This via Bob Collins at MPR’s News Cut, a look at North Dakota’s Bakken oil field from space:
…Ken Paulman at Midwest Energy News [provided] a long look at the “cool” video that NASA put out…
The image Paulman pulled from the video certainly presents a compelling view of how big the oil fields are and, given that some of that light may be caused by the burning of natural gas, what sort of impact the entire operation is having on terra firma.
MPR has been covering the oil boom; I got one of the emails their Public Affairs department sends out looking for people and insights on stories. They’re looking, it seems, for the pros and cons.
I’m sure they’ll get plenty of cons. I know my sister’s husband is going start commuting to the Bakken from Billings next week; two weeks on, one week off.
But here’s a pro for you; when I left NoDak back in 1985. the pace was genuinely depressed. There was nothing going on up there. Only the eastbound lane of I94 over the Red River ever needed repair. The state was drying up and dying; idiot East Coast academics were discussing turning the whole place into a “Buffalo Commons” – basically giving the whole place back to nature (apparently not asking the Native Americans what they thought about it).
Serves ’em right.
My neighbor who spent nearly twenty years developing property and building homes in the Metro is now commuting to Willston on three weeks there/one week here basis. He said the demand for people (‘workers’ for you Lib’s) housing and infrastructure is so great that the oil companies are paying incredible sums to beyond the cost of getting the oil out of the ground to build permanent structures as this play will not be affected by the barrel price of oil.
Leave it to MPR to spin negativity into an economic boom. I’m trying to remember how many thousands of people flocked to Fremont, California to help build solar panels after US taxpayers floated a huge loan to Solyndra. What? It went bankrupt? never mind.
Seflores comments are echoed from many stories of a new gold rush in the form of black gold up there. Despite the fast tracking of permits for building infrastructure i.e. water, sewer, street lights and even streets, that process is lagging behind. On another note, apparently, the Menards store in Minot has been so busy that they have had to bring other people from the Twin Cities and WI just so the phones get answered and the stocking gets done. A friend of mine that works for them, told me that when he was up there, he seriously contemplated going to work for McDonald’s, as they were offering $20 per hour for part timers! He has been with Menards for ten years and is a store Manager, but only makes about $18!
But it’s an icky economic boom. If they had covered the entire state with solar panel clad windmills MPR would be positively giddy.
When I was in Minot in October, I was introduced to “the last of the Bakkens.” Quiet fellow.
Just name-dropping.
I know many folks that are currently working up there. I’m in the power business and have spent many a day around the power plants and associated lignite mining towns. The oil boom brings a great economic windfall to the whole region, and a ton of people are gravitating to fill the many job opportinities there. Soon it won’t be as much who knows of people that have gone there to work, it’ll be who doesn’t know someone. A feel good story if you ask me, to hell with Lisa Jackson!!
finding this out would have to involve me listening to MPR/NPR. Something I cannot foresee ever having to do. On the plus side when it switches over to BBCradio at 11pm the station amazingly becomes listenable until 4am.