Rigs react when weather threatens
September 25, 2012
After yearlong industry freeze, companies mindful of safety issues
September 25, 2012
As Louisianans, we are very familiar with the merits of oil and gas exploration.
Other states are beginning to follow Louisiana’s lead and get into the act as well.
Oil rich states like North Dakota and Montana are beginning to see the boom with oil fracking.
This blossoming industry has meant business for local companies who are taking manpower to the North to try and get in on the act.
“You name the oil company and they are up there,” said state Rep. Gordon Dove, R-Houma, who has a hand in Dual Trucking, which has taken some of its work to North Dakota. “It’s just a bull run up there. The housing is going crazy. Everywhere you go, there are buildings going up. … It’s like Louisiana was 35 years ago. It’s really taking off.”
What’s being done in North Dakota and Montana is different than what is done in the Gulf of Mexico.
But the final result is the same – oil extraction.
On the Louisiana coast, we do our drilling over water, specifically from the floor of the Gulf of Mexico.
But in North Dakota and Montana, the drilling is over land, like Louisiana’s Haynesville Shale.
Regardless the technique used, Dove said the oil is plentiful.
According to one report, 135 million barrels of oil were pumped in a bakken over a set time period in the North Dakota and Montana area.
Over the same period, 37 million barrels were pumped from Eagle Ford, Texas – one of the richest zones in the South.
“That’ll just show you how big the find is up there,” Dove said. “The successful wells out there, there’s a 95 to 100 percent success rate that they hit oil. It’s really a boom.”
Because of the abundance of supply, Dove said opportunities exist for businesses in all realms of the industry to look to the North for opportunity.
He said fracking, trucking, rig movers, equipment, waste management and even catering companies are able to find work in that area.
“It’s like Louisiana, except it’s over land,” Dove said. “Everything that supports an oil company can be found up there.”
One thing Dove wanted to stress was that the push to the North is not bad for Louisiana business.
He said it is actually on the contrary.
The businessman said that workers from the South are often hired and transported to the area because of their prior experience in oil and gas.
“They go in and they usually work 30 and 30 shifts,” Dove said. “They’ll hire from Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas, Florida, Alabama. They hire hands from all across the South.”
The businessman also said he expects more companies to make the move in the future.
“Oh yeah, definitely,” Dove said. “I think you’re already seeing that now.”
One bad thing about this area of the country is obvious – climate.
The Dakotas freeze for a few months out of the year.
Winter temperatures could reach as low as 30 or 40 degrees below zero during the coldest months.
That makes for different infrastructure than that in Louisiana.
“From December to March, there is that frigid, frigid cold where you can get almost 50 below zero,” Dove said. “You have to winterize everything. Your men have to dress Arctic. Your housing has to be Arctic. You’re in a frigid, cold climate. It’s different than we have it here, for sure.
“But workers get used to it. Sure, you lose some men because of the cold – some people can’t handle it. But most of them get used to it and adjust.”
Louisiana and the Gulf South remains the King of oil and gas – that’s not going away anytime soon.
But a little brother is seemingly growing up in the North.
Time will tell how large the growth swells.
“It’s just a boom. And there are billions of barrels of oil down there,” Dove said. “They don’t expect it to quit anytime soon. It’s like a little Louisiana out there.”
A clean tank truck is shown before it gets to work. Local business leaders stress that all oilfield service companies may be able to reap the benefits of a boom in North Dakota that is making the state a “mini-Louisiana.”
