On April 20, 2020, the benchmark price of oil—WTI—fell to an unprecedented level of -$37.61 for May 2020 futures contracts. While this event was not on the level of the invasion of Normandy or the release of the next iPhone version, its shock waves ripped through oil and gas boardrooms around the world—mostly because it […]
Let’s Dig a Little Deeper
Like the old saying goes, there are only two kinds of people when it comes to digging or doing excavation work. There are (1) those who have hit a line, and (2) those who are going to. I do not know anyone who has not hit a line unless they just started digging for the […]
Change Happens. Or Does It?
Those rascals are moving to Texas. How will that affect the way Texas does business, or will it? I want to start where I left off last month with the prospect of mergers and acquisitions and significant businesses moving to Texas to operate in a state more friendly to business expansion. To revisit layoffs, let’s […]
The Other Kind of Lease
Professional real estate investors refer to a single-source economic region like that of the Permian Basin as a “speculative market.” Anyone who’s ever owned even a house in the area has probably either reaped the rewards or paid the penalty when it came time to sell, depending on the price of oil at the time […]
An Economist Looks at the Basin
In late 2020, many E&Ps had two capital budgets—one for a Trump victory and one for a Biden victory, because of the latter’s rumblings about banning fracturing and other oilfield procedures. With results now in, favoring the smaller capex budgets, not everyone is pessimistic. Dr. Ray Perryman, president and CEO of The Perryman Group, an […]
Fresh Challenges under a New Administration
The first real American industry to stretch across the windswept plains, the first to practice a trade across what is now known as the Permian Basin of Southeast New Mexico and West Texas, was cattle and ranching. For so many years, fences didn’t separate grazing grounds or cattle train routes. There was nothing but geography […]
Energy in the Crosshairs
With Legislative sessions beginning in both Santa Fe, N.M., and Austin, Texas, and the early days of the Biden Administration taking shape, it is clear that domestic energy, and in particular the way of life in the Permian Basin, is in the crosshairs. That is why our work at PBPA remains so important. We are […]
Talking Dust with Dusty
This month’s topic is absolutely pertinent and timely. Normally it is a sleep-inducer of a topic, the reason being that its ramifications are long term, as opposed to short term—and short term ramifications generally attract greater attention. Silica and silicosis have been an issue in the oilfield and construction industries for quite some time. Largely […]
Changing Landscape
It might be said that any land person still breathing and eating in the first quarter of 2021 is either a few pounds lighter or must have won the lottery. That’s because, in an oil price downturn, especially one as sudden and deep as the 2020 model, land services are usually the first to succumb […]
Mergers, Acquisitions, Furloughs, Layoffs—and your Employees
This month, I am highlighting the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act of 1988 (WARN Act). If your company staffs fewer than 100 employees, this law does not apply to you, but just the same it is better to treat your employees well when you sell your company, or when you furlough or lay off […]
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