[WRE ADVISOR | BUSINESS]
A Kodiak Gas & Oil Corp crew pulled drilling pipe from the ground on unit rig 328 near Watford City, North Dakota. L to R are Harmon ‘’Bronc’’ Jasperson, Brandon Lewis, and
Brendan Brown. Photo credit: Glen Stubbe/ZUMAPRESS/Newscom
class and the poor. However, the drawing power of the opportunities in North Dakota are clearly the main motivator. In another CNN Money piece, Williston State College
English professor Jim Stout said he couldn’t keep his best students in his classrooms due to the lure of the oil fi elds. “‘It was too hard to compete: T e students could either spend thousands of dollars on a college education or earn $100,000 a year working on the rigs, performing maintenance on oil wells or driving trucks. At some point they decide, ‘Well, college will always be here ... but the oil boom won’t,’” he said.’” Many students and workers alike enroll for the minimum number of credits at the college just to qualify for housing, while others fi nd themselves dropping out completely to chase easy dollars. T e same CNN Money article quotes Williston State College science professor Lance Olson relating a story about an engineering student that left the college to take a job boiling the water used in hydraulic fracturing. He made $5,000 in two weeks. “We’re no longer a small town,” says Michael Hughes.
“We’re now on the map. It’s good in that you have an extremely small community and the goal in every town is to grow and expand its role. But, it’s tough. We grew too fast – almost overnight.” Bob Reed is the branch manager at Delta Rigging &
Tools’ North Dakota outpost in Williston. Delta bought out Grizzly Wire Rope & Chain in 2011. “We wanted to get a presence in this area,” says Reed.
“T ere’s terrifi c potential here to take a business and grow it. We cater to the people who sell to the oil industry. We also sell to the people who move those rigs from one place to another.”
While Reed acknowledges the boom – and the resulting
profi ts – in North Dakota, he’s quick to point out the often overlooked challenges that continue to face the new industry in Williston. “It’s a location that has no infrastructure, so you have to do
development and that costs money,” says Reed. “T e population here went from 5 to 7 thousand to nearly 40 thousand. When you have a boom like that, it’s going to take a while for infrastructure to catch up, so, it’s not all roses.” In addition to the costs of creating a new industry,
Delta has had to fi ght to make a name for itself against stiff competition. T e company boasts 8 other locations in Texas, Louisiana and Colorado, but the North Dakota boom fi nds even established companies having to scrap it out for their share of elbow room. “We’ve done some advertising to get our brand noticed and to get our logo recognized,” says Reed. “But, it’s mostly been word of mouth. We’ve give great service at a fair price, and we want to be around when this is all over and we go into maintenance mode.” However, getting past the boom and into long-term maintenance will depend on the industry’s ability to defend itself against the lingering environmental concerns that constantly threaten the future of hydraulic fracturing. In his Popular Mechanics article “Top Ten Myths About
Natural Gas Drilling,” Seamus McGraw upsets both sides of the mainstream argument about the process. T e piece quotes oilman T. Boone Pickens saying “Natural gas is cleaner, cheaper, domestic and it’s viable now,” before refuting Pickens’ “cleaner” claim by pointing out fracking’s methane output along with citing the massive amount of electrical and diesel energy required
WIRE ROPE EXCHANGE MAY-JUNE 2013 75
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