Thursday, July 26, 2012

North Dakota: Where the Jobs and Opportunity Are

From the Twin Cities Star Tribune:

"Right now you are probably asking yourself: "What would it be like to live in a place with an unemployment rate of 1 percent?" Me, too! So I went to Williston, N.D., to find out.

There are certain things that journalists do as a public service because you, the noble reader, are probably not going to do them for yourself -- like attending charter revision meetings or reading the autobiography of Tim Pawlenty. Going to Williston is sort of in this category. The people are lovely, but you're talking about a two-hour drive from Minot.

If you did come, however, you would feel really, really wanted. Radio ads urged me to embark on a new career as a bank teller, laborer, railroad conductor or cake decorator. The local Wal-Mart has a big sign up, begging passersby to consider starting their lives anew in retail sales.

The Bakken Region Recruiter lists openings in truck driving, winch operating and canal maintenance work, along with ads for a floral designer, bartender, public defender, loan officer, addiction counselor and sports reporter. All in an area where the big city has a population of around 16,000."


10 Comments:

At 7/26/2012 10:48 PM, Blogger VangelV said...

Sadly, it is not where the profits are. Without decent returns on capital businesses will not be able to get financing to keep their operations as robust as they were. At best we are looking at two to three years before most of the Bakken plays are on the back end of their production curve. At that time all those trailers will be heading out looking for the next great bubble to give them jobs.

 
At 7/26/2012 11:04 PM, Blogger arbitrage789 said...

Let's hope that Obama doesn't shut the whole thing down, either through lawsuits, or the EPA (or some other clever idea that he may have)

 
At 7/27/2012 6:40 AM, Blogger Mkelley said...

The Sierra Club/Democrat Party are waging a war on affordable energy in the US. The Sierra Club brags about it:

http://www.sierraclub.org/goals/

If these clowns are successful in destroying our prosperity, concern about the environment will one of the first casualties.

A second Obama term would be catastrophic.

 
At 7/27/2012 7:23 AM, Blogger wright said...

Difficult to get through the snarkiness of the NYT writer, Gail Collins. She has not improved with age.

 
At 7/27/2012 8:18 AM, Blogger wright said...

another take on this article: http://hotair.com/greenroom/archives/2012/07/27/the-dumbest-column-ev-ah/

 
At 7/27/2012 11:53 AM, Blogger Bruce Oksol said...

In the past week in the Bakken:

1. ONEOK announces a fourth (and unplanned) 100 million cubic feet natural gas facility in the Bakken. Huge.

2. Bentek Energy predicts natural gas boom for the Bakken. Remember, the Bakken field is an oil field; the natural gas is a by-product in the Bakken.

3. Natural gas was estimated to add 3 - 5 percent of economic value to the Bakken; original estimates that $3 to $4 billion will be required to develop the natural gas in Bakken; that estimate has now been moved up to $15 billion based on the Bentek Energy study suggesting a natural gas boom is pending.

4. There are now reports that North Dakota is producing up to 800,000 bbls per day. I think that's a stretch; most recent official figures are 639,000 bbls, but huge increase is projected for this summer due to additional well completion crews being sent to Williams County, where activity has shifted. (McKenzie County activity also growing.)

5. Occidental (a $72 billion market cap company) says they increased worldwide production 2Q12, and that much of the increase was due to the Bakken.

6. Whiting, a Bakken-centric oil company, had a stellar 2Q12, especially in light of how the majors (XOM, CVX, and COP) did.

7. The Bentek Energy study suggests oil production in the Bakken could go from current 639,000 bopd, to a peak of 2 million bopd by 2025, the highest estimate yet.

8. The Bakken has moved from exploratory to development stage. More and more leases are held by production and urgency to drill will lessen.

9. There is a flurry of activity at state level to issue permits for the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation, Heart Butte oil field. Native Americans are huge beneficiary of the Bakken.

 
At 7/27/2012 3:53 PM, Blogger VangelV said...

2. Bentek Energy predicts natural gas boom for the Bakken. Remember, the Bakken field is an oil field; the natural gas is a by-product in the Bakken.

Shale gas has been a capital destroyer for more than half a decade. For most of that time we were told about how great it was to be a natural gas producer. Don't believe everything that you read.

4. There are now reports that North Dakota is producing up to 800,000 bbls per day. I think that's a stretch; most recent official figures are 639,000 bbls, but huge increase is projected for this summer due to additional well completion crews being sent to Williams County, where activity has shifted. (McKenzie County activity also growing.)

If you use a 6:1 energy equivalency ratio to convert natural gas production into BOE you can get a high number. But that is not meaningful because it is more appropriate to use the approximately 30:1 price ratio.

8. The Bakken has moved from exploratory to development stage. More and more leases are held by production and urgency to drill will lessen.

Perhaps but the SEC filings still show large negative cash flows even with companies that have been drilling for nearly ten years.

 
At 7/27/2012 4:48 PM, Blogger marmico said...

Since January 2010 (the approximate employment trough), nonfarm payroll has increased by 3.809 million, of which North Dakota has chipped in 0.051 million (or 1.3% of the gain).

ND is not exactly a job mecca.

 
At 7/27/2012 8:34 PM, Blogger juandos said...

"Since January 2010 (the approximate employment trough), nonfarm payroll has increased by 3.809 million, of which North Dakota has chipped in 0.051 million (or 1.3% of the gain)"...

Which of course is total baloney marmico...

This is the real paradise: 46.5 Million Americans, Record 22.3 Million US Households, On Foodstamps; 8,753,935 On Disability

 
At 7/27/2012 9:35 PM, Blogger VangelV said...


ND is not exactly a job mecca.


That is not fair. ND is a very low unemployment state that has offered decent jobs for many Americans. This is likely to last as long as there is financing for drilling projects that cannot generate cash flow to pay for ongoing operations.

 

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