…State fiscal policies haven’t caught up with the oil boom in North Dakota, said Mark Haggerty, an analyst at Bozeman, Montana-based Headwaters Economics, a nonprofit that researches land management.
In the conventional model, companies drilled vertical wells, built collection facilities and enjoyed a longer production phase requiring few workers, he said. In the Bakken formation, production declines more quickly, requiring more labor to sustain it and deepening the social impact, Haggerty said.
“To maintain production you have to keep drilling and drilling and drilling,” he said.
Nonstop drilling requires more services for more workers, intensifying the strain on Williston’s finances. Balancing the city’s budget is crucial at a time when it must raise money to finance infrastructure work to accommodate growth. S&P analysts warned if Williston’s finances continue to deteriorate, it faces further downgrades.…