Oil Drilling Pads In Permian

Flying low over the Permian Basin to look directly in the eye of the latest and perhaps most profound chapter in New Mexican history, it is the vastness of the oil fields that leave you awestruck. Inevitably an emotional chord is also struck. The realization, held until then in the abstract, is now crystallized. What lies below has the power to literally transform this state from being perennially last in the nation in a basket of vital social standings to a stand-out state where poverty is finally shoved into the back seat and where opportunity is a neighbor not a stranger.

The Permian, mostly in Texas but crossing the border into SE NM and especially southern Eddy County, is now the largest oil producer on the planet. Staring down at the immensity of this enterprise I thought, "Okay, now I really get it. This is how you get billion dollar state budget surpluses."

Coincidence made the awareness even more keen. Just as our group took flight Friday from the Carlsbad terminal Exxon dropped its second quarter earnings. In just those three months the company earned $3.1 billion, a good portion of which came from the Permian.

"It's a wild ride," longtime Carlsbad Mayor Dale Janway told me. "Exxon recently held a Board of Directors meeting here. Who would have thought?"

NAVIGATING THE BOOM

Carlsbad, a half hour drive from the fields, is at ground zero for the NM portion of the boom as is Hobbs. 2018 estimates put its population at 29,000, the largest in history. But Janway says local water usage indicates it is much higher.

The tight-knit community and its political leadership is not unlike a juggler with a dozen plates in the air, trying to keep them spinning and not crashing to the ground.

On the plus side, the job market is so robust a Taco Bell is already offering the $15 an hour wage being sought as the federal minimum by many Democrats. Some restaurants have had to abbreviate their hours because potential employees have been lured to the Permian. Truck drivers there can earn well north of $30 an hour.

Even the little guy is getting in on the act. A food truck belonging to the Chubby Burrito chain parked on one of the busy oil field roadways alerts potential customers that they accept debit cards, credit cards as well as cash.

The Carlsbad leaders we spoke with took to heart that simplistic notion that "it takes money to make money.” It is playing out before them in ways never seen in NM and it has them looking through the lens of opportunity, not the poverty mentality that has been a state mainstay.

Again, that's different from the past. Uncertainty remains part of the picture but fear of failure has been replaced with the fear of missing out. As Eddy County Commissioner Susan Crockett said over lunch at the Carlsbad Country Club:

What worries me is that we do not provide the proper infrastructure--the roads, the housing the education and other necessities and amenities, We could end up keeping the oil but the people move across the border to Pecos, TX.

GOP state Senator Gregg Fulfer of Jal, an energy industry veteran, frets over possible regulatory overreach, citing a bill introduced at the last legislative session to slap a statewide moratorium on fracking because of environmental concerns. The bill went nowhere but he said "it sent a shudder" through the industry.

ENVIRO IMPACT

We asked the BLM officials about the environmental aspect of the boom. They report that the land that the drilling pads are on is eventually reclaimed and restored to its original condition. The huge amounts of wastewater created by the the fracking process is not a major problem especially now that new state regulations encourage recycling. A cottage industry valued in the billions has popped up to handle the recycling.

There is work to be done on methane and natural gas flares that contribute to climate change. The MLG administration is working on new rules and the oil industry is not resisting. We did not meet any climate change deniers during our visit.

A PRAGMATIC VIEW

Some of our readers come at this boom from the perspective of climate, saying that encouraging oil and gas production is inherently wrong because of the climate crisis caused by fossil fuels. We come at it from a pragmatic view, that the Permian oil boom is here for the foreseeable future. It is not a moral failing to advocate for having the resulting monies put to work to reverse our high rate of poverty and our very low child well-being ranking. In other words, to change the course of state history.

DAREDEVIL ROADS

Many of you have heard about what amounts to an emergency on state roads in and out of the Permian. Their rapid deterioration from heavy use and the unsafe driving sparked by the oil field frenzy have led to a dramatic escalation in fatalities--at least several each week. When I asked anyone in Carlsbad about the boom it was always among the top concerns.

Carlsbad "Man Camp"

One afternoon Carlsbad banker Jay Jenkins and I braved some of the worst stretches. We cruised in his SUV absorbing shocks from the washboard like roads also riddled with potholes. It wasn’t long before an 18 wheeler that meant business came barreling down a narrow two lane unstriped roadway. Much of the lanes were chipped away leaving it more like one and a half lanes. No problem for that trucker. He created a wider lane out of the dirt berm, forcing a third of his trailer onto it as Jenkins jerked to the right to make more way for him and to ensure the oil patch did not become our final resting place.