After The Oil Boom, How To Avoid the Bust

Everyone’s heard the story of the oil boom and its ugly twin, the bust. A sleepy community transformed overnight by a wave of rapid growth. Workers flock to the area, sleeping in RVs, hotels and cheaply-built apartments. Eventually, there’s a bust, and locals are left with scores of empty buildings and wondering what happened.

But does it have to end this way? Emily Guerin from Here & Now contributor Inside Energy went to a small town in North Dakota’s Bakken oilfield to find out.