Editing Williston, North Dakota (section)

==Economy==
[[File:FarmersUnionOilND.jpg|thumb|Gas station at Farmers' Cooperative in Williston, 1941.  Photo by [[Marion Post Wolcott]].]]
[[File:Williston-DSC02626.jpg|thumb|Pumping oil and flaring gas near Williston, July 2021]]

Williston's economy, while historically based in agriculture and especially ranching, is increasingly being driven by the oil industry. The [[Williston Basin]], named after the town, is a huge subterranean geologic feature known for its rich deposits of [[petroleum]], [[coal]], and [[potash]]. 

Williston developed over the [[Bakken formation]], which by the end of 2012 was predicted to be producing more oil than any other site in the United States, surpassing even Alaska's [[Prudhoe Bay]], the longtime leader in domestic output in the nation.<ref name="Moore">{{cite news|last=Moore|first=Stephen|title=What North Dakota Could Teach California|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052970203370604577265773038268282|newspaper=Wall Street Journal|access-date=March 19, 2012|date=March 11, 2012}}. The state of North Dakota provides a website detailing [https://www.dmr.nd.gov/oilgas/dailyindex.asp daily oil activity.]</ref> The oil boom has been spurred here by the development of new technologies—such as [[fracking]]—which enabled extraction from areas previously inaccessible.

In 1995, the [[U.S. Geological Survey]] estimated that there were 150 million barrels of oil "technically recoverable" from the Bakken shale. In April 2008, the number was said to be about four billion barrels; in 2010 geologists at [[Continental Resources]], the major drilling operation in North Dakota, estimated the reserve at eight billion. In March 2012, after the discovery of a lower shelf of oil, it announced a possible 24 billion barrels. Although current technology allows for extraction of only about 6% of the oil trapped {{convert|1.6|-|3.2|km|mi|abbr=on|order=flip}} beneath the earth's surface, recoverable oil might eventually exceed 500 billion barrels.<ref name="Moore"/>

Williston has seen a huge increase in population and infrastructure investments during the last several years with expanded drilling using the fracking petroleum extraction technique in the Bakken Formation and [[Three Forks Group]]s.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2016599974_dakotaoil25.html |title=Seattle Times. |access-date=October 27, 2011 |archive-date=October 27, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111027122400/http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2016599974_dakotaoil25.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>  Examples of oil industry-related infrastructure investments are the multi-acre branch campus of [[Baker Hughes]] and the Sand Creek Retail Center.
[[File:Williston-Amtrak.JPG|alt=|thumb|Williston, North Dakota Amtrak Station; the railroad is a popular way for migrants to reach the city.]]
A major regional [[grain elevator]] is served by the [[BNSF Railway]]. Williston's livestock arena has weekly auctions.

[[Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site|Forts Union]] and [[Fort Buford|Buford]], as well as the nearby [[confluence]] of the [[Yellowstone River|Yellowstone]] and [[Missouri River]]s west of the city, associated with the history of the [[Lewis and Clark Expedition]] and development of the fur trade and frontier—are destinations for area tourism. Williston is also comparatively close to the North Unit of [[Theodore Roosevelt National Park]].