A recent West Texas news article highlighted the fact that:
…the Permian Basin became the largest producing oil field in the world in April surging past Saudi Arabia’s Ghawar. The Energy Information Administration reports oil production in the Permian Basin at 4.2 million barrels per day in April compared to 3.8 for Ghawar.
A great podcast, Permian Perspectives with Krista Escamilla highlights the leaders in this region that continue to drive increasing oil & gas production levels and business performance.
Recently, Krista interviewed Emerson’s Drew Baker.
Drew opened by explaining how Emerson helps oil & gas upstream and midstream companies hit their production targets and improve overall efficiency and reliability with automation technology and expertise throughout the lifecycle of production operations.
He noted that Emerson recently opened a Permian Basin Service Center in Odessa to respond more quickly to needs of companies in the region. Drew explained that Emerson provides the technologies for measurement from downhole through the production process to the levels in tanks and flow through pipelines to where the production goes for further processing and storage.
Beyond the measurements, other technologies include the control systems, valves, asset management hardware and software, and more. The challenge is to find skilled workers in this region, so the automation technologies can help the existing workforce be more efficient to meet the demands for the region’s continued growth.
He shared his story from being a chemical engineering graduate to sales director for the Permian Basin Service Center. The Midland/Odessa area of Texas has a small town feeling but is bustling with activity to accommodate the oil & gas production growth across the Permian Basin.
When asked about technology advancements, Drew noted that whether oil & gas prices are high or low, companies either have money or time—but it seems never both. In boom times, it is tough to have the bandwidth to investigate and apply new technologies, but these can lead to greater efficiencies to weather the bust times. For example, remote monitoring of the health of pumps, compressors and other rotating assets can provide early warning before unplanned downtime happens and require fewer maintenance technicians to cover an area.
Listen to the podcast for more on the people, how they work together to meet the needs of the region, and how they contend with the shortage of skilled people to meet the needs of the companies in the region.
Visit the Oil & Gas section on Emerson.com for more on the technologies, solutions and expertise to improve safety, reliability, efficiency and production for oil & gas upstream and midstream operations. You can also connect and interact with other oil & gas industry experts in the Oil & Gas group in the Emerson Exchange 365 community.
