Dakota Beacon

“The sun will shine brightest on North Dakota” -- The lead-in to a Federal Reserve discussion of the 2014 economic outlook for the Minneapolis District. Brisk employment, high wages and increased personal income predict unprecedented prosperity for the state.

 "Not since the founding days of Minot has this community made such a bold statement with its sustained growth" -- Annual report of Minot Area Development Corp. The city predicts it will soon have a population of 60,000 and is having the largest investment boom in recent history. A $75 million airport expansion is underway as well as a $30 million Ward County complex. The MADC said, “So much of the growth is due to drilling just 45 to 60 miles west of Minot in the Bakken and the growing Three Forks formations.”

Dazzle in Grand Forks? Mayor Mike Brown’s State of the City address included the usual promises of improved service and infrastructure, but also made an unusual request for investment in “dazzle.” Among dazzling possibilities, a 42nd Street “Destination Corridor” and an art museum. The optimism sweeping ND seems to have reached the banks of the Red River.

A candidate for city manager in Minot and a Forum editorial expressed similar cautions about the future of the ND oil industry. Candidate Greg Sund said the Minot community should focus on creating balance. He said, "Always keep an eye on keeping diverse development throughout the community, because at some point, this type of industry (oil and gas) slows down, or heaven forbid, goes bust.” He noted that the city must avoid overextending and getting caught with payments it can't meet if circumstances change suddenly.

The Forum editorial concerned sky-high rents in Williston. The editorial acknowledged conflicting objectives -- on one hand, avoiding rent hardships; on the other, allowing the market to encourage building. The Forum noted, “There is little doubt developers who hurried into oil country want rents sky-high in order to recover investments quickly because, as in all booms, one day things will slow, or worse, the bottom will drop out.”

The Bismarck Tribune was philosophical: “It’s going to take a while for the housing situation in western North Dakota to straighten itself out. Right now, it’s still tough going, especially for long-term residents not tapping into oil money.”

Here are a couple things you may not know about Bakken crude oil. A Wall Street Journal article indicates Bakken oil is among the most volatile -- tests show it is very light and resembles gasoline -- hence oil trains blow up. A manager at a testing agency said “You can put it in your gas tank and run it.”

The Economist magazine reports that Bakken shale wells deplete rapidly -- if the Bakken is to maintain production at one million barrels per day, 2,500 new wells must be drilled each year. This is bad in the sense that it requires a continued high level of development. It’s good in the sense that, if oil prices drop, production can be curtailed by simply suspending drilling of replacement wells.

ND will host $1 billion of road construction this year -- 255 companies from 28 states are pre-qualified to grab it. Construction work in western ND costs 60 to 70 percent more than similar work in the eastern part of the state.

The Three Affiliated Tribes have been working on oil refinery plans for nearly a decade. While there has been peripheral work, construction on the actual refinery is not scheduled to begin until late this year. Financing was always a question mark, but now it appears the numerous delays provided an advantage. TAT’s oil revenues have become so large that it may be able to self-finance more than half of the $450 million refinery cost.

Last week Bismarck Tribune columnist Clay Jenkinson considered the darker side of ND oil development, but offered no solutions. This week he did it again, but this time proposed a partial solution: “We need to give the oil counties and cities absolutely everything they need to keep on top of this thing, no questions asked, no haggling or penny-pinching.” Rarely has any governmental entity been given everything they want with no questions asked -- and when they have, it hasn’t always worked out well. The oil patch counties shouldn’t expect an “all you can eat buffet” -- they may deserve more support, but their needs have to be negotiated with legislators from the rest of the state.

You would never know it from complaints streaming out of the Oil Patch, but ND leads the nation in well-being. The 2013 Gallup-Healthways Well-Being index measures physical and emotional health and lists ND #1 and SD #2. W. Virginia and Kentucky grimly held on to the two bottom spots.

Father of the “World’s Largest Buffalo” died. Harold Newman (80) of Jamestown was better known as the founder of Newman Signs and its ubiquitous outdoor advertising. Newman was instrumental in creating Jamestown’s giant buffalo in 1959.

Darn! A Michigan man and his semi were cruising down I-90 near White Lake, SD, when he reached for the cigarette lighter. The result -- he lost control and the semi rolled on its side and dumped 45,000 pounds of cheese.

No, it’s not your imagination -- there are many Philippine health professionals in ND. Trinity Health in Minot alone has recently hired 86 nurses from the Philippines. Once the new nurses are established, their families often follow.

DAKTOIDS: It’s not new news, but the USDA says ND farms are fewer and bigger; farmers are older . . . The Bakken is the largest continuous oilfield in the world.