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PERMIAN BASIN ENERGY MAGAZINE | www.PBEMag.com | DEC 2012
Editor In Chief • Johnathan Venable sales@pbemag.com
Managing Partner • Lonnie Lawrence lonnie@pbemag.com
Associate Editor • Kimberley Smith kim@magazine.com
Creative Director • Sean Gonzales sean@pbemag.com
Creative Director • Luke Pawliszyn LukaszDesign.com • (310) 428-2566
Advertising Executive • Ashley Jaquez ashley@pbemag.com
Graphic Designers Luke Pawliszyn luke@lukaszdesign.com Sean Gonzales sean@pbemag.com
Sales Director • Crystal Reyes crystal@pbemag.com
SUBSCRIPTIONS & FEEDBACK www.pbemag.com, sales@pbemag.com Published by: PBE Magazine, Inc 4606 Johnson Drive Odessa, TX 79764 (432) 550-2636
© Permian Basin Energy, Inc. 2012 All material is strictly copyright and all rights are reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without the written permission of Mopro, Inc. is strictly forbidden. The greatest care has been taken to ensure the accuracy of information in this magazine at time of going to press, but we accept no responsibility for omissions or errors. PBE Magazine welcomes any comments, feedback,suggestions, and/or submissions for consideration for publication. These may be submitted to: sales@pbemag.com.
DEC 2012 | www.PBEMag.com | PERMIAN BASIN ENERGY MAGAZINE
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contents
DECEMBER 2012
Pbe Features
12 Fact or Crap? 32 Is Shale America’s New Normal? 36 Interview with Robert Flaherty 40 Small Business is Big Business in The Basin
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Other Editorials
8
Everyone Needs a Coach!
10 Golf Tips
14 Calendar of Events 16 Waking Up to a More Realistic View of Retirement. Saving Matters. 20 Hiring a Vet: The Pros and Cons 28 PBE Cares 29 “A Brighter Day” The Gift of True, Unselfish Love 44 Energy Boom Spiking N.M. Production 46 PBE Mag is Watching
Technology
23 Tech Bites - Twitter...
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LETTER FROM
THE EDITOR ... as the holidays draw near, take the opportunity to tell those in your life that you love them ... As this issue of Permian Basin Energy Magazine goes to press, our hearts are breaking along with the rest of the world and the nation for the families and the friends of the mass shooting in Connecticut. Especially at this time of year, when our thoughts turn towards meaning, and family, and safe homes that are warm with love, we cannot understand the tragedy, or comprehend why it happened. Especially for me, this hit hard. I recently had the chance to spend time with people that I love and the news was such a sharp shock because I was close with people who mean the world to me. All we can take away from events like this is to hold our loved ones close, and to tell them as often as we can that we love them. PBE Mag staff members spend lots of time each month with our military service personnel, because we support Honor Our Troops and the Wounded Warrior Project. And our brothers and sisters in the military know that there is no guarantee of any tomorrow. So especially as the holidays draw near, take the opportunity to tell those in your life that you love, “You are special to me. I love you.” And try to say a prayer or have a moment of meditation for the families whose worlds were shattered in Connecticut. This month, PBE Mag will be featuring High Sky Children’s Ranch in our monthly “PBE Cares”. If you can, do something for this worthwhile organization. They do amazing work for young people who have, for a variety of reasons, been required to leave their families and who need a safe haven. This issue holds some interesting stories. We’ve looked at some of the issues and strengths that the new emphasis on shale zones has brought to the energy industry; we’ve looked at a commonly-used web-based platform for social media; and we’ve profiled a nationally-recognized energy industry and landscape fine art photographer whose work is going to blow you away. We’ve also got our regular contributors for you, including Tito Urias with his Golf Tips, Ed Rodriguez with a great Trainer’s Corner, and an inspiring story from Father Red. Wishing you a happy and healthy December & January,
Johnathan E. Venable Editor in Chief/Publisher Johnathan@PBEMag.com DEC 2012 | www.PBEMag.com | PERMIAN BASIN ENERGY MAGAZINE
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EVERYONE
NEEDS A COACH! by BEVERLY FERGUSON
W
hat is a Coach? A Coach is on the field leading the team in creating activity and reaching goals. He or she coaches to develop and enhance the talents the
team brings to the field… turning potential into performance. The truth is most people want to do their best on the job but there are various roadblocks to accomplishing that goal. Following are a few critical behavioral ideas for Executives to think about. Why did I say “Executives”? Building a successful team starts at the top. I really like the TV Series “Undercover Boss”. This series speaks volumes of truth about Owners’Executives’ lack of knowledge concerning what’s really taking place both in the business and with their employees. Most people want to do their best on the job but many times they don’t have a clear picture of what’s expected of them. Or maybe they do know but they don’t agree with it. Word of caution, “When two people always agree one of you is not needed.” The bottom line is to seek a cure for these things. Most people given the same information will roughly come to the same conclusion and if all relevant information is shared, then common ground will be reached. Asking questions and sharing information by answering those questions expands a relationship and brings people together. Believe it or not, gutlevel, intuitive thinking is more often true once the information
When we understand that everyone wants to be somebody this opens up great opportunities. Most people are willing to get excited about and to embrace change when they are able to see the value in it. They need to know how to do it and answer the big question “What’s in it for me?” (WIIFM). We should also remember that even the most competent people cannot compete with systems that fail them. Many of the “Undercover Bosses” found to their dismay that it was difficult to look good in a bad system. Many executives have gone out of business because the fans in the stand stop cheering the team on the field. It’s time to turn potential into performance with Beverly Ferguson, M.Ed. She has more than 20 years coaching teams and individuals to success.
is in it. 8
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BUILDING a successful team startS AT THE TOP
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Is it true that there will soon be a tax levied on using the Internet?
FACT or
Answer: Not Total Crap, but not Fact yet.
CRAP? A
s this issue goes to print, an international meeting that is
the Internet was just a baby (way back in 1988), the ITU was focused
focused on international telecommunications will just be
mostly on keeping cyber-security issues in place, and making sure
winding down. The topic of discussion includes the internet,
that any entire country’s GDP wasn’t siphoned off by unscrupulous
mobile (cell) telephones, international calling, person to person
criminals hunkered down over glowing green screens in dark back
Internet based VOIP (voice over Internet protocol) platforms like
rooms.
Skype, and more, and how those services are available across borders and in various countries.
Now, however, the Internet has grown and its reach is near-universal . . . . Except when you are located inside a country that restricts the
Known as the International Telecommunication Union, this group has
content you can receive.
members drawn from all the 192 countries that currently participate
Syria, and some other Middle Eastern nations. Think about it: a free,
as members or observers in the U.N. Directors are from Switzerland,
uncensored Internet can be a problem for a restrictive government
a country with a declared 600-year stance of political neutrality. When
that is definitely not built on principles of personal freedom or free
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Examples include countries like China,
speech. (Think of the “Arab Spring” movement
So what’s the downside of moving control
levied on using the Internet?”, is Not Total
and remember how Twitter fueled the
of the Internet to a quasi-governmental
Crap. In Bloomberg News (12/06/2012), Eric
demonstrations that brought down the then-
regulatory body? Just this: it might take the
Engleman wrote, “Other proposals [before the
standing Egyptian government.)
American
Internet into the same territory of political
ITU] could require services such as Google’s
businesses located in China routinely have
squabbles and international conflict that
YouTube, Facebook Inc. and Microsoft Corp.’s
to cope with this restricted, government-
some of those governments seem to have
Skype to pay tolls to reach people across
controlled access and they have developed
trouble resolving.
borders, according to Google.”
communication strategies to cope with the
“free” is important to many groups, and
Not exactly a tax, but this would be very
impacts that affect their work flow.
Google, the mega-IT company founded and
similar to paying a toll on a highway. Many
located in America, is one of the private
people see that as a form of taxation.
sector companies carrying the battle flag for
So, by the time you read this issue, the
Internet freedom.
world will know the outcome of the ten-day
So, let’s jump to Dubai, Dec. 4 through 14th, 2012: The ITU is conducting its meeting, and one of the key issues is what kind of revisions will be made to the 1998 treaty currently in place about the Internet and other telecommunications.
Keeping the Internet
meeting in Dubai. “Some proposals could allow governments to
Taxing the Internet? We’ll have to wait, and
justify the censorship of legitimate speech, or
see.
even cut off Internet access in their countries,” said Google’s Vint Cerf in a Dec. 2 blog post. Cerf has one of the most interesting job titles ever (“Vice President and Chief Internet Evangelist”).
He
also happens to be one of the founders the with
of
Internet, a
distinguished c a r e e r spanning from
The U.S. is standing firm in opposing a proposal
the early 1970’s
by Russian delegates to move managing the
to the present day.
Internet away from non-profit groups (like the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names
And now we come to
and Numbers, or ICANN, located in California)
the specific reason why
and instead placing control with international
our question in this column, “Is
government regulatory agencies like the
it true that there will soon be a tax
ITU. The non-profit ICANN doesn’t get much public relations exposure, so you may never have heard of it, but it is the agency that says how we can have domains like .com, .org, .biz, and so forth; and it has developed and set in place the policy for the numbering and identification of Internet sites—and the rest of the world has abided and agreed to that guidance.
The U.S. Congress passed
a non-binding resolution (S. Con. Res. 50) the first week of December 2012 that calls on U.S. officials to continue promoting an Internet free from government control while advancing the current, decentralized model of Internet governance.
DEC 2012 | www.PBEMag.com | PERMIAN BASIN ENERGY MAGAZINE
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CALENDAR
of events
DECEMBER 2012 Mayan Apocalypse
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(Note: PBE Magazine seriously doubts this event will transpire) Worldwide
january 2013
7 West Texas Geological Society sponsors the SWS-AAPG Bill Hailey Memorial Short Course, “Integrated Stratigraphic Analysis of Deepwater Sands Using Seismic Sequence Methodology”, Dr. John M. Armentrout, Geologist, Presenting Abilene Civic Center, 1100 North 6th Street, Abilene, Texas To register go to www.wtgs.org
83rd Texas Legislature Begins State offices, Austin, TX
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West Texas Geological Society monthly luncheon, 11:30 am to 1 pm (www.wtgs.org) Midland Center, 105 N. Main St., Midland, TX
13 58th Annual Andrews Chamber of Commerce Banquet, featuring The Flying J Wranglers, at the James Roberts Civic Center, 6:30 pm.
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James Roberts Civic Center, Andrews, TX
Odessa Chamber of Commerce After Hours Mixer (members only) AMedical Center Hospital’s Center for Fitness and Wellness, 8050 Hwy 191, Odessa, TX
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Texas Railroad Commission Open Meeting 1701 N. Congress Ave., Austin, Texas
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watching your Finances
Waking up to a more realistic view of retirement
saving matters by Stephen Johns - VALIC Financial Advisors The nature of retirement has morphed over the years – from the time when there was no such concept, to the recent past when pensions and a “gold watch” launched the retiree into something akin to endless vacation, to the most recent viewpoint generally held by society. Financial events of the past few years have helped to crystallize this revised view of retirement as a new chapter in life, which could include work, volunteering, and sharing the wisdom earned through life experience. This new viewpoint is not only more realistic, but also represents a more holistic look at life. What’s more important: Protecting assets or seeking growth? Talk of “wealth accumulation” has been replaced by discourse on “protecting assets.” Many are shifting their “growth” investments to financial solutions that won’t lose value and can be converted to a lifelong income stream. According to the SunAmerica Retirement Re-SetSM Study (2011), only 26% of those surveyed said they preferred higher risk investments with the potential for higher returns – compared with 60% who preferred investments that protect assets from market loss and guarantee income for life. While not an entirely new mindset, this more conservative view has reached a new prominence.
and plain talk. The same SunAmerica Retirement Re-SetSM Study found that 77% of those surveyed said the ideal financial advisor is one who speaks in terms they can understand – and 74% agreed that an ideal advisor listens and understands what is important to the client. A financial advisor’s communication and listening skills can be critical in helping you make informed decisions about your financial future. You don’t have to do this alone And individuals who chose career paths that don’t involve math or finances can feel at a disadvantage when figuring long-term retirement needs and the investment opportunities available. Many persons seek financial education and guidance through their employer’s retirement plan. In this instance, you have an advantage – your VALIC financial advisor will meet with you, one-on-one, at your convenience. Retirement planning may be complicated, but you don’t have to go it alone.
My experience and knowledge make me a valuable resource. I have been associated with the VALIC companies since 1997. I have also been in the financial services industry for 14 years. I hold the following licenses and professional designations; Investment Company Products/Variable Contracts Limited Representative -Life, Health And Variable Annuity Insurance Agent Uniform Securities Agent State Law Examination - (Series 63) Uniform Investment Adviser Law Exam (Series 65) Investment Advisor Representative. Since returning to Midland in 2007, I have enjoyed getting to know my existing clients and working with new clients. I value developing a long term relationship with my clients built on trust, honesty and commitment. My goal is to help my clients identify, pursue and reach their financial goals. As a VALIC financial advisor, I have a wide array of tools available to assist my clients in reaching their goals. Want to learn more? Contact your local VALIC financial advisor, Stephen Johns: Phone (432) 699-0769 Cell (432) 230-1069 valic.com stephen.johns@valic.com Securities and investment advisory services are offered by VALIC Financial Advisors, Inc., member FINRA and an SECregistered investment advisor. VALIC represents The Variable Annuity Life Insurance
Find an advisor who practices straight talk – not double-talk As uncertainty and complexity cloud the retirement planning horizon, many have come to appreciate straight answers 16
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Company and its subsidiaries, VALIC Financial Advisors, Inc. and VALIC Retirement Services Company. VC22976 May 2012
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Hiring a Vet: by Edwardo Rodriguez lHiring a veteran can be both a blessing and a curse. To give an example, most veterans, especially those who have recently discharged from their prospective service branch, do as they are told. In other words, they follow orders. Well, you might think, “What’s bad about that? That’s a good thing!” Yeah, and here comes the part about the blessing and the curse: the good thing about a veteran is that they follow orders, but at the same time, the bad thing is that they REALLY FOLLOW orders. If you tell an employee who’s a recentlydischarged military veteran to ‘move all the 2 inch tubing to the other end of the yard.’ know that everything in the yard that resembles 2 inch tubing will be moved to the other end of the yard. Seriously, though, bringing a veteran into your company can add a lot to your team: good work ethic, leadership, and better overall morale. Some of your employees may at first begin to feel a little intimidated by the military vet, and that’s normal. Still, this can be a good thing. How, you may ask? By knowing this could occur, you can take the opportunity to turn this into teachable moments for the entire team, helping them to bond and become stronger as a unit. As always, the most effective way to deal with potential problems is before they happen, and in this case you can utilize the strength and the leadership skills of the veteran. Tell your military veteran employee that you will be leaning on him or her a bit more than the others, and that because 20
you’re looking to take on more projects in your business, you’re going to need to build a stronger team unit. Explain to your vet employee that in order to do that, you’ll need your personnel to step up their game as well. In any business, and definitely in the oil and gas industry, the more knowledgeable and safetyconscious your personnel are, the betterpositioned your company will be to meet increasing demand and potential for growth. A military veteran can do this for you, and much more. By utilizing the leadership skills of a veteran, you boost morale, production, efficiency, and safety. You can consider having the veteran provide in-house training to all employees on topics related to leadership. The difference can literally be measured in profits as your employees become re-dedicated to their jobs, to the company, and to you. Although it is possible that the veteran you hire could be a ‘dud’, I’d wager that you’ll have a much better chance of getting a ‘hole in one’. If you already have military veterans on your payroll, be sure to read next month’s column where I’ll outline how you can rekindle their fire, helping you to find the hidden talents your employees may have that can then be incorporated into your company’s overall assets.
PERMIAN BASIN ENERGY MAGAZINE | www.PBEMag.com | DEC 2012
En Español
The Pros and Cons
Contratar a un Veterinario: Los Pros y Los Contras.
Contratar a un veterano puede ser una bendición y una maldición. Para dar un ejemplo la mayoría de los veteranos, especialmente aquellos que han descargado recientemente de su perspectiva servicio, hacen lo que se dicen, en otras palabras, ellos siguen órdenes. ¿Lo que es malo en eso, así es bueno? Sí, y aquí viene la bendición y la maldición, lo bueno de un veterano es que siguen órdenes, lo malo es que se SIGUEN órdenes. Si usted les dice mover toda la tubería de 2 pulgadas al otro final de la yarda sepa que “todo” en la yarda que se parece ser tubería de 2 pulgadas “será movido” al otro final de la yarda. En serio, trayendo a un veterano en su compañía pueda ayadar mucho en la forma de ética de trabajo buena, el liderazgo, y moral total. Algunos de sus empleados pueden comenzar al principio a sentirse un poco intimidados, esto es normal. Sin embargo, esto puede ser una buena cosa, ¿cómo? Conociendo que esto podría ocurrirlo puede convertir lo a un momento de aprendizaje. La manera apropiada de tratar con problemas potenciales, es antes de que ellos pasen, en este caso utilice las habilidades de liderazgo del veterano. Diga al veterano que usted se inclinará en él un poco más que los otros porque usted está mirando para tomar más proyectos
THE TOP
10
Reasons to Hire Veterans and Wounded Warriors
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Ability to learn new skills and concepts. While in the military, Service Members undergo rigorous training programs to become experts in a wide-range of skills and concepts that can easily be transferred to a civilian work environment. The skills Service Members have learned and applied in real-world situations in the military make them ideal candidates to enhance your organization’s productivity.
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Strong leadership qualities. The military trains Service Members to lead by example as well as through direction, delegation, motivation and inspiration in some of the toughest situations imaginable. Service Members are not only well schooled in the academic theory of leadership; they also understand and have used practical ways to manage behaviors for results.
como un negocio pero para hacer eso sus empleados tiene que aumentar su juego también. En cualquier negocio y definitivamente en el industria de aceite y gas, el más informado y seguridad sus empleados lo más que su compañía estará en la demanda. Un veterano puede hacer esto para usted y mucho más. Mediante la utilización de la capacidad de liderazgo de un veterano puede aumentar moral, producción, eficiencia y seguridad. Piensa a tienen el veterano haciendo clases para todos acerca de liderazgo. La diferencia puede ser literalmente medida, en que sus empleados se harán re-dedicados a sus puestos de trabajo, la compañía y usted. Es posible que el veterano que contrate podría ser un fiasco? Sí, pero yo podría apostar que usted tendrá una mejor oportunidad de conseguir un hoyo en uno. Si usted ya tiene veteranos en su nómina no olvide de leer el número del próximo mes donde voy a exponer cómo reavivar el fuego a sus empleados y ayudarle a encontrar los talentos escondidos de sus empleados pueden tener y para que puede ser incorporado en los activos totales de su compañía.
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Flexibility to work strongly in teams or work independently. Military training teaches Service Members to work as a team by instilling a sense of a responsibility to one’s colleagues. In addition, the size and scope of military operations necessitates that Service Members understand how groups of all sizes relate to each other and support the overarching objective. While military duties stress teamwork and group productivity, they also build individuals who are able to perform independently at a very high level.
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Diversity and strong interpersonal skills. Service Members have learned to work side by side with individuals regardless of race, gender, religion, ethnic, and cultural backgrounds, economic status, and geographic origins as well as mental, physical and attitudinal capabilities. Many Service Members have also been deployed or stationed in numerous foreign countries that give them a greater appreciation for the diverse nature of our globalized economy.
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Ability to work efficiently and diligently in a fast-paced environment. Service Members have developed the capacity and time-management skills needed to know how to accomplish tasks correctly and on time, in spite of limited resources and immense pressure.
Respect for procedures and accountability. Service Members know how policies and procedures enable an organization to be successful and they easily understand their place within an organizational framework. Service Members understand the responsibility that comes with being responsible for the actions of subordinates and they understand how to properly elevate issues through the proper supervisory channels.
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Hands on experience with technology and globalization. Today’s military uses the cuttingedge technology to maintain our dominance over the enemy in the battlefield. From communications technology to the security of computer networks and hardware, Service Members must stay aware of emerging technologies in the public and private sector.
Strong personal integrity. Military training demands that individuals not only abide by a strong Code of Ethics, but that they live it each and every day. Military personnel are often trusted with security clearances that give them access to highly sensitive information. An employee with a proven track record of trustworthiness is often an asset to an organization. Strong sense of health, safety and property standards. Service Members are aware of health and safety protocols both for themselves and the welfare of others. Individually, they represent a drug-free workforce that is cognizant of maintaining personal health and fitness. On a company level, their attentiveness and care translate into respect for employees, property and materials.
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Triumph over adversity. In addition to dealing positively with the typical issues of personal maturity, Service Members have frequently triumphed over great adversity. Service Members have proven their mettle in mission critical situations demanding endurance, stamina and flexibility. In the case of wounded warriors, they have overcome severe disabilities, acquired injuries (including invisible injuries) through strength, determination and personal conviction. DEC 2012 | www.PBEMag.com | PERMIAN BASIN ENERGY MAGAZINE
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Tech Bites
Twitter...
“How Using 140 characters at a time can promote you or your small business”
Twitter is a web-based application (translation: it lives on the Internet which is the only place you can get to it and use it) that was first launched (translation: released) in 2006. Just six short years later, it’s one of the top ten Internet sites worldwide, and it has over 500 million users.
Good sense needs to rule—it’s not smart to post tweets about how trashed you got on Saturday night, if you’re in a security-sensitive job for a major oil company or gas pipeline. And if you’re an elementary schoolteacher, it might not be the best idea to post a tweet such as “Totally won the wet T-shirt contest at Suds and Duds! Pix on FB! Woo Hoo!” However, if you’re willing to give it a try, Twitter can be useful in a variety of ways. You can follow other like-minded or even famous Twitter users, such as economists, energy industry activists, and more, and get short snippets of useful industry or world news/events. Richard Branson has a Twitter account; so does T. Boone Pickens; and so does the Dalai Lama.
500 million users
What’s the appeal? If you look at www.twitter. com, it is very simple to register for an account and to get started. You need to make up a user name, give a legitimate email address, and make up a password. That’s as hard as it gets (for individual You just have to get used to putting your message into users; for a small business or company to use 140 characters (that includes spaces between words!) or Twitter is a little more complex and not always less. free). So let’s assume you register for a Twitter account. “No way,” you might say, “That stuff’s for teenagers.” You’d be wrong! More adults use Twitter than teens. The appeal seems to be that once you get the hang of it, Twitter is a way to stay in touch with people whose interests are common to yours. Here’s an example: a manager of a sporting goods retail store might post short messages (tweets) about upcoming store events or promotions, in addition to more personally relevant messages about football teams or other sports events. Such tweets might be, “Getting ready for big sale on men’s athletic shoes this Monday—40% off!” Or, “Bengals really came through on Sunday!”
One final interesting background fact about Twitter--just a year after it was released, Twitter really hit its stride at the Austin, Texas music festival known as South by Southwest in February 2007. Twitter set up gigantic plasma screens in the hallways of the conference rooms where artists were giving short talks to media and fans. Company reps were there, helping SXSW-ers set their accounts up. Soon a rolling stream of tweets filled the screens, furnishing a real-time commentary on the day’s happenings by those who were in attendance. At the end of SXSW, Twitter was given the Web Award by festival organizers. The SXSW organizers’ speech when handing over the award to Twitter? ‘”We’d like to thank you in 140 characters or less. And we just did.”
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Word of the Month
PLAY
In geology, a play is a group of oil fields or prospective fields, in the same region, which are controlled by the same set of geological circumstances.
The steps that usually occur in a “play cycle”: • Discovery of a possible oil reserve • Testing, and estimating possible amounts of oil that can be extracted • Success in locating and extracting the oil from a discovered reserve • Over time, lower success as the reserve is mined and depleted • Eventually, decrease in further exploration of the region
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H
igh Sky Children’s Ranch, Inc. opened its doors in 1963 under the direction of a concerned citizen, Joan Nobles, as a home for girls who had no place to go. In 1985, High Sky Children’s Ranch changed our license to accept both boys and girls, enabling us to keep sibling groups together. High Sky was re-licensed yet again in 1987 as a treatment facility to work with more traumatized, higher level of care children and later as a Therapeutic Foster Care facility. The programs provide a structure with life skills as well as therapeutic services. Our programs designed to help troubled children and families are: Therapeutic Foster Care, Community Foster Care, Stay Together Runaway Prevention, PAL (Preparation for Adult Living) and LIFE (Living Independently, Financially and Emotionally), and Eagles and AbellHanger Emergency Shelters.
Geoff can assist you with questions regarding volunteering, donations, planning or taking part in activities, or can meet with individuals or groups to review the volunteer program and opportunities.
MISSION STATEMENT: High Sky Children’s Ranch is dedicated to healing abused children and promoting family wholeness.
Financial support is always appreciated, and your donations would be welcome. There are many different types of activities that the youth take part in at the shelters. On the weekends we organized off campus and on campus activities that the youth really enjoy.
We look forward to hearing from you!
The Volunteer Coordinator for High Sky is Geoffrey Stratton and he can be contacted by email at geoffreys@highsky.org or you can reach him at the High Sky office 432-694-7728.
Thank you for providing the best gift you can give a child or young adult: Your Time.
To volunteer, contact Geoffrey Stratton - Volunteer Coordinator Phone: (432) 694-7728 or email at: amber@highsky.org 28
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“A BRIGHTER DAY” THE GIFT OF TRUE, UNSELFISH LOVE by Pastor Red
I
had a friend who was about to marry his college sweetheart. Everything was all set for the event when suddenly, bad news came. The family doctor told him that his wife-to-be had stage-four cancer. What she thought to be a simple case of stomach pains was already something else. My friend was not prepared for this. In fact, he took the news to heart. Because of this tragedy, he was losing his peace and his faith. He even wanted to cancel the wedding at one point. He was all confused and depressed until his mother came along to console him. “If you really love her,” she said, “you would not leave her.” This brought my friend to his senses. He immediately went to his girlfriend’s house and told her, “You don’t have to worry about a thing. I’m gonna stand by you. I’m gonna marry you. No cancer can stop me from loving you.” So, they finally got married. The next few months proved traumatic. He saw his wife reduced to a helpless victim of extreme pain. There was nothing he could do to relieve her. But he was prepared for it. He chose to love her. He washed her, fed her and did everything for her. It was difficult for him to see her suffer, but he moved on selflessly, the words of his mother ringing so strongly in his mind and heart. One day, his wife called him from the bedroom, since she could not even get up from bed anymore. He came close to her, bent over to listen to what she had to say. “You know,” she said, “I have never seen God in my life. But I
WORDS FROM THE PASTOR...
There is a lot of talk these days about the legality of Christmas, especially here in the United States. Self-professed atheists question the public display of Christmas symbols and the direct use of terms referring to a particular faith as offensive to those who do not believe in them. However, we who believe think that Christmas is not just about trees or gifts or stars or mangers. Though based on a spiritual reality, our faith is also as real and as human as it gets. We believe that by being human like us, God assumed everything good there is in humanity: hope, goodness, humility, compassion and the capacity for self-sacrifice. God became so human that we saw the divine in Him. This is the message of Christmas. It extends to all in search of peace, justice, happiness and everything authentically human. It is a celebration of humanity because on that day, Jesus became one like us and brought out the best in us. My friend in the story was in search of meaning in what he thought was the end of a relationship. Instead, he chose not to leave the woman he loved and to give her all the attention and the compassion she deserved until the very end. In fact, his wife may not have been a firm believer, but she felt God so near throughout her ordeal because of him. This is the power of love. This is the power of goodness. This is the power that transforms something tragic to something positive and redeeming. If only we can go beyond negativity and be messengers of hope, we shall take on weakness and draw strength from within. We shall find meaning even in pain and suffering. We shall rise up and take on the challenges ahead. In this way, we shall all see a brighter day. Merry Christmas to one and all! felt Him so close to me, because you are here.” His wife died before Christmas that year. He was sad to see her go, but he was at peace because he was able to give her the greatest gift he could ever give: love until the very end.
That was MY story. Now, let’s talk about YOURS. Share your true-to-life anecdote, and I will be happy to share my reflection on it. Maybe your life experience can touch a broken heart or a lonely soldier far away. Send your story and its title with your name and address to redmarmol@ yahoo.com! Selected stories shall be published and annotated in this column by Pastor Red.
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Is Shale America’s New Normal? It seems everywhere people are talking about ‘shale pay zones’, or ‘shale gas’ or ‘shale oil’.
I
f you don’t work in a job where you’re pulling oil or gas out of a shale formation, these terms can be confusing. Let’s look at what people are talking about: , Shale is a geological formation, fine-grained sedimentary rock that can be rich sources of both petroleum and natural gas. Energy industry personnel have known about shale zones for many
years. As early as in the late 1970’s when Gerald Ford was President of the United States, shale fields in Colorado near the small town of Rifle were under development. At that time, the technology for extracting the mineral resource was not as developed as it is today; and a world energy market that fluctuated wildly made it difficult for producers to make the Robertson
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shale zones profitable. Efforts to begin building the infrastructure needed to produce large amounts of shale oil and gas were stalled by decreases in market pricing of oil and gas, mostly due to foreign sources and OPEC production quotas which drove prices up or down. Large- scale industry owners shut down their efforts to put fields into production by the mid- to late 1970’s. Today, the entire set of circumstances surrounding oil and gas production in the U.S. has changed dramatically. Technology has evolved that makes production of resources feasible in places that decades ago were thought to be impossible. Delivery of resources once they’re extracted has also improved from a technical perspective. Our demand for energy has altered, because of the way we build our automobiles (more fuel efficiency) and construct our homes (with higher efficiency HVAC systems and better insulation). And the world market has changed along with everything else. We may still import substantial amounts of energy (just ask T. Boone Pickens, who is carrying a flag in the battle marked “America Needs to Become Energy Independent”), but with all these changes, a new phenomenon is now being talked about very openly: shale pay zones may not only make America energy independent (no longer needing to purchase oil from foreign producers), but may even put America in a position of being an energy exporter. Let’s see why.
LAST
THOUGHT Whether we have faith in a long term projection prepared by a federal agency or not, one thing is certain: shale is, indeed, a big part of the ‘new normal.’
Periodically the US Department of Energy publishes a long-term forecast on the state of the energy industry and energy market in the US. The United States Energy Information Administration, www.eia.gov, has projected U.S. production of energy resources from now through the year 2040. Here are some of key points: • Crude oil production, especially from tight oil plays (light crude oil contained in geologic formations where porosity is low and permeability is good, like in shale formations) is predicted to rise sharply over the next 10 years. Domestic oil production will rise, and by 2019, production will total 7.5 million barrels per day (bpd) up from less than 6 million bpd in 2011. This is a total projected increase of 25% over the next 7 years. Source: www.eia.gov, 12/07/2012 • For the EIA’s Annual Energy Outlook 2013, oil price information is keyed to light, sweet Intercontinental Exchange Brent crude oil instead of West Texas Intermediate crude oil (as traded on the New York Mercantile Exchange). Says the EIA, “This change was made to better reflect the price refineries pay for imported light, sweet crude oil and takes into account the divergence of WTI prices from those of globally traded benchmark crudes such as Brent. WTI prices have diverged from other benchmark crude prices because of insufficient pipeline capacity to move crude oil to and from Cushing, Oklahoma (the location at which WTI prices are quoted), and the growth of midcontinent and Canadian oil production that has overwhelmed the transportation infrastructure needed to move crude from Cushing to the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.” (source: www.eia.gov) • The United States could become a net exporter of natural gas earlier than previously estimated. Because quickly rising natural gas production outpaces domestic consumption, the United States could possibly become a net exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG) by 2016 and a net exporter of total natural gas (including via pipelines) by 2020. • Renewable fuel use, though a minor part of the energy consumer market, grows at a faster rate than fossil fuel use. Not counting hydroelectricity, EIA reports renewable energy consumption in the electric power sector grows from 1.6 quadrillion Btu in 2011 to 4.5 quadrillion Btu in 2040, with biomass accounting for 24 percent of the growth and wind 44 percent. In the lineup of renewables, generation of electricity from solar photovoltaic (PV) energy exhibits the fastest growth of all. Although the current usage base is very small nationwide, the EIA shows that PV accounts for 17 percent of total electricity generated from renewable energy sources (again, excluding hydropower), by 2040. • As U.S. ability to generate energy resources expands, our net imports of energy will decline, as a result of our increased domestic production of both petroleum and natural gas, increased use of biofuels, and lower demand resulting from the adoption of new vehicle fuel efficiency standards and rising energy prices. The forecast from EIA shows that the net import share of total U.S. energy consumption falls from 19 percent in 2011 to just 9 percent in 2040.
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interviewwith Robert Flaherty Robert Flaherty didn’t set out to be an artist. He studied marketing and meteorology in college, and a more ordinary life’s path might have led him to one of those government jobs where he’d be taking hourly barometer and temperature readings.
Somehow, that just wasn’t in the cards. Instead, Robert became a landscape photographer with a rather unusual specialty... he photographs landscapes that have drilling rigs and pumpjacks in them. And along the way, he has elevated these ordinary-sounding images into what can only be called fine art. Robert uses a very specialized approach in his work that produces photographs that are so detailed and so realistic that first-time viewers of his work can only describe the large canvases as stunning. He explained recently to PBE Magazine just exactly why his work seems to leap off the canvas. Pointing at a large photograph of a derrick and platform at sunset, Robert explains, “If you were standing at this location, your eye would allow you to see it dynamically. By that, I mean that if you’re looking into the horizon, since it is a bright area, your eye will adjust by the pupil contracting. In the same way, if you’re looking at something smaller on the ground in front of you, your pupil will expand to admit more
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light. The human eye can actually see more than a traditional photograph has been able to capture—in fact, well less than half of what the eye can see can be recorded with a camera. When photographers speak of ‘F-stops’, they are describing the amount of light that enters the camera through the lens, and the width of the camera’s shutter regulates this; in addition, the length of time of the exposure also affects the light that enters the camera to produce the image.” He goes on, saying, “The human eye can see the equivalent of 15 F-stops, a much greater range than a camera can capture. My method incorporates multiple exposures, and I combine them into a single image, which replicates more closely the quality of image that your human eye can see. I also work with the image to produce the sharpest detail in both horizon and foreground, and I produce prints that are often much bigger than a traditional photo image could convey.” The result is a large image that is so sharp and so crystal-clear that on first impression, the canvas looks as if it must have been painted. “I get that a lot,” Robert says, chuckling. “Many times people have commented that my work looks more like a painting than a photograph.”
Another part of Robert’s unique approach is the angles from which he shoots his photos. He uses specialized equipment that helps him to get above the ground (sometimes up to 70 feet) producing a very different-looking image. “Mesquite, for example,” Robert says, “really tends to block a photographer who’s shooting from the ground. After all, they’re trees. But if you shoot from a higher elevation, mesquite looks like ground cover.” And the work to produce the finished image is not complete until many additional steps are completed: “I take multiple exposures. In some of my pictures there’s as many as 12 exposures taken as quickly as possible. And then I edit, and I blend the exposures so I get the right amount of detail in the sky, the rig, the ground-- everything that I want.” Once the image is satisfactory, Robert produces his prints on either canvas or fine art paper. The canvas is stretched and framed, and whether canvas or paper, each print receives five coats of a unique finish that protects the work from fading or sun damage for up to 100 years. Colors will always be bright and undimmed, and black and white prints will never fade. Robert’s work is breath-taking. He shoots and prints work in groupings or portfolios that showcase the beauty of nature as well as the striking scenes of the energy industry. His weekly work is energy industry driven, but he makes time for treks to remote locations in New Mexico, the Great Smokey Mountains, even the Pacific Northwest for fine art and landscape photography.
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Still, Robert’s photographs of the energy industry have captivated patrons across the country. His work has been featured on the cover of national magazines such as last June’s American Oil and Gas Reporter, the Oil and Gas Journal, and more. One of his photographs, “Indian Summer,” is located in the Houston, Texas offices of Rock Water Energy, and it measures an astonishing 22 feet tall by 16 feet wide. It hangs in a space created by combining two entire floors, forming an impressive open space. Only a certain kind of fine art could hold its own in that size of open space. “That photograph spans the 45th and the 46th floors of the 65-story Williams Tower in Southwest Houston,” Robert said, “overlooking the Houston skyline.” He continues, “I use a blend of older, traditional methods and new methods. HDR photography is very popular right now, but the images are not very realistic, and they tend to be cartoonish, and you get certain things you’d rather not have in your images like halos around objects. With my process, I get the benefits of expanded dynamic range without having any of those undesirable things in my images.”
Robert’s background in meteorology gives him a very unique perspective that is very apparent in his finished work. His portfolio of Bryce Canyon includes a vivid picture of a vermillion cliff with a lone pine standing against swaths of pristine white snow, in an image that looks almost like it was staged. “There was already 2 feet of snow in Bryce Canyon,” Robert commented. “I knew more snow was coming from a large system that was headed that way, so I was set up to capture it. Sure enough, an additional 60 inches of snow fell, breaking records.” His attention to sky and weather add a compelling undernote to the images he captures. “I shoot a couple of hundred images to find the one I want to work with,” Robert says. “Then I know my work is just beginning.”
“Light by nature is temporary and transient.”
Striking images of rigs silhouetted against thunderstorms and lighting flashing across the sky are just some of the photographs that Robert has in his studio. His photographs include a surreal and otherworldly image of a high alpine meadow with Mount Rainier in the background, the descending twilight casting dozens of shades of blue, gray, purple, pink and amethyst on the glacier fields, with a feeling that if you just reached out, you could pluck one of the flowers growing in the silky grass. Other canvases are just as striking. One particular photo called “Red Dawn” is so compelling that it draws the eye from a distance of 20 feet or more across the wide room. A worker on the platform of a drilling rig looks down to the foreground in front of the platform, while the sky behind and around the rig is a brilliant crimson red. Robert tells the story behind this image. “This was taken between Midland and Odessa at the height of the drought a couple of summers ago, and I shot this right after all that land burned off in the grass fire between Midland and Odessa. The reason this image looks the way it does, is because of that fire. If you’ve ever seen the way the sun looks as it sets or rises into the smoke from a forest fire or grass fire, it’s blood red. I’m using the color in this smoke to hold back the sun so that the direct sun doesn’t burn the camera up. I’m also a very substantial distance away from this rig. If you look closely, you’ll see that the railings on the rig are sort of wavy--there’s already enough 38
heat even that early in the morning to generate thermals that create that distortion.”
He explains, “No matter how many times I photograph the Grand Canyon, the canyon is always the same. It is the light that changes moment by moment making each time wonderful and new.
Christopher Morley once said ‘there is only one successto be able to spend your life your own way’. Being selfemployed for the last 20 years has allowed me the autonomy to do the things that are truly important in my life. I keep this in mind when considering any new commitments I take on. The pursuit of extraordinary light is about being constantly connected to the landscapes which showcase the light I choose to photograph. I strive to maintain that autonomy which allows me to follow my instincts and act on a moment’s notice. Light by nature is temporary and transient. My images are an attempt to capture light at its most beautiful state in a single moment in time.” You can see Robert Flaherty’s work at ECISD’s New Tech High School, where six large pieces are displayed. He has shown his work in several Midland and Odessa venues, including at the ClayDesta Building in October where West Texas National Bank hosted a show of 20 of his large works. To view his energy fine art portfolio, visit: www.energylandscapes.net, and you can also view his landscape fine art portfolio at www.robertflaherty.net. You can contact Robert by emailing him on either site to arrange a private viewing. This modest and affable man is one of the most amazingly talented people you will ever meet, and if you get a chance to see his work, you will agree.
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see somebody clearing some land, and we would just go up and ask someone on the crew who to talk to about if we could have their business. Lots of times they’d just say, ‘Sure, bring us a unit out here.’ And sometimes we’d get some reports from the City of Odessa about new construction sites and we’d go out to those locations and ask about getting their business at those sites.” The guys had to keep adding toilets to the company’s inventory to keep up with the additional business they started to get.
Small Business
L
is Big Business in The Basin
onnie Lawrence and Steve Hooper have been partners since 2008 in a very successful locally owned business called AmeriFlush. They’ve been in business long enough that they can’t really agree on how they thought of the name!! “We weren’t in this business to begin with. . . we were in another small business called Metalback, which sells golf promotional items and promotional/gift items for companies. The two partners have known each other since 1998. “We were young back then,” said Lonnie, laughing. “Well, at least I was,” Steve shoots back. Steve’s brother had an idea about shower trailers for industry, and the two started investigating shower trailers, and then decided to acquire something more affordable. “Since shower trailers cost quite a bit and we found that portable toilets weren’t so expensive, we decided to go that route. We contacted a source in DFW and we started out with just four units. We have several hundred now—but it started so small that we both went up there to pick up that first four that we bought.” “By the time we got back into town, we had those four already rented out. So right away we needed more units. We started out renting them to construction sites for their crews, in residential subdivisions where houses were under construction. “We’d 40
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Starting with the first four units in June of 2008, business ramped up quickly. As Steve says, “We were just pecking right along, like a chicken.” Steve drove the units out, and serviced them, and along the way, both businessmen noticed that they could offer additional services to their customers, giving them an edge compared to their other competitors in the area. At about the same time the guys were starting AmeriFlush in 2008, Lonnie’s son started another business, a blowout prevention testing business—and it
was at about this same time that a significant slowdown hit. Oil was down to around $30 a barrel, and although for everyone else business was slowing down, AmeriFlush stayed busy, working the contacts they already had. In fact, the company’s pace was picking up dramatically. One of the reasons for this growth was that Lonnie and Steve noticed that AmeriFlush’s customers needed trash trailers and other services, in addition to the portable toilets. The two learned of a business that would be liquidating its assets, and they made an offer to the owner and successfully bought him out. All the equipment was transported to the Odessa yard, and after that, Lonnie said, “We were just busy all the time.” And as the price of oil eventually went back up, AmeriFlush’s customer base started snowballing. Today, AmeriFlush is a close-to-total waste management company.
The company provides septic pump-outs for rig sites, trash trailers, septic holding tanks, hand-wash stations, flushing units, water deliveries, emergency and standard shower trailers, and even satellite dish systems so crews can get television reception on location. “What we do is basically to set up a small city on location for all of the crew’s immediate needs and for their comfort—fresh water stations, sewer systems, even satellites for TV reception-whatever the company or the crew needs—we take it out on the location and get it set up.” After the facilities are set up, most of the time in a remote location (“You know,” says Steve, “in the middle of nowhere,”), AmeriFlush is also the company that services the rented equipment or facilities. AmeriFlush will provide the support for everything related to fresh water and septic services on site—“Everything but the housing units that the crew will live in,” says Steve. Lonnie agrees, commenting, “We make it possible for crews to be comfortable when they have to stay out on remote locations for extended periods.” And when the crews move on from there to their next location, AmeriFlush goes along, too, to take the necessary support systems to wherever they are needed next.
What’s the best thing about owning your own business? Lonnie laughed and said, “At times you can set your own pace and your own hours, and at times you can be your own boss. . . but at other times you find you have to do way more than most people ever do, and it’s not completely by choice!” What advice would you give to a person thinking about taking the chance to go into their own business? Steve doesn’t hesitate: “Step up to the plate and do it! No guts, no glory. I may have had multiple failures but I have succeeded, too.” Still, both partners admit that owning your own business isn’t for everybody. “You have to be able to take the leap, and take the risks,” says Steve, and Lonnie nods his agreement. Both men say they have lots of friends and even relatives who are plenty happy to have regular paychecks from mainstream employers. Steve, in particular, says, “I always wanted to step up the plate and to swing. And I had plenty of strikes. But this business has been very successful and even though it takes a lot of hard work and a lot of determination, it’s plenty worth it. This has been kind of a long hard ride, and not an overnight success. It’s real hard work, and it took some long hours for us to get where we are today,” says Steve. AmeriFlush contends with many of the same problems other businesses in the Basin struggle with; such as competition for good employees and then keeping a stable crew in place. “But we learned that when you hire good people you’re going to have a good crew, and we treat our people really well.” Steve feels strongly that when you’re good to your employees, they will stick with you. Lonnie says, “We make it a point to try as hard as we can to show our employees we appreciate them.” Steve points out:
“We’ve more than doubled our size every single year we’ve been in business, and there’s not many companies that can say that, I imagine.” For AmeriFlush and the two men who started it in 2008, hard work, taking a few risks, and having faith in themselves and their ideas have produced a very successful business that now provides essential services for many of the other Permian Basin drillers and producers. They are a significant part of the economic engine that is the Permian Basin.
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Energy boom spiking
N.M. production ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - Petroleum producers in southeastern New Mexico are on track to pump out 80 million barrels of oil this year - numbers that haven’t been seen since the 1970s.
In Texas and North Dakota, the oilfields are booming. Companies are exploring possible shale plays in more pockets around the West, and there are no signs that Wyoming stands to lose its position as the nation’s top coal producer. Federal projections released this week by the U.S. Energy Information Administration suggest the next three decades will see similar flurries of domestic energy development as technology improves and pressures mount to reduce America’s reliance on Mideast oil, and the West will be a player. The “energy breadbasket” of the nation is how Utah Gov. Gary Herbert describes it. With its large swaths of public land and enormous caches of oil, natural gas and solar, wind and geothermal resources, 44
Herbert, chairman of the Western Governors Association, said there’s no reason the region shouldn’t be a model for how to balance domestic energy production. “The time for half-measures is past,” he said in a statement. “We need an energy policy big enough to satisfy the world’s growing appetite for energy.” He’s behind an effort to develop a 10-year energy plan for the 19 states that belong to the association. Governors from many of the states kicked off discussions during a meeting last weekend in Arizona. The governors are expected to have a draft of the plan ready by next summer, said Rich Halvey, a program director
PERMIAN BASIN ENERGY MAGAZINE | www.PBEMag.com | DEC 2012
with the WGA. “I think for the most part, there’s a sense that we should be moving as much as we can toward North American energy security,” he said. According to the Energy Information Administration’s latest projections, energy production in the U.S. will outpace energy consumption by 2040. The reasons include higher energy prices, better technology for tapping oil and gas reserves, more efficient vehicles and electronic gadgets, and state and federal standards. The increase in production is expected to result in the U.S. becoming a natural gas exporter by 2020. Domestic oil production is also expected to top out around 7.5 million barrels a day by 2019.
“... energy production in the U.S. will outpace energy consumption by 2040 ...”
For New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez, that’s not a bad problem to have. Energy development is the backbone of the state’s economy. Current estimates call for energy revenues to be about 16 percent of the state’s main budget account. “Not only will development help local and state budgets through royalties, leases and permits, but it also allows the country to become energy independent,” Martinez said. As the Western governors craft their energy plan, Halvey said everything will be on the table - from traditional fossil fuels to renewable energy sources. They will also be considering challenges to development, including transportation via pipelines and transmission lines. “What the governors have said is not that we want to pick a winner or a loser but that we want to make sure that the rules are such that everybody can play with a degree of fairness,” he said. Imports represented nearly one-fifth of total U.S. energy consumption in 2011. That stood at 30 percent just seven years ago and is projected to be less than 10 percent by 2040. However, EIA Administrator Adam Sieminski said becoming more self-sufficient still will not insulate the U.S. from changes in the global market. The high price of oil is what has been driving drilling activity from North Dakota south to New Mexico and West Texas. In the desert surrounding Hobbs, N.M., the drilling rigs are busy, unemployment has dipped below 4 percent, and housing is hard to come by thanks to the influx of oilfield workers. DEC 2012 | www.PBEMag.com | PERMIAN BASIN ENERGY MAGAZINE
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PBE Mag is WATCHING Watching the Nation
Another Species to be added to the Endangered or Threatened Lists? Just weeks ago, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced it is considering formally listing the lesser prairie chicken as a threatened species, beginning a yearlong review that will include public meetings in four of the five states where the member of the prairie grouse family lives. Fish and Wildlife said it made the decision based on evidence that the bird and its habitat are in decline. “The lesser prairie chicken is a species that is in peril and has been for some time,” said Fish and Wildlife Director Dan Ashe. The chicken’s range includes parts of New Mexico, Texas, Colorado, Oklahoma and Kansas. Nearly 85 percent of its grass and brush-
land habitat has been affected by ranching and farming. Most of its habitat is on private land. Ranchers, farmers and wind farm operators worry about a listing because it could increase regulations. Wind turbines, oil wells and fences are
among the culprits scientists say have caused the chicken’s decline. A series of public hearings to solicit comments from citizens and groups will be hosted in areas affected by the possible decision by USFW. (from AP reports)
Watching the state
State of Texas Economy is robust. The Texas Comptroller’s Office released updated figures for the State’s Key Economic Indicators and for Texas, the news is great: Over the past year, Texas added jobs in 10 of the 11 major industries, including government, leisure and hospitality, trade, transportation, and utilities, construction, education and health services, professional and business services, financial activities, manufacturing, mining and logging, other services and information. 46
Other notable economic indicators: The Consumer Confidence Index is higher in the measured region that includes Texas, with a confidence rating of 101.4, than in the Nation as a whole, which measures just 73.7. Unemployment is lower in Texas (6.6%) than in the U.S. as a whole (7.7%), and in the Permian Basin, unemployment is close to just 4% (source: Texas Workforce Commission).
PERMIAN BASIN ENERGY MAGAZINE | www.PBEMag.com | DEC 2012
Over the last five years, Texas annual totals for crude oil produced have increased dramatically. The value of natural gas produced has fallen, while the number of active oil and gas rigs has increased. Source: The Texas Economy, Texas Comptroller’s Office, released 12/10/2012. www.thetexaseconomy.org
Watching the basin
Midland leaders consider renovations that could have big impact on Midland’s downtown. Early in December,after an architecture firm presented 3 proposals to City of Midland officials, those leaders are thinking over renovations to the downtown meeting center that could generate major improvements to the downtown area. Although the proposal showed the upgrades to the Midland Center will cost more than originally planned, those same improvements would bring significant improvements to the entire the downtown area. Three different plans for the improvements were presented, costing from just over two million dollars to more than $8 million.
The first and least expensive design is a simple renovation of the center, including improvements t to mechanical systems and restrooms, the roof system, a fire alarm system, repairs to the existing plumbing system, and a new ground-level sprinkler system. Option two would have a price tag of $6.3 million and would include all those improvements but would also gut the basement and add new restrooms as well as administration and concession areas in new areas built on the ground level. The most expensive plan carries a price tag of just over $8 million, and would
integrate well with other plans for the downtown area. Whichever plan is chosen, the building project could last up to three years, said city officials. The work would be done in phases so that the center could remain open during the renovations. Action to decide on the specific approach to upgrading the Midland City Center will be voted upon in future Midland City Council sessions. (From wire services reports)
Ground-breaking for a 520 acre Solar Farm Scheduled for the First Quarter of 2013 in Odessa, TX. Odessa Chamber of Commerce Economic Development Director Guy Andrews recently revealed that members of West Texas Angelos LP and the Odessa Industrial Development Corporation are working with Chevron North America in order to negotiate working around certain drilling sites to facilitate the project.
Corporation documents, the Odessa American newspaper reports that a survey of the land is now complete and the companies are next going to commission an environmental study of the area.
According to Odessa Development
The solar farm is only a small
Andrews said that West Texas Angelos LP had been leasing the land for the “past couple of years.”
part of what George, in a recent media interview, called Odessa’s “tremendous appetite for additional green energy projects.” With Summit Power group’s Texas Clean Energy Project scheduled to also break ground in 2013, Duke Energy’s 95-turbine wind farm in Notrees, Texas (some 27 miles west of Odessa) and the 36-megawatt battery storage facility located there, George said even the recent Permian Basin Oil Show had booths pushing green energy. He said he foresees a day when alternative energy sources like wind and solar take their place along with petroleum and natural gas energy industry sources. (From Odessa Economic Development news releases, www.odessaecodev.com)
DEC 2012 | www.PBEMag.com | PERMIAN BASIN ENERGY MAGAZINE
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