets the Missouri River, the Rocky Mountain Oil Journal provides a very nice photo.

By the way, this, along with the NDIC, is the best source of information on the Bakken as far as I'm concerned.