The Permian Basin Chapter of the Energy Workforce & Technology Council held a luncheon with Mike Holcomb, Executive Vice President and Chief Business Officer of Patterson-UTI, and Steve Pruett, President and CEO of Elevation Resources and IPAA Chairman.
EWTC President Tim Tarpley opened the luncheon by welcoming the attendees and giving a brief overview of upcoming Energy Workforce events.
Mike Holcomb, EVP and Chief Business Officer with Patterson-UTI, spoke to the group on market activity, efficiency gains, safety, drilling innovation and what it means for the industry going forward. He noted that advancements in drilling efficiency have boosted oil production per horizontal rig, and the output per active U.S. Shale horizontal rig has more than tripled to 10,000 BOPD in the prior ten years. Mike discussed how these efficiencies have led to record oil and gas production why at the same time a rig count that traditionally would not be indicative of that activity. These efficiency gains are expected to continue although perhaps not at the same pace as has been experienced in the past 10 years or so.
Steve Pruett, IPAA Chairman and CEO of Elevation Resources highlighted to the group that the Texas oil and natural gas industry paid $26.3 billion in state and local taxes and state royalties in 2023. This sizeable investment in communities around the country are the engine supporting all the improvements and our local economies. He noted, as did Mike, that no other industry pays 35 to 40% of its revenue to state and local taxes.
In addition to discussing tax revenue the Oil and Gas industry supplies, Steve also noted that a recent study in the Permian estimates that we will increase power consumption in the Permian from 4 and a half gigawatts to 17 gigawatts, and there is no way Texas and New Mexico have that generation or transmission distribution to handle it. This growth in power demand will be forecasted not just from additional electrification of the oilfield but other industrial and residential demand will also increase as well. He believes there is a day of reckoning coming up, and that policymakers need to realize that natural gas fired power generation is huge piece of the puzzle that will be necessary to meet this growing demand.
The Energy Workforce would like to thank the luncheon sponsors and strategic partners.
Luncheon Sponsors
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.
