MIDLAND, Texas — Hart Energy held their annual executive oil conference Thursday at the Midland County Horseshoe.
Besides the focus on networking at the conference, it gave industry executives a chance to talk about the future of the industry and what that means for West Texas.
The most important topic discussed Thursday was technological innovation in the oil and gas industry and its possible future impacts on jobs in the Permian Basin.
It’s important for any industry to adapt with the times and innovate as the years go on. That’s what Hart Energy believes as well.
"We're really focused on what's next. A lot of that is with the technological innovations becoming a lot more efficient. Drilling rigs can do a lot more wells a lot faster now. You don't require as many rigs," Hart Energy Executive Director Jordan Blum said. "When it comes to fracking, they're doing more triple fracking in the same spots essentially. Getting a lot more efficient production volumes out of the wells. Not requiring as many holes in the ground, so to speak."
Other innovations Blum mentioned that were talked about were things like AI and automated drilling, which he said have gotten more efficient and requires less people at the drill site. That also means safer working conditions.
But Blum said even if these kind of innovations mean less jobs here and there, the Permian Basin is still doing really well and the industry is still hiring very much.
“The Permian is booming right now," Blum said. "We’re at almost 6 million barrels a day of oil production out of the Permian, which is record high. That’s 45 percent of the total U.S. oil production, which is also at a record high of 13.2 million barrels a day that’s driven by the Permian. So things are really booming.”