The oil and gas industry in New Mexico in 2024 is like a boxer who keeps taking hits, but remains standing. Some hits are glancing blows, and some are near misses. From legislative to legal to development of the southeastern corner of the state, there are challenges—and opportunities in the year ahead for New Mexico’s […]
Drilling Rigs: The Times Are Changing
While drilling rigs have been seen in nearly every corner of the Permian Basin for the last 100 years, it seems that the modern rig has become a fixture of today’s Midland geography. Currently, there are four rigs clustered together northeast of Loop 250, one rig drilling east of Midland Air Park and a couple […]
Top Flight Service
How much does Permian Basin oilfield activity affect Basin aviation activity? It’s pretty much a direct, non-stop connection. According to Justine Ruff, director of airports at the Midland International Air and Space Port, “enplanements” are up exponentially right now. An enplanement, per the definition she gave, is “a passenger getting on an airplane and flying […]
Voting: Now is the Time
It is indeed nice to write for this publication, in the sense of being able to have literary freedom in terms of discussing safety. While the government continues in its overreach to control everything, safety included, we still fortunately have freedom of speech. Our freedom of speech can be seen as a parallel to the […]
Rising to the Occasion
As long as there are oil wells—greenfield and brownfield—there will be a need for downhole tools. That much is unchanging. What is up for grabs is the kind, the number, and the speed at which they’re needed. For Ruger Oil Tools, the times they are a’changin’. For Mesquite Oil Tools, the more things change, the […]
Interviewing Candidates
How do you pick candidates to interview, and what is the correct interviewing process? This is a highly complex process, and what follows are best practices. Do what you want until you must defend yourself. Here are my recommendations. First, post your job on your Human Resources Information System (HRIS) platform, such as Workday, Paycom, […]
Too Much, Too Fast?
“Go to the ant,” suggested King Solomon, because even without a company man, the ant “stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest.” Retired veteran oilman Mike Shellman admits that he is a contrarian when it comes to how fast and hard to push production from new wells. And he avoids shale […]
Timing is Everything
Timing is everything. In January of this year, a petition for review was filed with the Texas Supreme Court titled Scout Energy Management, LLC v. Taylor Properties, in which Scout asks the Court overturn an opinion issued out of the 7th Court of Appeals in Amarillo that involved the interpretation of a shut-in royalty clause […]
Honoring One of Our Own
On Jan. 18, the Permian Basin Petroleum Association gathered in the sumptuous confines of the Midland Petroleum Club and made a special occasion of honoring the lifetime achievements of one of the Permian Basin’s great leaders and businessmen: Charles Richard “Dick” Sivalls. The worthy honoree was recognized as the Permian Basin Petroleum Association’s Top Hand […]
Shifting Sand
As prevalent as a PropX box. While that line, above, is not a commonplace figure of speech in the Basin, it might as well be. The PropX box is everywhere. That’s because sand is everywhere—or at least it is going everywhere. And usually on the road that you are driving on. When God put the […]
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