In World’s Hottest Oil Patch, Jitters Mount That a Bust Is Near
Ups and downs are so ingrained in this business that crazy success in the Permian Basin is seen as an omen that a crash looms.
Oil pump jacks adjacent to an apartment complex in Midland, Texas.
Photographer: Max Burkhalter for BloombergSteve Pruett has seen more than his share of booms in three decades in the oil business. None, though, as strange as the one gripping the Permian Basin right now.
The telltale signs are the same as always, with companies like his desperate for skilled workers to man the drilling rigs that pierce the horizon in west Texas. What’s unusual, and unnerving, is that the Permian is still thrumming with activity after prices cratered for the stuff it pumps out. Crude is trading for around $50 a barrel, but this is the hottest oil patch anywhere on Earth, a swing producer influencing the trajectory of global markets and threatening OPEC.