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KELLY MCEVERS: In the past year and a half, the price of oil has fallen dramatically, from over a hundred dollars a barrel to less than $40 a barrel. That one number, the price of oil, has consequences for countries like Saudi Arabia and Iran but also for some towns here in the United States. David Kestenbaum, with our Planet Money podcast, checked in with Williston, N.D.
DAVID KESTENBAUM: I visited Williston three years ago. Back then Williston was this perfect example of a fracking boomtown - thousands of workers flooding into this little town to drill wells. The population had doubled, and in the early days, there was not space for everyone to sleep. Back then, Rich Vestal, who runs a supply company in town, needed some place for his new workers to stay so he bought an extra house. That's how it started.
RICH VESTAL: It was down by our old warehouse. We paid about $10,000 for it.
DAVID KESTENBAUM: Then he bought another one.
RICH VESTAL: We bought the house right next door from the lady that lived there. She passed away so we bought it from her...