Barry Smitherman, chairman of the Texas Railroad Commission, testified in Washington, D.C., June 6 before the Energy and Commerce Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives about how some federal policies of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency are “misguided and detrimental” to energy production in Texas. “Mr. [Al] Armendariz’ agenda was seemingly politically driven and […]
Green Tree Gold Tournament
An Ace of a Tournament A record number of participants hit the links April 23 for the annual PBPA Green Tree Golf Tournament, as 336 entrants vied for a variety of exciting prizes. Supreme among those was a prize that probably no one expected would be won that day—the offer of a brand new F-150 […]
News Reviews
Ripple Effects As the wider public gets a fuller appreciation for the Permian’s productivity, estimates keep climbing, boom towns keep booming, and export prospects pick up traction. Scott Sheffield says Wall Street never loved the Spraberry, a large oil field in six counties of west Texas, until three or four years ago. But at the […]
Profile: Mark Machen, president of Blue Quail Water Transfer
In an industry that is chock full of dizzyingly complicated technological processes and procedures, there’s something somehow gratifying in contemplating a trade that anyone can grasp. The business of “water transfer” fits that description. It’s an essential task—a veritable “from Point A to Point B” logistic—but it calls for professionalism and its own unique set […]
Fisher County – A Quiet Little Boom, for Now
Roby, Texas—Someone give this thing a name. What “thing”? Well, the “thing” is whatever is going on in Fisher County. And, apparently, Mitchell County, Scurry County, maybe Nolan County—places where the words “shale play” are not part of the local vernacular. And why has this unfolded so quietly? Normally, news reaches media outlets—and this PBPA […]
Aquifers and Acquisitions
Energy economist Karr Ingham called the rebound in late 2011 and early 2012 of the price of a barrel of crude oil “a movement of prices” not “a price spike.” He told the Midland Reporter-Telegram, “It is a movement of prices, particularly oil, to a new plateau.” Ingham said the monthly average rig count for […]
Aquifers and Acquisitions
Energy economist Karr Ingham called the rebound in late 2011 and early 2012 of the price of a barrel of crude oil “a movement of prices” not “a price spike.” He told the Midland Reporter-Telegram, “It is a movement of prices, particularly oil, to a new plateau.” Ingham said the monthly average rig count for […]
News Reviews
The Texas Railroad Commission recently adopted what it calls one of the nation’s most comprehensive chemical disclosure rules for hydraulic fracturing fluids. The rule will require Texas oil and gas operators to disclose on a website chemical ingredients and water volumes used to hydraulically fracture wells in Texas. The rule applies to wells that receive […]