MIDLAND, Texas — The Midland Chamber of Commerce held their seventh annual State of Oil and Gas Luncheon Tuesday at the Bush Convention Center.
Every year, people come out to hear about global insights, trends, while also getting an outlook on the industry. Evan Thomas, the Chamber's President and CEO, says this year's keynote speaker Cory Quarles brought all of those things to the table.
"He [Quarles] talked about the global rise of the middle class and different technologies coming into play that are going to change the ways oil and gas are done," Thomas said. "But also projecting into the future, talking about expectations for growth and also discussing how some outside variables impact the oil and gas community."
Quarles is the Vice President with XTO, a subsidiary of Exxon Mobil. He talked about how important the role the Permian Basin plays in the oil and gas industry.
"The main thing that I talked about was just how important the Permian is," Quarles said. "How important the Permian is to the Midland community, how important the Permian is to the United States and energy security, and also how important the Permian is to the world. Not only today but also into the future. If you look at what energy demand is today and out into the future, the Permian plays a huge role in supplying the energy that the world needs in order for people to live life as we know it."
Quarles says Exxon's goals for the year are to keep the workforce and community safe, grow business while protecting the environment and supporting the community.