- Euro Isn’t Loved, but Few in Europe Want to Drop It: Poll
- Euro Zone Bank Safety Net Leaves Holes Unplugged
- Glitches Halt New Goldman Trade Platform
- Greece Pours $22.6 Billion Into Its Four Biggest Banks
- Funds Cut Exposure to Euro Zone Banks
- US Markets Will Be Watching Europe—And Jobs Report
- As Irish Head to Polls, ‘No’ Voices Get Louder
- Emerging Markets to Test Lehman Lows on 'Grexit'
- Spain's Debt Costs Near Danger Level: Is Bailout Next?
- A New Look at the ‘New Poor’
- Six Pack: Beer Buzz of the Week
- Greek Exit Could Trigger 50% Fall in Euro Stocks: Analyst
- Under Pressure, FHA Skews to Wealthier Home Buyers
- Big Stock Upside for Hudson City Deal: Analyst
- 5 High-Yield Stocks Ready to Boost Dividends
- Yoshikami: Four Things You Need to Know About Gold Now
- Steinbock: The Euro Zone Endgame Begins
- Option Bulls Take Another Shot on Idenix
MOST SHARED
- JPMorgan Dips into Cookie Jar to Offset "London Whale" Losses
- European Shares Buoyed by China Stimulus Hopes
- As Irish Head to Polls, ‘No’ Voices Get Louder
- Shell Puts Alberta Oil Sands Project on the Block
- Euro Isn’t Loved, but Few Want to Drop It, Poll Says
- US Law Firm Dewey Files for Chapter 11, Seeks Liquidation
- U.S. Winds Down Longer Benefits for the Unemployed
- Glitches Halt New Goldman Trade Platform
- China Moves to Tame Microbloggers
- Funds Cut Exposure to Euro Zone Banks
MOST POPULAR
HOT ON FACEBOOK
Unemployed? Go to North Dakota
Text Size 
CNBC Reporter
Unemployment is a national problem in the U.S., but you wouldn't know that if you travel through North Dakota.
 |
Getty Images |
"It's a zoo," said Terry Ayers, who drove into town from Spokane, Wash., slept in his truck, and found a job within hours of arrival, tripling his salary. "It's crazy what's going on out here."
The reason?
Billions of dollars are coming into the state and thousands of people are following—all because millions of barrels of oil are flowing out.
The result: A good, old-fashioned oil boom.
Here are some examples of what a boom is like in 2011.
There's no available housing, so people sleep in truck stops and Wal-Mart Stores' [WMT
Loading...
()
] parking lots.
Developers have expanded plans from just a few dozen new homes and are now building hundreds of houses and thousands of apartment units.
Ward Koeser
Mayor, Willison ND
The McDonald's [MCD
Loading...
()
] in Williston is one of the busiest in the country, and they need to pay $15 an hour just to attract employees to work there.
And then, there's the trucks—thousands of them—on country roads. There's one left turn in Williston that can get so backed up with truck traffic, it can take hours to get through the intersection.
"If you're not making money now, there's a major problem," said Williston Mayor Ward Koeser, who is overwhelmed with managing the city's growth, from sewage treatment to building permits to an exponential increase in traffic violations.
As for the oil itself, it comes from a rock formation called the Bakken, which spans 14,000 square miles in North Dakota, Montana, and Canada.
The U.S. Geological Survey says there are at least 4 billion barrels of recoverable oil, but other estimates indicate that it could be four to five times that.
"Clearly, it is the largest oil field we've found in North America in the last 40 years," said Bud Brigham, founder and CEO of Brigham Exploration, which has staked the company's future on the Bakken oil business. "If it's more than 15 billion barrels, it may be the biggest oil field found in America ever."
The Bakken has been a known source of oil for decades, but only in recent years has it become feasible—and profitable—to get it out of the ground.
There are two reasons for this: oil prices and drilling technology.
Oil companies, including Brigham [BEXP
Loading...
()
], Continental Resources [CLR
Loading...
()
], Hess [HES
Loading...
()
] and EOG Resources [EOG
Loading...
()
], drill two miles down and two miles horizontally. Then, they use hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking," to create space for oil to flow out of the rock—hundreds of thousands of barrels a day, literally, one drop at a time.
"In a couple of years, the Williston Basin (where the Bakken is located) will surpass the oil production out of Prudhoe Bay, Alaska," said Rick Muncrief, senior vice president at Continental.
Of course, that's as long as prices remain relatively high and fracking is allowed to continue.
"Where we are today, we can generate really solid returns at 65 to 70 dollars a barrel," said Bud Brigham.
- Critical elections are scheduled for Greece in June. Here are some of the players and their roles.
- Our financial system is still not designed to meet the needs of poor families, says this author.
- Statistics show there aren’t many women billionaires compared to their male counterparts. Why?
- Click to see various forms of funding and what entrepreneurs have used to build successful companies.
- Here are some of the most expensive hotels in the world to book. And we mean expen$$ive.
- Always drink responsibly and when you do, try one of these more unusual and tasty drinks. Cheers!
Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes
