News

Adrian C. Hedden | Carlsbad Current-Argus | February 25, 2019

A pair of pipelines intended to carry crude oil and natural gas liquids from the Permian Basin to the Gulf Coast for export cleared a federal hurdle this month, receiving a nationwide permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

The move signified that all federal and state regulatory agencies approved of final construction for the lines, according to a news release from EPIC Midstream Holdings.

“Given the growth that we’ve seen, the need for these investments is tremendous,” said Robert McEntyre, spokesman for the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association. “It continues to grow. This is absolutely part of the solution to remove bottlenecks.”

Jane Wells | CNBC | January 4, 2019

Yes, oil prices go up and down — lately mostly down — but the "Help Wanted" sign is out. There's a generation of workers nearing retirement, and the pipeline of talent needs filling.

"If we look at the pipeline, it's pretty dry," says Katie Mehnert, dressed in a pink safety suit in the middle of a massive Shell refinery and chemical plant in Deer Park, Texas, outside Houston.

Mehnert is CEO of Pink Petro, a for-profit company funded by Shell and others in the energy industry to focus on recruiting women. The Petroleum Equipment and Services Association reports only 15 percent of the current oil and gas workforce is female, a number that drops in half when it comes to higher-paying technical jobs.

Mehnert created Pink Petro four years ago, after flying back to Houston. "I was sitting next to a gentleman," she says, "and he said to me, 'What's a pretty young lady like you doing in a dark, dangerous business like oil and gas?'"

She decided more women needed to be in this "dark" and "dangerous" — and well-paying, rewarding, challenging — industry critical to a functioning world.

S&P Global | Claudia Carpenter | February 20, 2019

US oil production will keep expanding through at least 2020, led by further growth from the Permian and New Mexico and putting a cap on Brent crude prices, according to S&P Global Ratings.

Output from the US will exceed 13 million b/d in 2020 compared with about 12 million b/d this year, Andrey Nikolaev, senior director, analytical manager in S&P Global Ratings, said Wednesday in a presentation given in Dubai.

Santa Fe New Mexican | Susan Montoya Bryan | February 12, 2019

ALBUQUERQUE — A surge in oil production has resulted in record revenues for state government coffers and public education. But industry officials cautioned Tuesday that regulatory certainty will have to be maintained if New Mexico wants to hold on to its spot as one of the United States’ top producers.

Rystad Energy | February 19, 2019

With US shale activity in 2019 beset by uncertainty, Rystad Energy identifies three trends for US light tight oil production that will have a profound impact on the evolution of the industry in 2019 and 2020:

-New Mexico emerging as a rising star

-A faster expansion among private operators and majors compared to public E&P players

-A steepening decline in base production that could impede output growth over the next two years.

Seth Whitehead | EnergyInDepth

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released its annual “Our Nation’s Air” report on Tuesday, showing that air pollution declined 73 percent from 1970 to 2017 at the same time America’s gross domestic product (GDP) increased 262 percent.