Submitted by Mark Hanna
Courtesy of MarketMontage. View original post here.
We’ve been writing for quite a few years how the Great Recession has almost completely passed by the northern plain states due to the natural resources focus. [Aug 2, 2009: Slice of Central US Safe from Recession Shrinking] [Jun 8, 2008: A Real Green Shoot – the Dakotas] This is especially true for North Dakota which is experiencing “Saudi Arabia”-like good times due to an oil boom. [Dec 9, 2010: [Video] – Need a Job? Head to Williston, North Dakota] [Oct 3, 2011: CNN/Money – Double Your Salary in the Middle of Nowhere, North Dakota] The state just moved into second place nationally in oil production. Of course this doesn’t come without costs [Bakken Oil Booms – and so Does Crime on the Plains] but this small state (population wise) has become the little engine that could.
Via AP:
- North Dakota has passed Alaska to become the second-leading oil-producing state in the nation, trailing only Texas, state officials said Tuesday. North Dakota oil drillers pumped 17.8 million barrels in March, with a daily average of 575,490 barrels, Assistant State Mineral Resources Director Bruce Hicks said. That compares with 17.5 million barrels in Alaska, though still far behind Texas.
- The state’s oil patch is drilling at record levels and shows little sign of slowing down. The 152.9 million barrels of crude oil produced in 2011 set a record, surpassing the previous year’s mark by nearly 40 million barrels, according to the state Industrial Commission. The number of wells in the state jumped from 6,726 in February to a record 6,921 in March, Hicks said.
- North Dakota owes its rapid rise from No. 9 in just six years to improved horizontal drilling techniques in the rich Bakken shale and Three Forks formations in the western part of the state.
- North Dakota’s oil boom also has pushed the state’s population to record levels and its unemployment rate the lowest in the nation.
- North Dakota and Alaska each contributed to about 9 percent of the 178.1 million barrels of U.S. production in February, according to the Energy Department’s information administration. Those states in February — along with No. 1 Texas and No. 4 California — contributed to about 45.7 percent of total U.S. production, excluding offshore drilling, records show.
- To shake Texas from the top spot, North Dakota would have to nearly double its production.
Disclosure Notice
Any securities mentioned on this page are not held by the author in his personal portfolio. Securities mentioned may or may not be held by the author in the mutual fund he manages, the Paladin Long Short Fund (PALFX). For a list of the aforementioned fund’s holdings at the end of the prior quarter, visit the Paladin Funds website at http://www.paladinfunds.com/holdings/blog
