The Permian Basin Community’s Response to the Russian Invasion of Ukraine
March 4, 2022
I do not know what to believe. Here is a link to the New York Times article (3/3/22) in the Business section (https://www.nytimes.com/…/02/business/oil-prices-opec.html). It’s pretty good, and it points out that OPEC Plus has turned a blind eye toward the conflict. (After all, the Vice Chair of this organization is a Russian minister. I guess OPEC Plus is a formal organization???) It is obvious to any American citizen who shares this writer’s concern for the citizens of the Ukraine, that a component of the American response ought to be to ramp up crude oil production in all possible ways. From my perspective, I was appalled at the indifferent remark made by Vicki Hollub (CEO OXY) who did not seem to care nor have the breadth of knowledge to grasp that her company is strategic who told analysts that there was “no need and no intent to invest in production growth”. I don’t want to single her out for criticism because there are others: Pioneer, Devon, and Continental, which the article states “were committed to limiting production to avoid oversupplying the market and pushing down prices to unprofitable levels”. Some people have called me gullible. (That was about 50 years ago.) This report, if accurate, is unbelievable – these stances are an outrage. It’s not collaborating with the enemy, but it is darned close. But does this tell the whole story? Maybe not. A friend of mine shared with me conversations he’s had with his friends in Midland who are working with privately-owned producers, and “the buzz” is that they are ramping up. By the way, what capitalist would not ramp up right now!? (God help those shareholders who still own shares in these publicly-traded companies.) But, from an overall American point of view, any patriot who is opposed to the totalitarian brutality going on in Russia/Ukraine would make these moves. I hope that these entrepreneurial oilmen (and ladies) represent the mainstream of thinking in the Permian Basin community. In my view, this would be the quintessential response from a strategic American industry! First Keystone, although not a producer, is doing our part by ramping up our own production to provide industrial buildings for sale in the Delaware Basin.
The opinions expressed above reflect only those of the author and do not represent those of the First Keystone Pecos Industrial Park organization. First Keystone welcomes responsible fact-based discourses on these topics.