The Oil Boom in North Dakota

North Dakota family and friends know all this, but it might be of interest to others. As most of you know, North Dakota is the state that has been least affected by the financial crisis, and it is in no small part due to the oil boom going on there. And, the area where I grew up is right in the center of it.  The first well drilled in North Dakota by Murex Corporation, a company started by two North Dakota residents who became petroleum engineers at North Dakota State University, was drilled right on the farm where I grew up. It was one of the first horizontal wells drilled in the Bakken formation, one of two major new formations being tapped by new oil drilling technology. The Tioga Tribune, the newspaper of the small town where I went to high school has published a pamphlet called, "The Oil Can Extra" that documents the history of Murex and presents other information on oil development in the area. There is a picture of the first Murex well in the document. The Fargo Forum, the newspaper of the largest city in North Dakota, has done a wider ranging project on the state oil industry called, “Running with Oil”.

If you have further interest, click on the links in the text.