Last week, the Governor had a press conference and revised the estimate of recoverable oil up to 4 Billion barrels. This week, the North Dakota Petroleum Council hosted the 18th Williston Basin Petroleum Conference and Expo. It was at this event today (Monday) that Jim Volker of Whiting Oil and Gas stated that the Bakken is a world class play and investors from across the world are interested. Wow, it’s not often that you hear that in or about North Dakota. Yet, here we are and it’s a good place.
Some interesting facts about development of the petroleum industry in North Dakota.
- Over the next 5 years, the expected number of wells to be drilled each year…1,200
- As of this month, it is expected that ND will produce over 300,000 barrels of oil a day.
- North Dakota is now the 4th largest oil producing state in the nation.
- The expectation is that this is a 30 to 40 year “play”.
- There are 1,200 wells permitted for 2010.
- The “Fraking” process requires water. However, the anticipated amount required per year is 1/10 of 1% of the daily flow that goes under the bridge in Bismarck-Mandan.
- Williston and Williams County need 4,000 to 6,000 new housing unites to accomdate the growth.
If those numbers don’t make your head spin, how about these from Volker of Whiting Oil and Gas:
- The year, their company expects to spend about $350 million on development of the oil fields in ND. (That’s Just one Company.)
- The company paid $35m in severance tax in 2009. They expect that to grow to $70 to $100m in 2010.
- In 2009 Whiting paid out $29.1m in royalties in North Dakota.
- Since January, Whiting has paid 2,334 individual royalty owners $7.5m.
Does this development come with challenges to infrastructure and housing? Sure does. However, when I talk with my friends around that nation, the challenges we face are preferable to any other place. North Dakota, World Class, A Great Place to Be.
