FARGO — Of all the warning bells sounded by law enforcement officials in North Dakota and Montana about crime associated with the Bakken Oil Patch’s rapid population growth, the one that seems to ring true involves drug trafficking. Michael Cotter, U.S. attorney from Montana, cites an April 2012 meeting he sponsored that was attended by about 150 law enforcement officials, ...

By Eric Morath Looking for a job? Head west. Of the 10 states with the fastest employment growth over the past year, nine are west of the Mississippi. Payrolls in Idaho grew 3% in June compared to a year earlier, the strongest gain of any state, the Labor Department said Thursday. Following the “famous potatoes” state are Texas, Colorado and ...

PARSHALL, N.D. — Four ambulance services in the western North Dakota oil patch have formed a nonprofit group to seek grant money that can be used to hire part-time staff to fill scheduling gaps. Ambulance calls in the oil patch have increased nearly 60 percent since 2006, compared with 5 percent in the rest of the state, according to the ...

Minot Daily News BISMARCK (AP) – It’s been called the worst environmental disaster in state history: A broken pipeline belched more than a million gallons of saltwater into a northwestern North Dakota creek, aquifer and pond. Yet nearly eight years later, cleanup efforts are ongoing – with no end in sight, state health officials say. The ruptured pipeline allowed briny ...

Prairie Business KILLDEER,N.D. — Just steps away from an RV park, a contingent gathered here Wednesday to signify the grand opening of a new “affordable housing” apartment building. Local and state dignitaries gathered for a ceremony and lunch at the Buckskin Bar and Grill before heading to the Prairie Gold Apartments, a recently finished 24-unit apartment complex on Rodeo Drive ...

The Dickinson Press North Dakota oil drillers pumped a record 25.1 million barrels of crude in May, the Department of Mineral Resources said Monday. Lynn Helms, the agency’s director, said in a monthly report that the state produced an average of about 810,000 barrels per day in May. That’s up from 639,000 barrels in May 2012 and more than double ...

Technology innovations have led to an explosion of oil and gas production in the Bakken shale and across the United States. The combination of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing are making previously unattainable petroleum reserves accessible and economical. Yet as one natural resource proliferates, another begins to feel the strain. Oil and gas production, in particular hydraulic fracturing, uses large ...

Missoula’s economy is poised to take advantage of opportunities in the Bakken, according to the Missoula Economic Partnership. “We’re kind of positioning Missoula as the entry point, surprisingly enough, to the Bakken,” president James Grunke said last week to members of the Missoula City Council. Initiated by Mayor John Engen after the economy crashed, the Missoula Economic Partnership works on ...

Bryan Horwath The Dickinson Press For the first time ever, oil industry giant Halliburton has been cited for workplace safety violations in North Dakota. A release issued Monday by the U.S. Department of Labor detailed two “serious safety violations” levied against the energy giant in relation to the Jan. 19 death of Mike Krajewski at an oil rig site north ...

Bismark Tribune Oil production began to increase at a sharper pace in May, and production is expected to increase further during the summer months, according to North Dakota’s top industry regulator. Preliminary numbers for May put North Dakota oil production at more than 810,000 barrels per day. It was an increase over the nearly 794,000 barrels per day in April. ...