Work?

[Wild and Free]

ISX You are on track with your thinking. We have been a steady Eddy for 50+ years and have held right at 650-670k range for population. Our biggest export for many decades was our states young people because of lack of enough jobs and careers other than the family farms and related ag industries and the coal industry which has held steady for decades as well, not much growth.Then you almost overnight add a huge oil boom and the wind tower industry into the mix and bring in literally hundreds and hundreds of large oil companies and all that goes along with servicing and supplying that industry that pays substantially more than what had been here prior. Everyone with a heart beat and a breath walks away from their former jobs for triple pay or more in most cases leaving nobody left for the basic jobs thus forcing them to up the wages to keep anyone working for them. This has plagued every part of society here if you want to look at it that way. Then all those hundreds of new companies that moved in and popped up for the oil boom now require thousands and thousands more employees, more than our states small population could ever dream of covering.Most just come for the quick buck because thay have no long range plans to stay and just need a quick boost for their financial issues. they are the transient workers that tend to follow the drilling activity but what we need are the thousands to stay for the long term production of the oil industry like service and maintenance ect for the nect 50+ years they figure it is going to last at a minimum.Williston hung at around 10k in population and in the last year they are just guessing they are at 30k population and growing, that is just one of many citys and town in the oil patch that is experiencing this huge population growth.All other towns and cities surrounding and accross the state are growing as well for the service and maintenace end of it not to mention the construction growth and engineering and every other type of job you can think of accross the state.It is here to stay we just need the people who are serious about sticking around for the long term as well.The 3-4 months of hard winter are not for everyone and that keeps the flow of people in and out.It has been all over the national news about ND for over a year so it is not lack of advertising.ND is #1 in production of most small grain crops nationally and last I saw was #2 in oil production recently passing California and Alaska to over take second place behind only Texas. Then add the coal fired generating industry, wind energy and hydro electric and ethanol production puts us at #3 in overall energy production nationwide. We have a lot of manufacturing industries also and getting more all the time.Like I said it is not just oil, Pick a job and you will find a good carreer here.

[Wild and Free]

I was browsing Youtube and came across this guys youtube acct, he really does a good job of breaking down things you need to know about coming to work in the oil patch of North Dakota in his video blogs. http://www.youtube.com/user/lasvegascollapse Here is link from a local blog I thought some would find interesting. http://sayanythingblog.com/entry/hollywoods-attack-on-fracking/ http://sayanythingblog.com/entry/shocker-matt-damons-anti-fracking-film-is-funded-by-middle-easter-oil-interests/

[jlwelding]

3% UNEMPLOYMENT I maybe wrong but here there is no road and bridge tax?

[CSM]

Guys. I've offered this before in PMs, but I am posting right now from a frac job in Wyoming. I've worked in oil and gas since 07, and have a fairly decent handle on some of the basics. If you guys have some curiosity about the day in/day out or any oilfield theory, let me know. My background is in completions. Pumping, Cement, very knowledgable in frac, wireline, and lots of frac diagnostics. I will also say... THE ND OIL BOOM IS LEVELLING OFF at present. There are still jobs there, but things are changing. Election year/economy stagnation/lease contracts/etc are changing the environment a bit. There are still jobs there and still great paying jobs... but they are being a bit pickier in the hiring. That all said, ND isn't likely to Bust in my opinion, but its not going to keep growing by >100%/yr like it has been for the past decade. S. Texas,and the Eagle Ford shale play is possibly going to be the "next" Bakken. However, if you are looking for an oil and gas job, ND is still a great place to start. Not many guys can handle it. 2-3 years is a good "seasoned" hand. 5 years is senior. more than that is usually company man / site manager territory currently. Turnover is high. I am a bit older than ISX, but I view the lazy "free $hit army" that exists in my generation as an opportunity. Good employees without that entitlement attitude and a big mouth to match are damned rare. My reputation is job security and my stock in trade.

[Wild and Free]

3% UNEMPLOYMENT I maybe wrong but here there is no road and bridge tax?

Broken down even farther a good majority of that 3% lives on a reservation and is dependant on the rest of the working class. Not sure what you mean by raod and bridge tax? We do have state and federal taxes added to every gallon of fuel sold here if that is what you mean? Just throwing that out as I don't know what angle you are coming from. CSM, thanks for the input, its always nicw when an industry insider can chime in. I live on the outskirts of the oil patch "Roughly 70 miles away from active wells" and work in the coal mining industry myself but am close enough to hear the oil talk first hand most days.