The Permian Basin Is Booming With Oil. But at What Cost to West Texans?

Texas Monthly – by Christian Wallace

The horizon was thick with iron derricks. All around us, pumpjacks were scattered across the muddy fields like an army of giant iron grasshoppers. They bowed their bulky heads and lifted rich extractions from the earth: a record 3.5 million barrels of crude every day. In fact, half of the U.S. drilling rigs in operation that day were boring holes in the surrounding mesquite-studded pastures.  

I was riding shotgun with Josh Snow, an old friend who’s worked his way up the ranks at his father’s independent oil company. The two of us were driving the thirty-mile stretch from our hometown of Andrews to attend the Permian Basin International Oil Show, in Odessa. Held every other year since 1950, the Oil Show is one of the area’s most anticipated events, a sort of South by Southwest for oilmen (and they are almost all men), where anyone in the business can connect with potential clients and preview the latest tech: drilling rigs that can “walk” from one site to the next, “smart” bits that guide themselves down a wellbore. In 2016, because of a downturn, the show’s organizers were worried about filling all their booths. This time around, in October 2018, more than seven hundred companies had jockeyed for a space, and another three hundred had been placed on a waiting list. Some 30,000 people would attend over three days. Local hotels, already near capacity because of the influx of oil field workers, had hiked their rates: a basic room at the Holiday Inn would set you back $550. When Odessa and neighboring Midland sold out of beds, some attendees wound up staying as far away as Lubbock, more than two hours north. The theme printed across the top of the program felt like an understatement: “We’re Back.”

Inside the Ector County Coliseum, where the show is held, every rung of the oil field ladder was there, from roughnecks wearing grimy overalls and steel-toed boots to executives in starched jeans and North Face jackets. They admired the to-scale models of artificial lift systems and ogled the women giving product demonstrations. The “International” part of the event’s name held true. There were businesses from Japan, Argentina, Canada, China, Taiwan, India, Ukraine, and a friendly cohort from Chihuahua, Mexico. Some companies handed out augmented reality headsets you could strap on to test out products in 3-D. Others played to the attendees’ patriotic sensibilities: one rubber-supply company had even conscripted a bald eagle to perch on the arm of an employee. Near the center of the action was NASCAR champion Joey Logano’s #22 Shell-Pennzoil stock car, glimmering like a polished lemon.

I left West Texas years ago, but I’d returned to witness the biggest oil boom the region has ever seen. Some of the stories I’d heard sounded like tall tales, but everywhere I went in the Permian Basin, I found myself staring in slack-jawed wonder. Just a few days earlier, I’d spent time in Pecos, the boom’s bustling southwestern hub. As a kid, whenever I’d visit to attend the rodeo, the place had seemed like it might dry up and blow away. Now company signs promised six-figure salaries for entry-level positions, plus signing bonuses. There were long lines at the bank, the auto shop, and Pody’s BBQ. The Domino’s, which had opened the month before, broke the chain’s record for grand-opening-week sales: nearly 8,500 pizzas in seven days. A mobile barbershop was parked outside La Tienda, the only grocery store in town. Patrons with more money than patience could pay a premium to skip the line, and the entrepreneurial owner claimed his barbers were clearing as much as $180,000 per year. 

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