CNBS: Is North Dakota's economy really oil-rigged?
With crude oil prices down sharply from last year and the oil glut at risk of increasing, private security consultant Charles Clifton's phone has been ringing. His company, Knightsbridge Risk Management, a private security firm in Dallas that serves the oil and gas industry, is getting calls from companies that want to plan ahead in case they shut down drilling operations in North Dakota and the Bakken shale formation.
The oil producers want to prevent theft and vandalism of the drilling sites—often a problem when operations have abruptly come to a halt in other states, said Clifton, manager for The Americas for Knightsbridge. Workers and subcontractors who have suddenly been left with no income have sometimes retaliated by stealing or damaging equipment, from well caps to bulldozers, he said.
