Bakken Oil Boom: Will North Dakota 'Blow it' by Under-investing in Infrastructure?

DENVER, COLORADO--July 19, 2013--Written by John Egan for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--The oil boom in the Bakken Shale has triggered nearly $20 billion in energy-related project spending in North Dakota. Still, speakers at a conference this week in Denver said the state was courting the premature end of that boom by its inability or unwillingness to fund basic economic infrastructure projects like roads, airports, housing, libraries, water-treatment plants and lifestyle amenities like retail centers and restaurants. "The state of North Dakota is very close to blowing it big time," Dean Dovolis, an architect and investor active in that state, told about 50 attendees at the "Emerging Opportunities in Oil & Gas Plays" conference.