permian basin drilling projects decreasing, says report

Employment in the mineral-rich Permian Basin has dropped by around 400 jobs between January and October of this year, says a new report issued by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.

That’s a significant change from 2018, when the Permian Basin extending from west Texas to southeast New Mexico added 16,700 jobs for new oil and gas drilling projects.

Even more, in the category of Permian Basin mining, logging and construction, employment dropped by nearly 14 percent in just October alone.

“This marks the first time since 2016 that Permian Basin employment has lagged Texas job growth,” says the Dallas Fed report, Permian Basin Economic Indicators, adding that continued drilling activity is expected to decrease in the months ahead, with “firms cutting spending and orders for new equipment.”

A separate report earlier published by the U.S. Energy Information Administration notes that of the just over 130 currently active natural gas pipeline projects being monitored by the agency, 46 have either already opened or are expected to enter into service before January 1, 2020.

That report, New Natural Gas Pipelines Are Adding Capacity from the South Central, Northeast Regions, says that because of such projects, the U.S. will have added up to 15 billion cubic feet per day in pipeline capacity by the end of this year.

Even so, according to a recent Reuters.com report, “The outlook for 2020 comes with growing skepticism from those inside the industry, and should growth fall short, it could shift the balance of power in world supply back to the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.”

By Garry Boulard

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