Bakken oil boom is "here to stay"
The latest data from North Dakota and Eastern Montana show that the two states have already produced more than 1 billion barrels of Bakken crude oil.
Continental Resources, 70 per cent owned by industry magnate Harold Hamm and one of the Bakken's biggest and longest serving operators, has reported that two-thirds of the production has been during the past three years.
Indeed, advances in fracking technology have opened up the estimated 24 billion barrels of recoverable oil within the Bakken Formation oilfields in recent years, with North Dakota's production levels alone at almost 1 million barrels per day.
A broad range of investors have been lining up to be part of the action, investing in the service and accommodation industries that are so desperately needed to provide for the tens of thousands of workers who have gushed into the area.
At the heart of the action, the award-winning North Dakota Developments has been racing to roll out its innovative, fully serviced executive hotel developments in order to accommodate those working the oilfields.
The company has just launched its fourth site (Great American Lodge Watford East) for investment, with studios available from just $59,950. Meanwhile, over at Great American Lodge Watford City, the second phase of the site was opened to guests on 12 May, providing another 216 much-needed beds for the Bakken's oil workers.
"The Bakken's success story has been incredible and even now we are only on the cusp of what will be seen as one of the greatest oil plays since the first oil wells were drilled in China back in 347 AD," says Group CEO Robert Gavin.
"It makes me proud that North Dakota Developments is part of such a game-changing movement and that through our Great American Lodge executive hotel studios we are helping to facilitate the ongoing success of the region."
The state, too, is benefitting from the Bakken's success. North Dakota receives 11.5 cents on every dollar that the oil industry earns within its borders, according to the Deseret News. From July 2011 to October 2012, that meant $2 billion in revenue for North Dakota, one third of which was allocated to the state's permanent fund - a pot that is expected to expand to some $3 billion by next year. And of course more money for the state means more money to spend on schools, hospitals and the other essential resources that cater for North Dakota's booming population, so residents benefit too.
"With fracking technology developments leading to ever-faster production methods, the oil play in the Bakken Formation is unquestionably here to stay," adds the developer.