Wondering about Williston.... (Ashley, Hope: 2009, for rent, townhouses)

[FOAD]

The layoffs are happening. Nabors has cut 150 jobs or about 25% and shut down nine rigs.

Haliburton has publicly announced they will have layoffs, but they've declined to say how many. If Dodg55 says 35% x 2 is the word from the HR dept, then I wouldn't doubt it.

I also found out that lots of Roloffs are involved in construction and land development. That kind of explains why his posts are so biased in favor of his pocketbook and so far from reality.

I ran into a couple panhandlers in Williston. First time that has happened, ever. Felt sorry for them too, since it was -15 with a -35/-40 wind chill. They said they were "stranded."

[Roloff1976]

LOL...ha ha...FOAD...are you kidding me????? I WISH I was a developer and had a construction company. I just am not a negative, looking for the worst of everything about Williston, and the people of the STATE of ND like you are...(referring to your other posts about comparing people in ND to Stalin and Hitler)...good lord...get a life...you are laughable dude.

[SweetMomma]

Hey Roloff...Help me out here Please...My fiancee has accepted a job with schlumberger and is looking at the end of March until he leaves for Williston..Are these two for real about whats happening in williston? Or are they blowing smoke? Im not one to blow smoke up anyones behind..I need the truth here because i have teenagers that i am going to take across the country..We are 11 hours away from Williston and i cant just Guess on whats going on..I have been doing alot of reading on this forum and trying to think positive about our move and Life change..Yes i am scared to death about the move cause who wants to fall on there face when trying to better there life for their family..What i also dont understand is how can the Boom be over when there is MILLIONS of Gallons of oil there that needs Harvested..Do they Really move that fast??? Thats pretty fast in Novemeber to Now that they have Harvested all this oil that is suppose to last..I think SOMEONE is Blowing some SERIOUS smoke when they need to get their FACTS straight before they go Running their Mouth!! Any help would be Greatly appreciated. Thank You Sooo Much

[Roloff1976]

Hi SweetMomma, I think you have some people on these posts who are just plain pesemists, you can tell what kind of people they are by reading their posts on other topics that have nothing to do with the economy or oil industry..they don't like North Dakota, they don't like certain towns, they don't like certain restaraunts, they have negative opinions about everything. I think they are just spouting (or may be victims of layoffs themselves, somewhere or someplace) but I have not heard anything about Schlumberger laying anyone off. Halliburton expanded rapidly(and are building more buildings on to their campus), and have not layed people off...I have a friend who works for them up in Williston, and he said they are getting hours cut back a bit until the prices pick up again. When I say cut back, we are talking working 60 ours instead of 70-80 hours a week like many have been doing. Sanjel still has adds as do MANY of the oil companies. Nabors is an exception...they are drillers...when a rig shuts down...you don't work...but that is just ONE oil driller in Williston (but the largest)...it is winter in ND, and everything slows down. I doubt very much Schlumberger is going to hire your husband with the expectation of letting him go as soon as he moves his family up to Williston. People have to remember that places like Halliburton, Schlumberger, Sanjel, etc.. are SERVICE companies. Once you have the wells drilled, you still need these companies to service and maintain. The only way they close down is if they start shutting down wells all together...but doubt that is going to happen any time soon...they are still drilling (currently ND has 70 rigs drilling...down from 89 this past summer...but will increase again in the summer...especially if the price of crude goes up)...I am NOT a developer like FOAD seems to think, I just know lots of people in the oil industry and many people who live in Williston. Even with the temporary decrease in oil prices, a developer from Michigan is building a new extended stay hotel in downtown Williston, and a Minnesota developer is building a Candlewood extended stay hotel and a 6 story full service Holiday Inn and conf. center in north Williston. I don't think these guys are going to spend the estimated 27millions in new hotels if the oil was going bust. It is a temporary slow down...and believe me and you...the prices will go up again....I doubt we will see $145 barrel again anytime soon...but many predict 60-70 again by mid summer. Only time will tell. Just so you know, these companies have been in Williston for decades(schlumberger, Halliburtons, etc...) they are not new to Williston who just built because of the current boom, they have been in Williston for years and years through thick and thin...Williston is and will always be an oil town.

[lionston]

I have 3 relatives that were truck drivers working for the oil fields driving the water trucks in parshall, stanley area, all three are at home in minnesota, laid off. Two of them said it's a winter lay off and they hope to get rehired this spring, the other one thinks the boom is over and is looking for work in minnesota.
I am planning to find work out there this spring so I can use these guys as a gauge if I should head out there or not. If they don't get rehired then my prospects are nil. Personally I think with oil at $40 a barrel the boom is over and with the great depression 2 on the way, oil won't be returning to $100B anytime soon.

[lionston]

Houston is and always will be an oil town and I'll bet you won't find a job there either.


Rolloff, as I read and reread your comments you do seem like a developer with some other motives for posting such large comments. Me thinks your scared that your about to lose your ass on something.

FYI: Florida is full of empty hotels right now because the tourism is drying up, those guys wouldn't have spent those millions knowing tourism was going to dry up would they? The reason they build hotels is because of the interest rate.
If your a millionaire are you going to put your money in a bank at 0% interest when inflation is at 10-15% or would you rather build a hotel somewhere and hope you could get a 20% profit?

[ComputerUser000]

Whatever is going on in Williston, I hope everything works out for everyone... I miss the town, I really did fall in love with it.. and wish I could return one of these days, but I doubt thats going to happen.

[Roloff1976]

Thanks for the compliment...I think....But am sorry to tell you, I am NOT a developer and have no financial ties to Williston. I am just a guy who has relatives who live there, and know several people living there as well. I live and work in Bismarck...and in education for the record. Sorry. All I can say I guess is time will tell. I don't think anyone knows for certain what will happen, but I am confident that they will be just fine up there. Once again, the unemployment rate for Williston is below 2% for December...there are nearly 600 more people working in Williston than the same period last year. So I guess we will just have to wait and see.

[magiccity]

Originally Posted by lionston

I have 3 relatives that were truck drivers working for the oil fields driving the water trucks in parshall, stanley area, all three are at home in minnesota, laid off. Two of them said it's a winter lay off and they hope to get rehired this spring, the other one thinks the boom is over and is looking for work in minnesota.
I am planning to find work out there this spring so I can use these guys as a gauge if I should head out there or not. If they don't get rehired then my prospects are nil. Personally I think with oil at $40 a barrel the boom is over and with the great depression 2 on the way, oil won't be returning to $100B anytime soon.

Oil is already going up and other oil companies are already looking at Minot to set up an office there. Don't give up. ct

[lionston]

Bump.


Anything happening yet?