TEXAS, USA — Little by little, Texas is reopening and getting back to normal, a new normal that is.
But what is the current state of the Basin, and what is on the horizon?
Local economists at the annual State of the Basin webinar on Thursday told NewsWest 9 that that in order to get the recovery process going sooner, we need to invest into the Basin now rather than later.
Bradley Ewing, Texas Tech Energy Commerce professor, believes getting the Basin back on its feet is possible if people do one simple thing: invest in oil and gas infrastructure.
“If we were to invest in these new infrastructure projects, like the Permian Basin highway, Wink to Webster, Red Oak, we would see Gross Domestic Product getting back sooner and basically bring us out of the recover," Ewing said.
Ewing’s research shows that investing in oil and gas infrastructure projects like these pipelines would get people back to work, and leave an investment impact that would help the economy not only recover, but grow, stabilize and become more competitive.
“The longer we put this off, the longer it will take to get these benefits of stability and recovery," Ewing said. "Our region should welcome these kinds of projects.”
Ewing adds that investing in infrastructure here in the Basin will also help oil and gas booms and busts in the future not be nearly as devastating as we have seen in the past.