Drumbeat: July 1, 2013

Analysis – Big lenders wary of following oil money to North Dakota

Many banks remain wary of the past repeating itself. North Dakota saw a surge of oil activity in the 1950s and 1980s, only to have the flare-ups burn out, leaving many residents, municipalities and banks in debt after funding large projects. Williston alone had millions in debt from the 1980s oil boom as recently as 2005.

“What we don’t want to do is go into a community like Williston and engage in speculative lending and not have an exit strategy,” said Dan Murphy, Wells Fargo’s regional president for ...

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