In North Dakota's Oil Patch, a Humbling Comedown

by Ernest Scheyder (Reuters) The fracking party is over, and a quiet desperation has descended on the state's once-booming communities and the thousands of people who were drawn to them. -- ... But the price drop quickened, due in part to a supply glut from the 1.2 million barrels of oil North Dakota was pumping each day.

"My business was decimated," said Van Assche, 29 years old. He prays for an oil-price jump, “but now it's very quiet."

The pain for much of last year was mitigated as aggressive price hedges and similar maneuvers kept the industry profitable. But those tactics have stopped working.

Those who haven't packed up and left the Bakken are facing a new reality of smaller budgets, fewer residents and the physical detritus of a building boom that left behind hundreds of empty apartments.

Continental and others have stopped fracking altogether in North Dakota. Statewide, there are only eight crews fracking new wells for the few companies still willing to pay for the service.

Politicians have taken to a common refrain that the oil price drop could actually be a good thing for the Bakken region by offering a chance to recover from the excesses of the boom. "Williston is still open for business," said Shawn Wenko, head of the Williston Economic Development office, a city agency charged with diversifying the economy.

Staff at the state agency JobService ND who spent the past five years scrambling to help fill jobs now find themselves busy with unemployment insurance applications. The agency hosted a Williston job fair in early April for 375 jobs. More than 1,250 applicants showed up. READ MORE