Empty Mancamps in North Dakota







The impact of the oil and gas downturn is evident in every state where there’s energy production. Oklahoma isn’t alone. Ask the people in North Dakota where, because of the Bakken oil play, the state had a ‘boom’ in the past several years.

But as The New York Times recently found out, that boom has gone bust. Just like it did in Oklahoma back in the early 1980s. The newspaper’s picture of an empty mancamp is startling. Oilfield workers have abandoned not only the mancamps but the state. The Times reports business is down 40 percent in Williston. Many of the towns and cities in the Bakken learned the hard way they had overbuilt in housing and business expansions.

The $30 oil has hit the state hard. Williston’s expected revenue for the city is down 23 percent from two years ago. Real estate prices nose dived and there is a glut of nearly 400 homes for sale.

Read the New York Times story.

NY Times