MIDLAND, Texas — Things are looking up for the oil and gas industry in the Permian Basin.
At a meeting today at the Permian Basin Petroleum Museum, the Midland-Odessa Transportation Alliance reported that over 5.2 million barrels of oil and 20 billion cubic feet of gas is produced per day in the Permian Basin.
Keynote speaker Dr. Ray Perryman of The Perryman Group explained that this number can bring vital economic benefits to the Permian Basin.
So far, the Permian Basin has brought over 500,000 jobs to the state of Texas and 650,000 jobs to the United States.
“All the support industries are here," Perryman said. "All the oil field equipment, some of the related manufacturing, all the supplies that you need. All the things that are tied to the oil and gas industry are here. Most of those are very high income positions that are there, so it supports all of our retail, all of our restaurants and things like that as well, so it’s a vital part of what’s going on in this city.”
For the growth to continue, Perryman stresses that the production of oil must go on.
“If you look at any of the projections, including the department of energy, what it says is, we will need to produce this oil in the future, and that is going to be a vital aspect of this economy for decades to come," Perryman said.