HOUSTON -- The Bakken shale oil play unfolding in North Dakota and Montana is an industry, not a boom, according to group Williston Economic Development (WED). The play is now producing about 800,000 barrels of oil per day and will hit 1 million a day by April 2014, officials estimate.

Meanwhile, at a series of events around the country, officials have been urging businesses to set up shop in North Dakota to help handle the surge in activity ? that’s activity away from the drilling rigs. A symposium, “Opportunities in North Dakota & the Bakken,” was recently held in Houston, Dallas and Scottsdale, Ariz. The event targeted commercial businesses and real estate developers.

“We need everything up here, whether it be power poles from Washington or sand from China or Wisconsin, or pump jacks from Texas,” said one speaker.

“We need everything from pizzas to dentists to doing haircuts,” said another.

The progression of needs stacks up like this: First, industrial equipment such as for the oil industry itself; then, housing for the workers and their families; and third, commercial services for those families.

The needs are long-term. Forecasters think the drilling phase of this play could last another 25 years or more, and they estimate production will go on for another 30 to 40 years. There are some 7,000 wells now producing in the Bakken, and another 2,100 or so are drilled every year, according to WED. For every well drilled, an estimated three more production workers will be needed.

But, the strains on local communities are causing plenty of headaches today.

Truck traffic on local roads, many of them dirt roads, is tremendous and is extracting a huge toll. A study done in 2010 estimated some 2,024 total inbound and outbound truckloads are needed for each well drilled. That includes hauling gravel to build a location; rig, drill pipe and cement to drill the well; frac sand, water and frac tanks for well stimulation; other equipment, and fuel.

Apart from strains on oil and gas infrastructure, the local communities are struggling with a host of issues. One is a surge in visits to local hospitals, putting many of them into debt as transient workers who get injured go to emergency rooms, get treated and then don’t pay —and don’t have a forwarding address. Many live in man camps or residents’ spare rooms or basements.

Hotel construction has boomed throughout the play area, but most communities would now advise developers to hold off. They are at 86% capacity, down from 100%. Some 57 hotels have opened since 2008; 43 of those since 2011.

Housing demand is a problem not yet solved. One estimate is that 90,000 new units will be needed during the next 15 years, or 6,000 units per year. That translates to an increase of 167% in Williston and 61% in Dickinson. Yet, as eager real estate developers flock to western North Dakota towns, that has left a building gap in the rest of the state.