New technologies change many things. But not everything. You may surf, shop and blog online, but you still read magazines. And you’re far from alone.

Readership has actually increased over the past five years. Even the 18-to-34 segment continues to grow. And typical young adults now read more issues per month than their parents. Rather than being displaced by “instant” media, it would seem that magazines are the ideal complement.

The explanation, while sometimes drowned out by the Internet drumbeat, is fairly obvious. Magazines do what the Internet doesn’t. Neither obsessed with immediacy nor trapped by the daily news cycle, magazine promote deeper connections. They create relationships. They engage us in ways distinct from digital media.

In fact, the immersive power of magazines even extends to the advertising. Magazines remain the number one medium for driving purchase consideration and intent. And that’s essential in every product category.

Including coffee.

– Magazines, The Power of Print.

www [dot] where can i get,… how do i find,… who’s hiring now,… a place to live ?

March 26, 2012 – LIVINGSTON, MONTANA.

For most of us in the “upper western” midwest, the term Bakken has become a household name. And for those who think it’s a reference to their morning breakfast of eggs and …; no, we’re not talkin’ BACON, we’re talkin’ BAKKEN, /′ba:kən′/. A quick recap for the “bacon” folks. The Bakken is an oil formation in the Williston Basin, underlying a significant portion of North Dakota, Montana, and Saskatchewan. Get this, it was named after a farmer, Henry Bakken, who owned the land in Williston, ND where the formation was intially discovered in 1951. So, why is everybody talkin’ about the Bakken now? One word, technology. Rock fracturing technology that is.

Geologists, state agencies and other industry experts have given us numbers from 2.1 billion barrels of significant producible oil in the Bakken, to recent figures of 18 billion barrels. “New rock fracturing technology available starting in 2008 has caused a recent boom in Bakken production. By the end of 2010 oil production rates had reached 458,000 barrels (72,800 m3) per day outstripping the capacity to ship oil out of the Bakken. The production technology gain has led a veteran industry insider to declare the USGS estimates are too low.”1  “…energy companies in January 2012 fracked more wells than they drilled for the first time in five months, suggesting oil output could grow even faster than last year’s 35% surge as a year-long shortage of workers and equipment finally begins to subside… “ 2  REPEAT: for the first time in five months, more wells were fracked than were drilled in January 2012 — this was the middle of the winter, when fracking generally slows down.

In a nutshell, the Bakken is experiencing a phenomenon of exponential growth. All this, in an area of the U.S. that is more than sparsely populated by layman’s terms; with the necessary businesses and services to support this growth only starting to come out of the woodwork. The state of North Dakota now has a billion-dollar budget surplus, and the lowest unemployment rate in the nation at 3.2%. 3  Many equate the booming Bakken to a Modern-Day Gold Rush  with people coming from all over the U.S., and the World, for work / business. It is that fundamental element of disconnectivity to “place” that the breakdown occurs for finding businesses or services in the Bakken. Where can i get,… how do i find,… who’s hiring now,… a place to live ?

Well, we’ve got the answer… www.bakkenoilbiz.com, and it’s supporting print partner, the Bakken Oil Business Journal. The website is built to provide that “right now” connectivity with vendors, business associates and services in the Bakken… It’s like the “YELLOW PAGES” of the Bakken. Anyone that’s anybody doing business in the Bakken will want to be on the website. Delivering news, resources and information that is readily available to digest with your morning cup of coffee; via smartphone, laptop, tablet, or good ole fashioned, tried and true,… print magazine in hand.

The Bakken Oil Business Journal is a win-win combination of web and print; with a direct mail distribution built from grassroots connections of Local and National Companies doing business in the Bakken, Government Officials, Energy Expos & Petroleum Conferences, Petroleum Clubs and Associations, Oil Industry Career Fairs; coupled with a top-ranking SEO website complemented with Social Media Marketing.

The print journal and website offer an essential venue for Prime Editorial positioning on Political energy discussions, State Policies, the booming business of the Bakken, Product Introduction, etc… acting as a Bulletin for the oil industry at large.

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1.  Wikipedia editors (2012-3-21). “Bakken formation”. Wikipedia. Retrieved 2012-3-23.
2.  “Insight: Natural gas pain is oil’s gain as frack crews head to North Dakota” (2012-3-19). Selam Gebrekidan Reuters. Chicago Tribune Business. Retrieved 2012-3-23.
3. “State Unemployment Rates for January 2012” (2012-3-13). U.S. Dept. of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Retrieved 2012-3-23.

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This is a post by Piccolo, a petroleum engineer working in the petroleum industry.

The Bakken formation in North Dakota and Montana has generated a lot of buzz in the past year. Reserve numbers in the billions of barrels, even tens or hundreds of billions show up in press reports and blogs. Now the USGS has weighed in with a comprehensive assessment of the resource. So just how much will this oil accumulation help the world’s largest importer of oil? Is it time to relax or is this just another small blip in the long-term decline of domestic production? We’ll examine these questions and others below the fold, using data from the IHS database.

Figure 1 – Location of the Bakken Formation in the Williston Basin, adapted from esask.uregina.ca/entry/williston_basin

Overview of the Bakken

The Bakken formation is an oil-bearing strata covering parts of Montana, North Dakota, and Saskatchewan. Oil was first produced from the Bakken more than 50 years ago. Production was mainly from a few vertical wells until the 1980’s when horizontal technology became available. Only recently after the intensive application of horizontal wells combined with hydraulic fracturing technology did production really take off.

The Bakken is one of many hydrocarbon producing formations in the Williston Basin, a sedimentary basin covering parts of three states and two provinces. The total layer of sediments in the basin can be up to 15,000 ft thick, and within that, the Bakken itself reaches a maximum thickness of about 150 ft., but is thinner in most areas. The depth to the top of the Bakken can vary from a few thousand feet in Canada to more than 10,000 feet in the deeper areas in North Dakota. In terms of geologic age, it was deposited during the upper Devonian and Lower Mississippian periods about 360 million years ago. The entire stratigraphic column for the Williston Basin is shown below. Figure 2 indicates 15 primary producing formations in the basin, including the Bakken.

Figure 2 – Williston Basin stratigraphic column from Wikipedia

To learn more about the intricacies of the Bakken, continue reading here.

To be eligible for the award, students must:

  1. be undergraduates majoring in geology, earth science, geological engineering, petroleum engineering, or energy economics and finance at a North Dakota college/university, or have work/internship experience in the oil and gas industry;
  2. have a GPA of 3.0 or higher; and
  3. have completed at least 12 hours in geology, earth science, or geological engineering.

To apply for the scholarship, applicants must submit the following:

  1. college transcripts,
  2. a one-page essay on career plans in their chosen major, and
  3. a letter of reference reflecting on the student’s general character, work ethic, etc. from a college professor.

Questions? Call 701-223-6380 or e-mail ndpc@ndoil.org.

Applications must be postmarked by April 1, 2012, and sent to:

NDPC Scholarship Fund
P.O. Box 1395
Bismarck, ND 58502
or via e-mail to: ndpc@ndoil.org

The scholarship fund was established in 2008 to support students who are pursuing post-secondary education in geology, engineering, processing plant technology, science, technical skills or other careers related to the oil and gas industry. The scholarships are part of the oil and gas industry’s efforts to help solve growing workforce demands in North Dakota.