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Can You Figure Out What This Odd Clump of Lights Is That’s Been Revealed By NASA Satellite Images?

Jan. 18, 2013 10:18am Jonathon M. Seidl

Let’s play a little game. Take a look below and see if anything stands out to you in this nighttime satellite picture from NASA:

Can You Figure Out What This Odd Clump of Lights Is Thats Been Revealed By NASA Satellite Images?

Suomi NPP Satellite/NASA Earth Observatory

Unsure what you’re looking for? Let’s highlight the anomaly:

Suomi NPP Satellite/NASA Earth Observatory (added graphics by TheBlaze)

So, do you have any guesses? If you said UFO, you’re way off. If you said secret nuclear facility, you’re still way off. But if you said that looks a lot like an oil boomtown, you’re onto something. According to NPR, those are thousands of oil rigs drilling into the North Dakota earth: That state has become the latest oil field to become an exploration must.

Here’s how NPR explains it (emphasis added):

There’s a patch that looks like a big city — but there is no big city in that part of North Dakota. There’s mostly grass. So what are those lights doing there? What is that?

[...]

What we have here is an immense and startlingly new oil and gas field — nighttime evidence of an oil boom created by a technology called fracking. Those lights are rigs, hundreds of them, lit at night, or fiery flares of natural gas. One hundred fifty oil companies, big ones, little ones, wildcatters, have flooded this region, drilling up to eight new wells every day on what is called the Bakken formation. Altogether, they are now producing 660,000 barrels a day — double the output two years ago — so that in no time at all, North Dakota is now the second-largest oil producing state in America. Only Texas produces more, and those lights are a sign that this region is now on fire … to a disturbing degree. Literally.

But wait, there’s more (emphasis added):

Six years ago, this region was close to empty. The few ranchers who lived here produced wheat, alfalfa, oats and corn. The U.S. Geological Survey knew there were oil deposits underground, but deep down, 2 miles below the surface. It wasn’t till this century that the industry developed a way to pull that oil to the surface at a cost that made it practical. Fracking, as you probably know, means pumping water and chemicals down pipes, fracturing the rock, releasing the oil. The technology is hugely controversial, in part because of those lights.

When oil comes to the surface, it often brings natural gas with it, and according to North Dakota’s Department of Mineral Resources, 29 percent of the natural gas now extracted in North Dakota is flared off. Gas isn’t as profitable as oil, and the energy companies don’t always build the pipes or systems to carry it away. For a year (with extensions), North Dakota allows drillers to burn gas, just let it flare. There are now so many gas wells burning fires in the North Dakota night, the fracking fields can be seen from deep space.

And if North Dakota becoming the number two oil state in America didn’t prove how fast it’s booming, maybe this stat will (emphasis added): “This oil rush is so sudden, so enormous, North Dakota now has the lowest unemployment rate in the country. More than 41,000 workers got jobs there between 2008 and 2012. Only seven years ago, the U.S. was importing 60 percent of its oil. Now imports are down to 42 percent. The Bakken fields are helping to improve energy security.”

But with that boom also comes a darker side. Why? Because the influx of out-of-state workers looking to cash in by working in the oil fields mean there are now a lot more men than women in many of these boomtowns (some say 2-1). And when that happens, some women figure out that some men will pay a lot of money for certain adult services. The New York Times recently visited one such town — Williston, N.D. — and chronicled the sudden rise of the adult industry there (emphasis added):

Christina Knapp and a friend were drinking shots at a bar in a nearby town several weeks ago when a table of about five men called them over and made an offer.

They would pay the women $3,000 to strip naked and serve them beer at their house while they watched mixed martial arts fights on television. Ms. Knapp, 22, declined, but the men kept raising the offer, reaching $7,000.

“I said I make more money doing my job than degrading myself to do that,” said Ms. Knapp, a tattoo artist with dark streaks in her light brown hair, a bird tattoo on her chest and piercings above her lip and left cheekbone.

The rich shale oil formation deep below the rolling pastures here has attracted droves of young men to work the labor-intensive jobs that get the wells flowing and often generate six-figure salaries. What the oil boom has not brought, however, are enough single women.

At work, at housing camps and in bars and restaurants, men have been left to mingle with their own. High heels and skirts are as rare around here as veggie burgers. Some men liken the environment to the military or prison.

[...]

Some women have banked on the female shortage. Williston’s two strip clubs attract dancers from around the country. Prostitutes from out of state troll the bars.

Natasha, 31, an escort and stripper from Las Vegas, is currently on her second stint here after hearing how much money strippers made in Williston on a CNN report last year. Business in her industry is much better here than in the rest of the country, she said. She makes at least $500 a night, but more often she exceeds $1,000.

“We make a lot of money because there’s a lot of lonely guys,” she said.

And the Times’ money-making figures could be a low, according to Business Insider: “That may be a conservative estimate as word last year was dancers were making two to three times that amount, but club owners were concerned with IRS attention and prohibited employees from speaking to the press.”

It seems both men and women are flocking to the town for the big bucks.

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Comments (159)

toomuchgovt
Posted on January 18, 2013 at 12:04pm
Why does the article go from the lights being from fire to prostitution? Strange.

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- SamIamTwo
  Posted on January 18, 2013 at 12:15pm
  Ok this is an easy one so I’ll take it on.
  
  When you have a big jobs boom, mostly men get hired…hence the male population increases and whores come in to make money off the men who are pulling down some serious coin. It is historical…nothing new under the sun.
  
  Gold rush, say thang.
  
  Report this comment
- PRRedlin
  Posted on January 18, 2013 at 12:46pm
  But But But I thought there was less drilling under Obama…
  
  Report this comment
- Vincero
  Posted on January 18, 2013 at 12:52pm
  Because NPR types are a bunch of voyeuristic prudes who have to look in on the seedier side of life for lack of the stones to participate.
  
  Report this comment
- HYPNOTOAD
  Posted on January 18, 2013 at 12:53pm
  PRREDLIN: I’ll type slow so you can understand…it’s called private land. Go back to sleep.
  
  Report this comment
- HellboundandDown
  Posted on January 18, 2013 at 12:58pm
  their bodies their choice, that’s freedom, right?
  
  Report this comment
- TheUltimateRedneck
  Posted on January 18, 2013 at 1:01pm
  Actually to all the ones complaining about the burning…yes it sucks, but there is not a market, the ppl who rent their mineral rights are not makin anything, to store that much gas takes all the profit out of it because the supply heavily outweighs the demand they should make natural gas power plants if they just want to burn it
  
  Report this comment
- COFemale
  Posted on January 18, 2013 at 1:22pm
  This isn’t federal land PRRedlin, this is private land. He reduced drilling on government owned land. Please pay attention.
  
  Report this comment
- The_Cabrito_Goat
  Posted on January 18, 2013 at 1:34pm
  Well, you learn something new everyday.
  
  Report this comment
- GoodStuff
  Posted on January 18, 2013 at 1:50pm
  @PPR
  
  “But But But I thought there was less drilling under Obama…”
  
  There is…on public lands, where most of the oil and gas is.
  
  Do your research and stop being willfully ignorant.
  
  Report this comment
- marssnw
  Posted on January 18, 2013 at 1:58pm
  Obama was trying to take credit for private land drilling during the election. Its sheeple like PRREDLIN that do not understand the difference between govt. and private drilling.. Maybe that is because people like PRREDLIN think private belongs to them as well. Grow a brain already you brain dead liberal.
  
  Report this comment
- Anonymous T. Irrelevant
  Posted on January 18, 2013 at 2:21pm
  “C’mon, c’mon, marry for the money, cmon, c’mon, listen to the money talk”
  
  Report this comment
- Truthbeliever2
  Posted on January 18, 2013 at 3:05pm
  Because this is a fake alternative news site which peddles the Liberal ideal in almost all of its stories. Oh no! Men are getting jobs while women suffer… Those bad bad men…
  
  Report this comment
- Hobbs10
  Posted on January 18, 2013 at 3:16pm
  I wondered the same thing. Duh, any kind of a boom or bust brings on “supply and demand” kind of prices. Just depends on what the demand is for.
  
  Report this comment
- SavvyCowboy
  Posted on January 18, 2013 at 3:32pm
  Because @Too – lights don’t sell news, RED lights (read sex) does. Where else can you start at a Walmart (Williston, ND) at over $20/hr as a cashier? McDonald’s in Williston is offering a $1,000 signin bonus and $25/hr if you work their “rush hours”. I live in this wonderful state they are describing and the Western 1/2 of the state has turned from a prestine, rough, remote “outback” with millions of deer and antelope into a barren heap of trash, rubble, noise and trouble – most long-time residents of that part of the state are now getting CWP (Concealed Weapons Permits) to protect themselves. The oil boom brings billions to our state along with trash (people) but our brutal Winters send many packin’ back home (thank God). At least I still live way out in “the sticks” of a piece of unintruded N.D. (for now anyway).
  
  Report this comment
- muffythetuffy
  Posted on January 18, 2013 at 3:32pm
  COULD IT BE A GROUP OF FEMA PROCESSING CENTERS?
  
  Have we located those 2.5 Million registered Republican voters who didn’t vote in November? This could explain where so much of the unaccounted Obama Stimulus Money went. If Hitler could operate death camps and keep it secret from the German people and the Allies, Obama could do the same and maybe easier. The Israeli Genocide Tribunal should be asked to investigate this as they would be the only governmental authority on Earth that could be trusted.
  
  Report this comment
- SimpleTruths
  Posted on January 18, 2013 at 3:57pm
  COFEMALE
  The number of permits issued INCREASED on both private and public lands under Obama compared to the previous administration. Ouch, that didn’t fit in with your narrative did it.
  
  Report this comment
- @leftfighter
  Posted on January 18, 2013 at 4:24pm
  @PRRedlin
  
  Actually, as Obama said during the debates, there is more oil production today than there was at the end of the Bush Administration. The problem with this stat is that it’s hardly apple-to-apple.
  
  As Romney quickly pointed at the debate, the production boom since 2008 has happened on PRIVATE lands. If you look at the production on Federal land with Federal leases, there is much less drilling today than the day Obama took office.
  
  http://www.cnn.com/2012/10/04/politics/fact-check-oil-gas/index.html
  
  Full disclosure: yes, Romney’s “50% reduction of oil leases” claim was inaccurate. It was closer to 40%.
  
  At the end of the day, the stat is close enough that it frankly doesn’t matter. The fact is, there are fewer oil leases on U.S. Federal lands, and it’s occurred due to Obama’s policies.
  
  Also, due to Obama policies, there is also MORE drilling in Brazilian Federal lands.
  http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203863204574346610120524166.html
  
  It’s almost like he’s trying to… reallocate resources? No… rearrange prosperity? Not quite… hmmm… what’s that phrase again?
  
  Oh yeah. Redistribute wealth. From rich America to poor Brazil.
  
  The man is a Marxist. Period.
  
  Report this comment
- scarydave
  Posted on January 18, 2013 at 4:34pm
  THEULTIMATEREDNECK…
  Wait a minute, the Oil companies are not paying the landowner for the Gas, but they do pay $ on rental agreements. Then if they bring in Oil on that same property, the landowners get a nice fat check every month, or quarter, or whatever arrangement has been made. The landowners will do very nicely. Especially considering large chunks of land will belong to one owner.
  
  Report this comment
- PK_SEA
  Posted on January 18, 2013 at 5:36pm
  TOOMUCHGOV: Simple answer to your question: Lights = Fire = Fire Crotch = Prostitution.
  
  Report this comment
- Captain_Sensible
  Posted on January 18, 2013 at 5:38pm
  I’ll take a stab at an explanation….
  
  My guess is that NPR and the NYT have got to figure out a way to explain to their low information readers and listeners why the United States taking steps to be energy independent is a bad thing. So you’ve got to take a positive event- North Dakota having low unemployment and high wages and increasing our domestic energy supply- and spin it negatively by pointing out the pollution and the exploitation of women.
  
  Report this comment
- Walkabout
  Posted on January 18, 2013 at 6:10pm
  HYPNOTOAD
  
  I don’t think PRREDLIN was ever awake.
  
  Report this comment
- Ballot_Box_Revolution
  Posted on January 18, 2013 at 6:39pm
  I think those are lights from Regina CA
  
  Report this comment
- Quester55
  Posted on January 18, 2013 at 6:41pm
  First the whores show up, next comes the drugs then the murders, And people like Obama comes out smelling like a Chicago Pimp!, your correct, there is nothing new under the sun or the sheets, for that matter.
  
  Report this comment
- IOWAGIR
  Posted on January 18, 2013 at 6:41pm
  @prredlin…the only kind of drillin’ Barry gets excited about is the kind that is done on his back side.
  
  Report this comment
- AZgirl9000
  Posted on January 18, 2013 at 6:43pm
  Part of the reason for the confusion when it comes to Obama is because he takes credit for private sector drilling.
  
  Report this comment
- Thatsitivehadenough
  Posted on January 18, 2013 at 8:13pm
  I support legalized prostitution. It keeps people healthy, and women off the streets, and lowers crime. What you don’t know about what adults do in private won’t hurt you.
  
  Report this comment
- Romans828
  Posted on January 18, 2013 at 8:34pm
  @Savvy Cowboy: welcome to the rest of the country. (re: CWP and trashy people) The difference being your state actually has jobs available. The rest of us just have the CWPs and (unemployed) trashy people. Incidentally, doesn’t ND have open carry?
  
  Report this comment
- MCAinSTL
  Posted on January 18, 2013 at 11:49pm
  Seems like oil isn’t the only thing getting drilled there!
  
  Report this comment
- Exiled
  Posted on January 19, 2013 at 5:36am
  Because the author never took a writing class?
  
  Report this comment
- RSHLUVER
  Posted on January 19, 2013 at 6:59pm
  Because it was reported by liberal NPR that opposes fracking.
  
  Report this comment
- George McClellan
  Posted on January 20, 2013 at 12:58am
  I do not understand why every “news” story talks about fracking as a new technique. It’s been in use for a number of decades. I first witnessed it at Duncan, Oklahoma, in the sixties. It was a standard practice ‘way back then. Talk about someone failing to do their homework!!! Or could the press possibly be trying to create the impression that a new and harmful process will destroy our drinking water, etc., etc… ? Do a little online research and I’ll betcha you can get a whole education on the subject. Try ASK.COM or Wikipedia.
  
  Report this comment
- mensa141
  Posted on January 20, 2013 at 7:04pm
  The article goes form lights in the sky to prostitution because the guy writing the article is horny.
  
  Report this comment
turkey13
Posted on January 18, 2013 at 11:57am
My sons have their own oil company with 27 active wells. if you need to drill deeper you pay the EPA by the foot.You have to put up a $ 1/2 million dollar bond. A drilling license is $12,000 and there are many hands from the Corporation Commission that are stuck out in your face that must be filled are your paperwork is lost and if refiled is turned down in the field inspection. These folks up there are spending some big bucks.

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- saranda
  Posted on January 18, 2013 at 1:24pm
  And still 29% of the gas is flared. Without the EPA involvement, north Dakota would look like parts of eastern Europe that flare gas constantly. Trust me you do not want that to happen to ND. Thanksfully a Canadian company called Veresen is going to gather and pipe much of the flared gas out.
  
  Report this comment
- JeffMT
  Posted on January 18, 2013 at 1:40pm
  Here’s a little info on nat gas capture going on in the Bakken and elsewhere.
  
  http://billingsgazette.com/article_85e40396-3ae0-5cc1-8cf9-5b8e8fbce30b.html
  “GAS TO GREENBACKS: Montanans create company to capture, sell excess Bakken gas”
  June 10, 2012 12:10 am • By Jan Falstad
  
  http://fuelfix.com/blog/2012/11/26/baker-hughes-using-natural-gas-in-fracturing-jobs/
  “Baker Hughes using natural gas in fracturing jobs”
  November 26, 2012 at 1:35 pm by Zain Shauk
  
  There is more gas capture going on in the Bakken and elsewhere than most people are aware of. The mainstream media would rather largely ignore these types of stories and vilify the oil and gas industry than spend some time researching the subject and reporting on it.
  
  Report this comment
moosebeeusa
Posted on January 18, 2013 at 11:53am
I bet over 4 years there is 4 TRILLION dallars of natural gas wasted.

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- Melika
  Posted on January 20, 2013 at 7:11am
  No, there wouldn’t be. Even if we pretend your theory is correct, there would be 12 trillion wasted on the pipes and equipment to collect it. Do you want to pay that, because I don’t and neither do companies. This gas is not a large reservoir, it is just on top of the much larger oil reserve. If there was the remotest chance a business could make money on that gas, they would do it. You don’t make money when you waste funds on equipment for a material that will only net you half return. Plus, once that little bit of gas is piped out, then you have all this pollution of pipes that will only sit around and rot for the next 30 years. You want that too?
  
  If you think this gas is so valuable, why not get off your rear and start a company whose sole purpose is to collect that gas for market? Then you can offer it to your liberal friends in LA and NY at four times the market cost of other gas companies, because you’ll have to in order to recoup your losses. It’ll be a “green” alternative to natural gas from large reserves. You’ll then have to petition congress to make it a requirement that people buy it, but it will make you feel better, so you should do it.
  
  Report this comment
Voter713
Posted on January 18, 2013 at 11:51am
Uh Oh – wheres Matt Damon when I need him! He knew the answer to this!

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DZ-015
Posted on January 18, 2013 at 11:47am
Looks like the Oil Patch and the ladies of the evening are both making their marks.

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- lani59
  Posted on January 18, 2013 at 2:06pm
  I had just left working in the Gulf of Mexico for ND. Many of my friends laughed at me but not when Obama shut down the GOM. They were either laid off or went overseas, thank you ND for keeping me working.
  
  Report this comment
RickN
Posted on January 18, 2013 at 11:45am
Conservative policies will enable North Dakota to boom, so a bunch of liberals will move there for the jobs, quality of life, flipping it to a democrat state, thus killng the industry. Cancer!

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- DebateMe
  Posted on January 18, 2013 at 12:00pm
  @RickN
  It’s no accident that socialists gravitate toward wealth. They are experts at usurping other peoples’ money, first for their own personal enrichment and secondly to redstribute to the non-productive. Once they have found a wealth center, they tirelessly and relentlessly work toward changing the environment to its polar opposite. As the entire thing collapses due to their intrusions, they put the blame squarely on everyone and anyone who opposes their view in any way. In the meantime, the legions of dregs who are drawn to the area for the free goodies keep these people in power and buy into their arguments that ‘it’s the other guy’s fault.’ Rinse and repeat until humanity as a whole ‘wakes up’ and stops repeating history.
  
  Report this comment
- revelation2012
  Posted on January 18, 2013 at 3:36pm
  Weather Modification Incorporation:
  Clients and Projects:
  
  United States
  
  North Dakota Cloud Modification Project (NDCMP)
  
  North Dakota Thunderstorm Project – North Dakota Atmospheric Resource Board
  
  North Dakota Tracer Experiment – North Dakota Atmospheric Resource Board
  
  The University of North Dakota – US Environmental Protection Agency
  
  -
  
  State of South Dakota – Department of Natural Resources Division of Weather Modification
  
  Report this comment
- revelation2012
  Posted on January 18, 2013 at 4:45pm
  Western Dakota Water Development District – Black Hills Council of Local Government
  
  Report this comment
- BrutalTruth
  Posted on January 19, 2013 at 10:11am
  That’s right Debateme, Where there’s money to be had, the Grifters can always be found.
  
  Report this comment
Babci
Posted on January 18, 2013 at 11:44am
It’s amazing how many people on this site know the economics of natural gas exploration and capture. My guess is that with 150 companies drilling 8 wells a day in a boomtown, there are NOT a lot of opportunities being wasted. Capitalism works, folks.

Also, remember the source here…NPR kept us on pins and needles for years over the imminent threat of global warming. I’d say they should stick with Sesame Street rather than technology.

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ellietoo
Posted on January 18, 2013 at 11:40am
I don’ think it is a great idea to burn off natural gas just because it is not as valuable as oil. PA was fast becoming a major producer of natural gas until the state got too greedy. Drillers have moved to greener pastures like Ohio and other states that welcome the drillers. New York could have enjoyed the income of the drilling business but instead imported greenies from all over the country to lie about fracking and stop any drilling from happening. Now tons of natural gas and other much needed resources sit untouched while thousands are unemployed and fuel prices climb.
There are drawbacks as noted. When the drilling industry invades an area they cause the cost of living to go up because these people have money to throw around. Land lords jack up rents so that the common worker can no longer find an affordable place to live. The area builds up their ability to provide services and then the drillers are off to another location leaving merchants that once served them empty handed. Yeah, the bars are full of guys looking for action but prostitution has not been an issue. There are enough free services to go around.
Why don’t we make use of the cheap natural gas by remodeling cars so that they can run it? We could be an energy independent nation. It sickens me to hear that they are burning it off like that. What a waste/1 It stinks of the greed that some drillers thrive on.

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- AxelPhantom
  Posted on January 18, 2013 at 12:23pm
  So the lesson of that is when they find a lot of oil/nat gas near you buy up as much real estate as you can. The same thing happens when the country is in a slump but your area has jobs and a bunch of people from California or NYC start moving in.
  
  The phenomenon of skyrocketing housing is not the fault of the oil industry anymore than the prices in the cities are the fault of businesses. People go where the jobs are and demand dictates price. The beauty of it is that where there are jobs, you can always find a new job and move to an area with more reasonable prices.
  
  Report this comment
- THE_HUNTER
  Posted on January 19, 2013 at 12:34pm
  I find it interesting that the State of ND is fighting with the drillers right now because they are running their electrical generators on natural gas instead of buying fuel for them, they are passing new laws requiring them to buy fuel from local sellers as soon as roads allow. I don’t live in ND any more however I did for over 20 years during my career as a police officer, I worked during the first boom that died when ND put a tax on oil extraction and sent the drillers running. We loved it as we got more police experience in one week than we did before the boom in a year. I do own some mineral rights in that area but they haven’t started drilling in that part of the state, but they are heading that way now, wish they would hurry I need the cash.
  
  Report this comment
rsanchez1
Posted on January 18, 2013 at 11:33am
I don’t get why they say the world has too many people, when we’ve barely filled half the country.

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- checkingbothsides
  Posted on January 18, 2013 at 5:16pm
  It’s not just a matter of physical space. As far as that goes we could literally fit the entire population of the Earth in one county in Texas. It’s about resources. You can’t just stick people in an area without water or food. Plus, most of those empty areas in the West are where our cattle are living!
  
  There’s a lot more to it than just geography.
  
  Report this comment
- Hidethez
  Posted on January 19, 2013 at 12:07am
  @Checkingbothsides I live in the west, all over it and most of the West isn’t for our cattle. Don’t exaggerate. I regularly travel from southern CO to Northern ID, across Montana and through Wyoming. The beauty of the vast open spaces and deeply forested woodlands of these areas, with few if any cattle (you see far more deer) is one of the greatest pleasures I’ve experienced. Man thinks he is so big, but he is puny, easily wiped out and quickly forgotten as the plants and animals takes back what he thought he had conquered.
  
  Report this comment
BannedByHuffpo
Posted on January 18, 2013 at 11:30am
I’d better brush up on my geography. It looked to me like Calgary.

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- PhysicalCliff
  Posted on January 18, 2013 at 11:49am
  You beat me to the punch. The circle is not in ND.
  
  Report this comment
- GENEPAGLIARI
  Posted on January 18, 2013 at 12:09pm
  Brush up on your geography. If you draw a line from Green Bay through the circle in North Dakota you will hit Calgary farther to the northwest than the circle.
  
  Report this comment
- Carrie3570
  Posted on January 18, 2013 at 12:26pm
  It’s in North Dakota. Look at the Great Lakes that surround Michigan. Follow the top of the lakes across the U.S., there is a little “step up” in Minnesota that even makes the border line across the top of the U.S. further north than the Great Lakes.
  
  Report this comment
- Thrin
  Posted on January 18, 2013 at 12:26pm
  You might want to brush upon your geography, its far nw ND.
  
  Report this comment
- integrican
  Posted on January 18, 2013 at 2:46pm
  Yup, Calgary is farther west and slightly north.
  
  Salt Lake City is just ESE of the base of the arrow line. Calgary, Alberta is due north of SLC. That bright spot due north of SLC at the edge of the map is Calgary.
  Carry on.
  
  Report this comment
- donkeykong
  Posted on January 19, 2013 at 1:29am
  Saved the image off and re-edited…..that spot IS in ND….you
  can tell by looking to the east, the next 3 brighter dots, going
  south to north, are Fargo, Grand Forks, then about twice that
  distance between them is Winnipeg. I traveled thru MT/ND
  last august by train, and woke up at night to see the well flares,
  mile after mile of them. Was an eye-opening sight for me, being
  from MN and not used to seeing this….
  
  Report this comment
piplovestheUSA
Posted on January 18, 2013 at 11:20am
I am sure if it was worth the money to capture the gas they would. Building the piping and storage and dealing with all the regs that go with it must make it hard to see a profit. Burning the gas there or in your home makes the same amount of by-product. Which is mostly water

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lid.smoker
Posted on January 18, 2013 at 11:14am
Last I heard prostitution was illegal. Where’s law enforcement? We need to make prostitution a felony with 10 years sentences. Get those disease bearing skanks off the streets.

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- Southerner01
  Posted on January 18, 2013 at 1:22pm
  Legalize it and tax the hell out of it. It’s stupid to fill our prisons with non-violent prostitutes and then have to let murederers and rapists out on early release due to overcrowding.
  
  Report this comment
- hatchetjob
  Posted on January 18, 2013 at 4:47pm
  I agree, LID.SMOKER.
  
  Report this comment
TheFifthColum
Posted on January 18, 2013 at 11:14am
Oil Fields.

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whatthecrazy
Posted on January 18, 2013 at 11:06am
I don’t think that oil is for us.I bet the one is selling it to our enemy’s, after all they are our new owners.My electric bill was so high last month it could choke a horse and winter hasn’t even hit hard here yet.

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- GhostOfJefferson
  Posted on January 18, 2013 at 11:16am
  That’s how a fungible commodity works.
  
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jackact
Posted on January 18, 2013 at 11:01am
Mmm…..looks like progress?
For North Dakota.
When do we get to drill on federal government land?

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- omgfolks
  Posted on January 18, 2013 at 11:09am
  Screw drilling on Fed Land how about capturing the gas instead of burning it off being required to assist in the reduction of gas prices rather than wasting the fuel. What are these oil companies thinking?/// They act like out goverment with all this waste.
  
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- WarMunger_Al
  Posted on January 18, 2013 at 11:10am
  It is a shame that they waste the natural gas. They should be required to capture the gas for sale. Natural gas rates would be lower if they were not wasting the supply.
  
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- TheDukeWayne
  Posted on January 18, 2013 at 12:39pm
  Because of Frakking the natural gas market is so inundated with supply that its on the verge of price collapse. Therefore because there is no profit in selling something that is already going for really cheap they just burn it off because natural gas is 10x more effective as a greenhouse gas than CO2 is. (this is directed at the guy(s) raging about burning it)
  
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gbgreta
Posted on January 18, 2013 at 10:56am
No surprise…I knew what the author was getting at right away. But the loons will wet their pants, no doubt.

Looks like energy independence to me. Rock ON!

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4BlueStars
Posted on January 18, 2013 at 10:53am
Be it Deadwood, Tombstone, Virginia City or Williston, some things never change, do they?

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Tigress1
Posted on January 18, 2013 at 10:49am
This place is ugly liberal women’s dream come true. They might get lucky if they don’t mind having a man who WORKS and doesn’t want to sit there with his hand out waiting for gov. freebies.

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- beps
  Posted on January 18, 2013 at 1:45pm
  How do beautiful, conservative women fare? :-)
  
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@leftfighter
Posted on January 18, 2013 at 10:39am
I think I’d prefer they trap the gas rather than burn it off.

They’re wasting a lot of the energy they’re pulling out of the ground.

More trapped natural gas means lower natural gas prices.

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- dwhoover
  Posted on January 18, 2013 at 12:24pm
  I have lived in North Dakota all of my life. My hometown is Stanley, ND, which is in the heart of the Bakken Oil Field. Ideally, we would love to ship all of the natural gas that is extracted, however, there are several problems. The biggest being government red tape. In order to ship it, you need a pipeline. But not everyone is akin to building a new pipeline. Think Excel Pipeline. There are environmental studies, special interest groups, and other barriers to getting it built. But we are doing our best to ship all we can.
  
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Gonzo
Posted on January 18, 2013 at 10:34am
See? Obama’s well planned sagging economy is to fight prostitution! He’s sooo smart.

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- scuba13
  Posted on January 18, 2013 at 1:06pm
  So if there are prostitutes where is Bill Clinton? Because I would think he would be first in line.
  
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woodyee
Posted on January 18, 2013 at 10:33am
I’m glad we’re drilling our own – I just hope that when those wells go dry, that there aren’t any new towns left behind in need of water, sewage, and power where antelope roamed.

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- gyro
  Posted on January 18, 2013 at 11:16am
  so humanitarian of you
  
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capitalismrocks
Posted on January 18, 2013 at 10:32am
That is a total waste, they should be capturing that gas, in the long run, the investment will be worth it in the captured and sold gas and will put further natural resources into our domestic energy pipelines, we need to do EVERYTHING to counter Pres Obama and Energy Sect Chu and their attempts to stifle and destroy the US energy sectors and in turn destroy the US ability to rebuild.

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The Knave
Posted on January 18, 2013 at 10:31am
Basically, all I got from this article is….where there are lights, you’ll find hookers.

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HaploVoss
Posted on January 18, 2013 at 10:28am
Ok let’s see here… Business is good. Life is good. Production is up. Industry is driving down outside need… but let’s point out the few good things as quickly and quaintly as possible and do our best to tarnish it with every negative angle we can think of. Yeah – that will be a great story. Let’s get those oily bastards!

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- marybethelizabeth
  Posted on January 18, 2013 at 10:42am
  It’s a trade off between short term results and long term results.
  
  The conservative approach of being more deliberate is a better way than the quick rushed burst of activity here today gone tomorrow make it up as we go along enterprise.
  
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- Gonzo
  Posted on January 18, 2013 at 11:01am
  Conservatives actually support an “all of the above” energy plan MBE. Your plan on raising conventional energy prices just to make wind and solar look good is pretty lame.
  
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- DZ-015
  Posted on January 18, 2013 at 11:44am
  Mary Be The Lizabeth: Will wonders never cease? You’re endorsing the conservative approach?
  
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thegreatcarnac
Posted on January 18, 2013 at 10:23am
No it is not oilfields….obama is firing up the generators at some FEMA camps….lol.

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- Ms Moommist
  Posted on January 19, 2013 at 4:58am
  obumma would have he__ to pay in a red state like ND, too bad they don’t have the population of OHIO maybe it is coal like the coal mines up there that burn for the past 1000 years. Good for ND!
  
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