In less than 10 years, frac sand sourcing has migrated from Wisconsin/Illinois to Brady to local basins, and cut fracturing costs by millions in the process. Meanwhile, expect another sand boom. By Paul Wiseman While hydraulic fracturing traces its roots as far back as 1947 with Stanolind Oil and Gas engineer Floyd Farris’s unsuccessful trial, […]
Basin Oilman by Choice
George H.W. Bush took his family and his fresh Yale degree and spurned the hoity-toity of the blueblood, patrician Eastern seaboard life he knew, to plunge himself into the redblooded, gritty, bootstrap worklife of the Permian Basin. Official portrait of the 41st U.S. President There may never be another American president with closer personal ties […]
New Milestones and Fresh Starts
In this month’s assemblage of articles, the idea of “getting pointed in the right direction” could be thought of as a unifying thread. These are the full versions of the “Drilling Deeper” news items that appeared as abbreviated versions in the print edition of PBOG’s January 2019 issue. NatGas Prices to Stay Low Natural gas […]
Man of Few Words
A while back as I was hanging out at my favorite combination oil-patch-educational-institution-and-drinking-emporium, otherwise known as the Rig #8, when I met this fount of information in the person of an old-time cable tool man. As the evening wore on, the subject of the nature of those old time cable tool drillers came up. He […]
Gray Skies, Sunny Mood
Those words were the theme of the 2018 Permian Basin International Oil Show, and they summed up the mood nicely. By Jesse Mullins ODESSA, TEXAS—For three full days—the entire run of the 2018 Permian Basin International Oil Show—the rains fell and the drizzle drizzled and the mists mystified. Such was the weather that huge crowds […]
Old School: The Service Sector Knows What Works
The oil price uptick of the past year or more, welcome as it was, has been slow to penetrate labor-intensive sectors like oilfield service. By Paul Wiseman “Prices back five years ago, six years ago were decent on the pulling unit side, but they went way down and they haven’t come up to where they […]
Maker’s Marks
At places like ADS (Air Drilling Solutions) and Henry Pumps—manufacturing kinds of places—the race is to the swift and the battle is to the strong. If, that is, we think of “swift” as streamlined and “strong” as adaptable. By Paul Wiseman How does a Scottish Highlander end up in Midland, Texas, presiding over a company […]
PBPA Annual Meeting
Rallying for the Cause When the 56th Annual Meeting of the Permian Basin Petroleum Association convened Oct. 24-25 in Midland, the stakes were set, the objectives were identified, and the challenge was laid down. Photography by Ali Slaughter MIDLAND, TEXAS—A packed house greeted the speakers and panelists at the 56th annual meeting of the Permian […]
Overturned Expectations
Sometimes the expected result is not what we get. That’s how the word “disruptive” entered the business world’s vocabulary. And overturned expectations go beyond matters of technology. In this month’s assemblage of articles, the idea of “things taking a turn” could be thought of as a unifying thread. These are the full versions of the […]
Oilfield Trash: A Personal Reminiscence
by Bobby Weaver During the 1950s and ’60s I was a part of the hard working, hard drinking group of oilfield of hands in the Permian Basin who were generally referred to as “oilfield trash” by outsiders. In those days Odessa had the reputation as the rough and ready working man’s town while Midland, only […]
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