The Permian Basin Petroleum Association has been on a years-long crusade to bring not just attention but real remedies to what might be the Permian Basin’s biggest need: adequate highway and road infrastructure. Michael Lozano, manager of Community and Legislative Affairs for PBPA, spoke to this magazine recently about the long road they have traveled, […]
Situational Awareness
Greetings and salutations! Welcome back to this month’s discussion on Safety in the Permian Basin! Let’s get right to it. As you are keenly aware, the global and stateside political climate is strained. (That’s like calling Moby Dick a guppy.) Tension in the Middle East is also high. American society is divided and in a […]
O&G’s X Factor
Never spend your money before you have it. —Thomas Jefferson What some might consider a bad habit—waiting 60-90 days to pay invoices—has birthed a business sector whose purpose is to bridge that gap by advancing money on those unpaid debts. Known as factoring or accounts receivable (AR) financing, this service allows companies—usually service providers—to stay […]
Crossing the Line
We convened down at the Rig #8 this past Friday for our weekly alcohol-fueled sojourn down memory lane. This time the subject came up concerning some of the more wealthy members of our little oil patch fraternity and how they got that way. There were the usual yarns about old so-and-so and how he drilled […]
Recipe for Success:
A new breed of service companies seeks to combine efficiency and environment. The word “green” can mean different things to different people these days. To the accounting department it means money. To the public, including investors, it can mean environmentally friendly. Often those two meanings are at odds. At least two service companies with a […]
Telling Isn’t Training!
Welcome back to this month’s installment about everyone’s favorite topic of safety! I recently was reading a post that intrigued me on a social media. A person who was new to safety wanted to know what was the most prevalent cause of accidents in the oilfield and why. The question was broad and yet evoked […]
Where to Go from Here?
“People said, ‘We’ve got to do something different.’” The last downturn helped shift people’s mindsets. Weatherford’s latest project in Odessa shows what that change looks like. By Paul Wiseman “We’ve been in the Permian Basin for decades,” said Weatherford International’s Karen David-Green, “and this new facility allows us to consolidate 10 product lines under one […]
Innovators
Wells and technology both get more complex. Companies are applying their best minds, and best thinking, to the task of staying up with the changes. By Paul Wiseman “Sometimes I think—me personally, or WellWorx or the industry—that we’ll run out of ways to innovate or we’ll run out of good ideas,” said Matt Raglin, founder […]
The Art of Control
By Paul Wiseman To be a Basin business and be a mere four years old and have almost 100 employees—this is not the typical track for a Permian startup of recent vintage. But at Van Zandt Controls, Larry Richards and team have focused small to grow big. The news is always full of stories of […]
Vision Shift
Unprecedented growth in the Basin calls for an extensive road plan overhaul. By Julie Anderson As a 37-year resident of Odessa and now Ector County’s chief administrative officer, County Judge Debi Hays is proud of the contribution the Permian Basin makes not only to the Lone Star State, but to the nation. In fact, she […]