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Sunny, along with a few afternoon clouds. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Winds WNW at 10 to 15 mph.. Some clouds early will give way to generally clear conditions overnight. Winds WNW at 10 to 15 mph.

June 21, 2: Johnston, 23, had no oil field experience until five months ago. But he was willing to come to North Dakota, work hard, and he passed a drug test. Oil companies wish there were more like him, said Lynn Helms, the director of North Dakota's Oil and Gas Division. Helms said some workers are needed immediately in North Dakota's oil patch. He estimated that at least 10 more rigs could be operating if crews were available. Each active oil rig represents about 40 direct jobs and 80 indirect jobs, he said.

The drug test is a stumbling block for many would-be roughnecks; only about one of every four applicants pass the test. Michael Challans, a year-old roughneck from Lewiston, Mont.

Challans said he's been working as a roughneck for about four years. It's a grunt job at ground-zero of a drilling crew. He plans on working on other parts of the rig then, as a driller or tool pusher.

Arik MacBlane, 26, also of Lewiston, said his wife has mixed feelings about his job on a drill rig. Stan Bringhurst, 26, of Spearfish, S.

An Oil Town Where Men Are Many, and Women Are Hounded - The New York Times

And women don't like it because of the dirt, oil and danger, he said. Roughneckers say they bathe with industrial hand-cleaner. North Dakota wells were producing about 10, more barrels of North Dakota sweet crude each day in June than in June a year ago - a total of about 95, barrels of crude daily, the most since North Dakota now is the eighth-largest oil-producing state in the nation, Helms said. Dennis Visser was around during the last oil boom in Williston, which began in the late s and went bust a few years later.

Koeser estimated the city's population has grown from 12, to about 14, over the past five years. But he and Visser know enough to be cautious. Most of the jobs don't require experience, but they do require drug screening. Hatlestad said the jobs aren't for everyone. Many who take the oil patch jobs get "physically whipped. Mike Ames, owner of Agri Industries in Williston, said he hired five workers from Romania to install crop irrigation systems because he could not find workers in the area.

The oil industry's pay scale is more than he can pay, said Ames, who also requires drug tests. He had to increase the pay of his 18 full-time employees to keep pace with the oil industry's wages, he said. Still, he thinks the oil activity has been good for the area's economy.

And the oil workers have his respect. There is nothing glamorous about it," Ames said.

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Oil rig workers make nearly $, a year - May. 10,

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Oil rig workers make nearly $, a year - May. 10,

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What Type of Intelligence Do You Have?

Don't have an account? Tonight Some clouds early will give way to generally clear conditions overnight. Good pay, hard work, drug tests required JAMES MacPHERSON Associated Press Writer Jul 5, 1. But those who pass the prerequisite drug tests get the promise of a big paycheck.

But Koeser and other longtime Williston residents don't use the term "boom. Stop watching this discussion. Get an email notification whenever someone contributes to the discussion. Notifications from this discussion will be disabled. Start watching Stop watching. How can I get a roughneck job near me or one far a way that pays good.

Welcome to the discussion.

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