American Oil and Gas Reporter - October 2024 - 78

Fund. Nevertheless, he observed, those
regulations would not take effect until
they were fully adjudicated. Therefore,
he advised, the industry should keep
launching legal challenges and eschew
conditional plugging money. " There is a
need for us to exercise a mild and strategic
form of civil disobedience, " Cantrell suggested.
" Some of these things we need to
not do. We need to stand up and fight. "
During the Biden administration, onshore
federal land leasing had fallen 90%,
despite the lack of any corresponding
statutory authorization, he noted. Nevertheless,
Cantrell observed, Green New
Deal initiatives such as electric vehicle
promotion were losing ground because
Americans continued to prefer hydrocarbon-powered
automobiles. " We are the
industry that is too important to fail, not
the big banks, " he said.
❒
Success Puts Permian In Public Eye
PBPA Issues Update:
By Del Torkelson
MIDLAND-Wall Street is arguably
one of the most important places on
Earth. So much of what originates in and
around there reverberates across the world
and elevates the lives of billions who do
not fully recognize or appreciate its influence.
Nevertheless, acknowledges Permian
Basin Petroleum Association President
Ben Shepperd, people sometimes
confuse it with the New York City financial
district of the same name.
" Midlanders have long asked whether
their Wall Street compares with the one
in Manhattan in terms of economic impact, "
Shepperd chuckles. " It is sort of
tongue-in-cheek, but there is something
to be said for the fact that it is the production
capital of America. "
Moreover, emphasizes PBPA Chairman
Jeff Sparks, hydrocarbons are not only a
critical ingredient in the modern economy,
but arguably the single-greatest physical
component for bettering human life in
today's world. After the 2024 PBPA Annual
Meeting at which he was elected
chairman, Sparks, who is chief operating
officer of Discovery Operating in Midland,
came away ruminating on the remarks
by Liberty Energy Chief Executive Officer
Chris Wright, whose company released
the " 2024 Bettering Human Lives Report, "
which explores the role energy plays in
human health and happiness.
" He called himself a 'tech nerd' and
shared some good data, which I appreciate,
because I am also a bit of a tech nerd
who studies a lot of the same data, "
Sparks recounts. " 'Bettering Human Lives'
essentially confirms the reason I am proud
to be in the oil and gas business: Our job
brings people out of poverty and improves
their lives. It starts in Midland, extends
throughout our state and then goes out
around the world. "
As critical as transportation is to the
modern world, Sparks notes, hydrocarbons
do so much more than fuel automobiles
and airplanes. " The tubing for IV bags is
a petroleum product, as are the syringes
and many of the medicines, such that the
medical field as we know it would disappear
without oil and gas, " he points out.
" So would agriculture in its present form.
As Wright said, 100 years ago, about
80% of people worked in agriculture.
Now it is less than 20%, but they feed
more people because of oil and gas fueling
farm equipment and providing feedstock
for fertilizers. "
Or to simplify it syllogistically: Oil
and gas are essential to modern life. The
Permian Basin is essential to America's
world-leading oil and gas industry. Therefore,
the Permian Basin is essential to
modern life.
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78 THE AMERICAN OIL & GAS REPORTER
Inviting Target
Do PBPA members appreciate the
centrality of their contribution to the industry,
state, country and world? " If they
don't, they must not come to our meetings,
because we mention that all the time, "
quips PBPA Executive Vice President
Stephen Robertson. " Texas is the number
one crude oil producing state in the
nation. New Mexico is second. If the
Permian Basin was its own nation, it
would be the fourth-largest producing
country in the world. "
" It has become pretty obvious to most
people in the Permian Basin industry that
we are at the center of the oil and gas
universe, " Shepperd confirms. " There
have been ups and downs during the 100
years that the Permian Basin has been
producing oil and gas, and we have been
counted out more than a half-dozen times,
but now we are stronger than ever. It is
encouraging to see small towns in this
area growing as young families put down
roots thanks to the industry. We are in
the opening pages of a new chapter in
the Permian Basin's history. "
Of course, being the center of it all also
entails being the center of attention, Sparks
considers. " There is a lot of good and bad
that comes with that, " he acknowledges.
Some of the downsides include public
policy attention, such as Endangered
Species Act listings for species with
habitat in the area, a possible Clean Air
Act nonattainment designation for air
quality standards and the continuous encroachment
of new and proposed rules
to pile atop the already cumbersome

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American Oil and Gas Reporter - October 2024

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