The business of “fishing” a well bore requires skill, technology—both new and tried-and-true—and a mechanical aptitude as well. Like everything else, this trade keeps changing, too. Fish: Anything left in a wellbore. Fishing: To attempt to retrieve a fish from a wellbore. The Oilfield Glossary compiled by Schlumberger explains a complicated industry process in a […]
Heat Wave
OSHA-mandated flame retardant clothing (FRC) is an apparel trend that hasn’t caught fire—not among the hands who must wear it even during scorching summertime heat—but help is on the way. Take a typical summer day in West Texas when the thermometer hits a high of 100 degrees (and sometimes higher) and where shade trees are […]
Making Music in the Mud Biz
Not Yet Through Mud is his metier. Music is his mainstay. Ken Goldsmith, mud dawg that he is, takes Mudsmith Ltd. into melodic new waters. Welcome to the world of Ken-isms, “green initiatives,” customer service, and “floating slabs.” It’s all here… in Mudland. Well, the song’s for you if you’re not yet through at […]
Quietly Making Noise
Down that Blue Highway by Jesse Mullins It’s a “three calendar” cafe here in Snyder, this place on 25th called Dee’s, where oilfield hands are getting an early lunch, where a guy can have chorizo-and-potato burritos and wash them down with a Sidral Mundet. And no, that’s not hooch—that’s a bottled soft drink. Snyder. Hometown […]
Pull! ~ Clay Shoot Pit Challenge
They Came Out Smoking It was Napoleon who said that “an army travels on its stomach.” If the army that descended on Windwalker Farms ever were pressed into duty on the field of battle, not only would it be formidable—with 300 under arms, and a high incidence of marksmen—but it’d be well-fed, too, with a […]
The Booming Business of Worker Accommodations
Living Large, Temporary Style It goes by a number of names: temporary housing, workforce housing, “man camps,” lodges, worker accommodations—but by whatever name, these developments are making an impact in the Permian, as they have in all booming oil and gas plays. ODESSA—It’s quiet here in the dining hall of Goliath Industries’ pristine, barely completed […]
Pushing the Frontier at Pioneer
Pioneering Spirit The President and CEO of Pioneer Natural Resources, Scott Sheffield, combines a global perspective with West Texas savvy to help fuel a resurgence in the Basin. When Teri Pender joined a small independent in Midland 30 years ago as an auditor, she occasionally had to ask questions of a petroleum engineer who always […]
New Mexico’s New Horizons
Although the oil and gas industry in New Mexico is booming—as it is in the rest of the country—these days, Wally Drangmeister calls the state’s industry “a tale of two basins.” Drangmeister, the director of communications for the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association, pointed out that there are a near-record 87 rigs operating in […]
Where Loyalty Still Counts: Mack Chase
The word “artesia” refers to “rising to the top.” Fittingly, the town of Artesia, N.M., is home to an entrepreneur and philanthropist, Mack Chase, who has not only risen himself, but has helped others rise as well. With instincts, luck, and a lot of hard work, Mack C. Chase has forged […]
Corrosion Control
In the Permian Basin, accepting and mastering corrosion brings cost containment and peace of mind. Remember the television commercials for Fram oil filters that made the phrase “Pay me now or pay me later” a recognized part of American culture? Well, those involved in the corrosion control end of the oil and gas industry could […]