ODESSA, Texas — The Odessa Development corporation saw a glimmer of hope for the economy after Ray Perryman presented a study.
It gave the board a more clear understanding of where Odessa stands in the economy and what next steps need to be taken to help our oil and gas industry flourish.
The one-line Dr. Perryman said we all need to focus on, things will get better because what goes up, must come down, and eventually back up again.
Dr. Ray Perryman didn't have all bad news for the board.
"It's not like the great depression because it doesn't have to last ten years and it can be a short recovery but as far as the steepness of the drop we have never seen anything like this," said Dr. Ray Perryman.
Dr. Ray Perryman explained in the meeting that this is a public health crisis, not an economic structure crisis.
"This is not a mortgage crisis, it's not a safety loan crisis. It's not any of those things that have happened the last 30 or 40 years that have created a problem," said Perryman. "It's not something structural with the economy so if we can keep the structure together and keep it functional and as we solve the health problem the economic problem and the economy can start to come back pretty rapidly."
He recommends pausing community development projects rather than canning them all together.
The presentation refocused where our attention should be in the oil and gas industry, showing there is hope amid this trying time.
"Fundamentally the oil and gas problem is a demand problem we tend to focus on the supply a lot what OPEC is doing and what Russia is doing but fundamentally the main problem right now is because we shut the economy down the demand for oil fell 25 million barrels in 30 days," said Perryman.
A quick drop, no doubt, but Dr. Perryman predicts a steady climb as the economy begins its restart.
The Odessa Development Corporation will take the information presented by Dr. Perryman and use that as they make plans going forward for new businesses and projects.