WorldWide Drilling Resource

33 WorldWide Drilling Resource ® JULY 2014 Water/Gas Exploration by Harold White I have been driving through the Bakken oil fields - thousands of square miles in this area. Tank trucks are going every which way to pick up oil from the well sites. Tank batteries are scattered out across the prairie grasslands of northwest Dakota. Very long trains pulling oil tank cars leave the area daily, and workover rigs at various well sites are setting new or pulling old pumps, repair- ing, or replacing other things. Williston, North Dakota, is a changed town, a boomtown, it’s amazingly busy. WalMart is packed with oilfield workers, the parking lot is full, and people are all over town. The Bakken area is big, but nothing lasts forever. I am now in the wide open spaces of northern Montana. The road is long, and it too seems to last forever. There is a lot of grass to see and a lot of other things such as pieces of truck tires, old bottles, and super-flat wildlife that didn’t make it across the road in their dash to the other side. There are historic signs along the road of Indian battles, and the Lewis and Clark Trail. Looking out across the prairie, I see a train. It looks miles long. I also see some big grain buildings. Going happily down the road with pen in hand, we flew off the paved road into history. It was a dirt road, very rough, shaking me out of my writing trance. What was happening? They were fixing the road. I hoped they weren’t making a habit of it. It was a shocking experi- ence, and I liked it the way it was. Looking back out over the prairie, I only see a couple of buildings. It is a lot of grass, but still only a minute space on the land. I like to stop at some of the towns and talk to the people about the local histories. I ask about the oil and water wells - how deep and what the average flow rate is. We went out to see the Laura Ingalls Wilder homestead in Des Smet, South Dakota. She is my mother’s cousin. They were both school teachers, Laura was also a writer. She is famous for writing stories about her life growing up in the prairie states. My mother always wanted to go back to the house on the prairie. She liked her young farm life and the old ways. The statements and comments in this article are based on information and references believed to be true and factual. If you have any questions or comments, please forward them to me in care of WWDR . Harold Harold White may be contacted via e-mail at admin@ worldwidedrillingresource.com Find out what’s happening in the world of geothermal at worldwidegeothermalresource.com Magazine includes informative sections for Consumers & Contractors