It might seem a strange time to signal potential good news for any part of the energy industry right now, given the recent unprecedented declines in oil prices caused by the novel coronavirus pandemic.
As the COVID-19 outbreak dried up demand for oil and helped send crude prices tumbling, producers in the Permian Basin have shut in thousands of wells and laid down dozens of drilling rigs. Many of those wells produce natural gas along with oil, so output of this associated gas has taken a dive as well.
The potential upside: The drop in natural gas production is bound to reduce the global supply of gas and it could lead to shortages, which would drive up prices and allow companies in the San Juan Basin to increase their production, said Daniel Fine, a longtime energy analyst and oil and gas researcher with New Mexico Tech.
The WSJ said today that as oil approaches $40 a barrel, shale companies are bringing oil wells back online, even as the market continues to recover from the demand drop caused by the coronavirus.
In my youth of 1954-1956 I lived in the gas camps East of Farmington.
When I returned in 1973-1977 there was still lots of drilling going on and I worked at making glycol reboilers at several companies in town.
Over the years, as I returned, I noticed oil well pumps replacing the dryers at well sites.
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