MIDLAND, TEXAS—A slate of speakers and panels that ran continually from 7:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sept. 12 concluded what organizers and participants deemed a successful and productive Annual Meeting for the Permian Basin Petroleum Association, held in the Petroleum Club here in this oil capital of West Texas.
On the night previous, locals and early arrivals to the event gathered at the Petroleum Museum for a lavish welcome reception.
On Thursday, the day devoted solely to business, the scheduled events came off as planned. Chris Wright, CEO and founder of Liberty Energy, delivered a compelling talk on the place of oil and gas in society, sharing many insights from Liberty’s book Bettering Human Lives. Attendees received their own individual copies of the beautifully rendered book.
The rest of the breakfast session was filled with an address by New Mexico Cabinet Secretary James Kenney, who heads New Mexico’s Environment Department. Kenney spoke of working with PBPA and of the value of responsible O&G development to his state.
The Texas Legislative Panel, perennially a part of the Annual Meeting proceedings, followed, with PBPA President Ben Shepperd moderating a panel that included Rep Tom Craddick, currently representing District 82, Texas State Senator Kevin Sparks (District 32), and Texas State Rep. Brooks Landgraf, representing District 81.
Attendees adjourned briefly from the Petroleum Club’s banquet hall to gather in a separate meeting room for a panel titled “Regulatory Insights: A Conversation with State Regulators.” PBPA Executive Vice President Stephen Robertson moderated the event, which included panels Kristi Mills-Jurach, Assistant Director of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) and Leslie Savage, Chief Geologist for the Railroad Commission of Texas.
The luncheon session that ensued in the main hall brought Association news from PBPA President Ben Shepperd and the voting on, and installation, of members of the PBPA Executive Committee. This issue’s masthead on page 6 reflects the personnel in that lineup, with some remaining in their positions, some being placed in new roles, and some being new faces. Kevin Sparks was introduced as new Chairman of the PBPA for the coming two-year term. PBPA Chairman Tommy Taylor segued into the role of Immediate Past Chairman, which itself is a post on the Executive Committee. Taylor was summoned to the podium for a special award presentation for his services.
Following the luncheon keynote address by Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar, the day concluded with a fact-filled hour-and-a-quarter panel discussion on a topic of much interest—produced water. The session, “Produced Possibilities: A Conversation on Beneficial Reuse in America’s Oilfield,” was moderated by PBPA Communications and Government Affairs manager Michael Lozano, and the panelists were Robert Crain, EVP of Pacific Water Resources; Whitney Dobson, COO of Infinity Water Solutions; and Rick McCurdy, VP of Innovation and Sustainability for Select Energy.
At a break in the proceedings, PBPA Executive Vice President Stephen Robertson was asked for his impressions of the event.
“You know, we’re always so happy to be able to hold our annual meeting here in Midland, right in the heart of the Permian Basin,” Robertson said. “And we get a ton of folks to show up. And they’re from a variety of different aspects of the industry. And that really helps to support the kind of conversation that we want to have, which is a variety of conversation. We’re talking about so many different issues today—whether it’s water, whether it’s seismicity, whether it’s electricity, whether it’s air emissions, operations, legislation—so many different topics to talk about. But it’s great to have a variety of people that can talk about a lot of these different aspects. Especially [to have] experienced people to talk about those aspects. And so today’s meeting is just a perfect example of that. We’re looking forward to continuing on [with the day]. We got a great keynote from the Texas Comptroller, Glenn Hegar, and we’ll wrap it up with a ‘Produced [Water] Possibilities’ panel that should really shine some light for people, as to what is really going on out there, what are the opportunities to use the water that we use—water that just a few years ago was considered as waste a outside of our industry—to benefit other people.”
Asked if he could describe the mood of the day, Robertson remarked that he sensed positivity among the participants. “I think that there is some worry about what will happen in November, but operations are going strong in the Permian Basin,” he said. “Things can always be better. Any day, things can always be better. But the innovation that is occurring, the cooperation that is occurring, between different folks in our industry but also with our agency partners in Texas and New Mexico, and even sometimes at the federal level—it really says that we’ve got some opportunities here to show people that our industry is not just important, but it is vital to the quality of life that people have become used to, and the quality of life that’s going to improve tomorrow and the day after and the day after.”
Overall, the Annual Meeting served up a mix of long-running issues and new directions. On these two spreads we share images of the day’s events.