Danny Wesson, Executive Vice President & COO, Diamondback Energy, sat down with Energy Workforce President Molly Determan at the sold-out Permian Basin Chapter Luncheon in Midland on February 8.
Determan asked what people can expect to see in the future from Diamondback.
“We’re not going to go out there purposely jumping in headfirst into something that is a risk or gamble,” Wesson said. “We feel that when doing the right thing of finding your path, then the right deals come to you.”
Wesson said the service sector is going through a restructuring of capital deployment strategy and framework.
“With growing global demand, we are seeing an increased appetite to make greater capital investments. At the same time, though, our industry is facing significant supply chain challenges that are hampering its ability to expand as efficiently and quickly as desired.”
Determan asked what Wesson sees as the industry’s biggest challenges.
“I think the thing that worries me the most is the workforce and the ability to attract good people to this industry. We offer good paying careers, and we are hiring, and adding to the workforce, but as the national figures show, it is a very tight labor market, and our industry is not immune to that point.”
When asked what is the most significant aspect of permitting reform, Wesson said pipelines are the number one thing for the world’s demand for LNG going forward.
“The lower 48 getting pipelines built to key regions where products can be traded and sold throughout the world is key to North America, not just the U.S.”
Danny Wesson, Diamondback Energy
Wesson also said that the Biden Administration’s plans with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) were concerning.
“The other thing that worries me is the weaponization of the EPA and not being a regulatory body but being an enforcement body. I think this administration has really, really taken a hard shift with regards to how the EPA is treating our industry,” he said.
“Our industry is implementing new processes through innovative technologies that are reducing emissions. The industry is leading on this, adding a burdensome regulatory environment will slow the entrepreneurial spirit of the innovators.”
Joe Buchanan, Partner, PPHB, began the meeting with a market outlook and advised that global oil demand has recovered to pre-pandemic levels and is projected to grow rapidly and reach a record of 102 million barrels per day in 2023.
The Permian Basin Chapter would like to thank the luncheon sponsors Baker Hughes, Big D Companies, ChampionX, DistributionNOW, Estis Compression, ProPetro, and TechnipFMC as well as the Strategic Partners Chevron, NexTier Oilfield Solutions and SLB.
THANK YOU EVENT SPONSORS
THANK YOU STRATEGIC PARTNERS
Roni Ashley, Director Operations, writes about the Energy Workforce’s membership, workforce development and more. Click here to subscribe to the Energy Workforce newsletter, which highlights sector-specific issues, best practices, activities and more.
