
What Happened After the North Dakota Oil Boom Went Bust - prostoalex
http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/06/north-dakota-oil-boom-bust/396620/?utm_source=SFFB&amp;single_page=true
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adventured
It's not going to go _bust_. US crude oil production is up one million barrels
per day over this time last year. People don't seem to realize that what's
going on is a fundamental, permanent shift in how the US extracts domestic
oil. They aren't going to just pack up their technology and return to drilling
1993 style.

The industry will find a lower level normal, drop backwards on production by
~10%, and then resume growing again, at a slower pace (so long as the price of
oil stays subdued).

The big players have dropped their cost by roughly $20 / barrel in just the
last 24 months. In another year or two the ones that are left will be
profitable at $40-$45 oil.

Which is why Saudi Arabia just announced plans to max out its oil production.
OPEC is going to struggle to hold oil low enough to drown the US majors like
EOG, Pioneer, Continental and Apache.

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thrownaway2424
Yes, but. Production doesn't employ as many people as exploration and
development. That's why the employment side of energy extraction is so prone
to booming and busting.

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protomyth
Uhm, a little bit premature with this article. It hit a downturn, but its
coming back again. I and others are getting offers in the secondary parts (we
need IT for example) and construction is still delayed on the east side of the
state because all the truck drivers are still in the west.

Yes, we remember the bust of the 80's and the state's budgeting reflects that.

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rm_-rf_slash
As far as I am concerned, Governor Cuomo is a saint for banning fracking in
New York. Eventually the ground will run out of muck or people will stop
buying it, but every year brings more wine from the Finger Lakes.

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douche
I'm sure that sentiment makes sense if you're in the city. But I'm equally
sure that there are a ton of people in the crumbling former mill-towns upstate
that would love to have jobs and wealth pouring into their areas.

How does NY even function as a state? I came from Maine, where we bitch
constantly about what we call "the two Maines," basically Portland and its
suburbs, and then the rest of the state, which is thinly populated and rural.
The politics and value systems are almost opposite in the two sections. Is
there a dynamic like this in NY?

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modfodder
Over a hundred small towns enacted fracking bans, the oil industry sued to get
the bans overturned. I'm sure there were towns that welcomed the oil industry
(and NY operates much like "the two Maines"), but on this debate it felt like
it was the citizens of NY vs the oil industry.

