I asked what the latest oil news was.
“Out by Alpine and Pecos, it’s booming,” he said.
Like most folks around Midland, Raphael has seen the booms and busts. Sometimes, when times are tough, a little excitement turns out to be just hype. He’s got a steady job and has saved a little. He’ll wait for things to come back into full swing before giving that up. As you head west fromMidland on I-20 toward Odessa, you pass what’s known as “Oilfield Row.” It’s about 10 miles of metal buildings and open yards usually full of oilfield equipment and pipe. It’s desolate now. I counted six stores open. Drilling contractor Helmerich & Payne had 36 drilling rigs stacked in its yard. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that each land-based rig employs about 350 people. That’s 12,600 jobs. It started getting dark as I turned south on Farm to Market Road 1776. I was still about two hours out of Alpine. As I drove a little closer, I saw a gas flare. It was big... I’d say 20 feet in the air. It lit up the ground for about 1,000 feet in all directions. As I drove on, I saw several more. By 9 p.m., I could drive without headlights. But I left ‘em on. As I said, there are 12 million cows in Texas... I didn’t want to buy one that night. The road to Alpine is lonely, and Farm to Market Road 1776 is the loneliest stretch. You could drive all day and pass five cars. But that night, 18-wheeler traffic had picked up – and pickup traffic was through the roof. Sure enough, it’s an oil boom right in the middle of an oil crash . We Can’t Stay on the Sidelines
Before I go on... let me introduce myself. My name is Flavious Smith.
I’m an oil guy – 35 years in the business. I have worked most of the major onshore oil and gas basins across the U.S... the Anadarko, Appalachian,
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