Reply #4: Meanwhile... shrub's/Texas oil people are profiting nicely.....

[rainbow4321]

http://www.mysanantonio.com/sharedcontent/APStories/stories/D8784MC80.html


Motorists cursed high oil prices this year but West Texas oil and gas producers hailed them, as drilling picked up and new rigs being were built in the Permian Basin for the first time in 20 years, according to industry officials

Operators are finding it more difficult to find enough workers, Burns said. But if prices remain high — and work plentiful — for long enough, the labor shortage should ease, he said.

"These are good-paying jobs," Burns said. "In the past, people have come into the industry and gotten on that roller coaster ride — they'll be working at these good-paying jobs for a couple of years and then suddenly the job's gone. The longer higher prices are sustained, and drilling activity is sustained, we'll see people getting back into the job market."

Producers are enjoying high prices for oil and gas, and increasing their activity, but they are also looking ahead to the day when the Permian Basin's declining production dries up. Oil producers and others hope to turn Midland into a center for energy research and development