ODESSA, Texas — The Permian Basin is part of what provides energy security for the United States, leaving many people to wonder what the Russian oil ban means for people in West Texas.
NewsWest 9 spoke with Dr. Ray Perryman, President and Economist for The Perryman Group. He said the impact of the recent event is more of a positive for people in the Permian Basin.
"A positive thing for the oil and gas industry is that it will increase profits in the area," said Perryman. "There will potentially be more drilling activity as well as we can see job creation moving in that direction. Also rig counts can go up and that type of thing."
Perryman told NewsWest 9 that when things are good there is always a downside, as is being reflected at the gas pumps.
"Not only gasoline prices increase, but the fact that petroleum is a part of other goods and services," said Perryman. "It's a part of plastics, it's part of some pharmaceuticals, part of synthetic fibers, and of course, it transports everything else that is purchased. You will see ripple through the economy and it makes it harder to solve the supply chain issues we have had."
As for the area we live in, Perryman said the impacts are greater when looking at the bigger picture.
"If you have a job that is totally unrelated to oil and gas, you get hit like everyone else with things like gas prices," said Perryman. "The balance is good for our region, our region has the largest oil reserves in the country. We are a major exporter for oil, and we will have a lot of economic activity."
Perryman believes this event will cause a change in the way the industry is perceived.
"The bigger thing that may occur for our area, over time, is that this may be a wakeup call for the U.S. energy and U.S policy makers in general," said Perryman. "We need to be focused on having adequate U.S. energy reserves to meet the needs we need to meet. "