Midland Reporter-Telegram
June 28, 2013
NATO delegation visits Permian Basin to study oil’s impact on economy, security
By Mella McEwen
The Permian Basin’s booming oil patch has drawn the attention of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
Midland College on Thursday hosted a delegation of 28 dignitaries representing NATO’s Parliamentary Assembly Subcommittee on Transatlantic Economic Relations and Subcommittee on Energy and Environmental Security.
There were presentations on the area’s shale oil boom and its economic impact.
Hoxie Smith, director of Midland College’s Petroleum Professional Development Center, discussed the area’s unconventional resource plays, how they were being developed and their impact on the economy. He and Willie Taylor, chief executive officer of the Permian Basin Workforce Development Board, discussed labor issues in light of the present economic boom. Both men said they were quite impressed with the visitors’ grasp of the issues and the questions they asked.
The delegation included representatives from Turkey, Romania, Canada, Italy, Norway, France, Sweden, Denmark, Spain, Portugal, Estonia, the Czech Republic and United Kingdom. Among the members were Lamberto Dini, a former prime minister of Italy, and Baroness Ann Taylor of Bolton from the United Kingdom.
Leon Benoit, head of the Canadian delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, said the delegation was interested in going beyond “the big picture” and connecting with people affected by events on the ground. Their findings will be woven into their reports that will focus on the emerging unconventional oil and gas plays on the global economy and global security, he said.
The Permian Basin “could be Alberta near Lloydminster, where new methods are bringing new production, or the Oil Sands three miles from my home,” Benoit said.
Like Midland, he said businesses in Alberta are struggling to find enough skilled workers.
The question is whether this new-found oil and gas production will result in a more stable world or a less stable world, Benoit said. He said he believes the world will be more stable and will result in the United States being less involved in international matters. Reducing American involvement in the Middle East will be especially beneficial, he said.
Tudor Barbu, secretary of the bureau of the senate in Romania, said his country is very interested in hydraulic fracturing.
“We have huge reserves of oil and gas in shales,” he said. “It’s a big issue. Parliament and the people are split. People don’t approve of the method because it leads to earthquakes and water lighting on fire. Others see Romania’s future could be in shales.”
He said he saw a similar debate during the group’s two days in Austin, when two speakers from academia and non-governmental organizations denounced the technology.
“My question is, why, don’t we put, at the same table, on the same screen, the two sides of the issue?” Barbu asked. “I remember, as a boy in Romania, watching Joe Frazier debate. ‘I’m the best.’ ‘I’m the best.’ They had to prove it in the ring. Why don’t organizations, local and national, debate the question? They can bring their arguments, their images, their props and once and for all settle the question?”
While Romania knows a lot about hydraulic fracturing technology, “we want to understand more,” Barbu said. “Texas is one of the most important points in the world concerning fracturing. We want to know if what we know is true.”
While in Austin the group heard about conventional oil and gas energy and renewable energy and toured the Webberville Solar Farm.
Benoit said that two years ago he led a a similar delegation on a tour of Alberta’s oil sands and oil mining and natural gas production facilities in British Columbia.
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A strong regulatory framework will be vital, said Taylor, noting that the most recent report from the British Geological Survey showed the nation’s shale gas potential could be phenomenal.
“Obvious the context is different because we’re a small, crowded island and there are genuine environmental concerns,” she said. “If we go ahead with developing these shales, there needs to be a strong regulatory framework. One of the messages here is there are dangers so everything needs to be done to a high level of specification.”
After Thursday morning’s presentations at Midland College’s Carrasco Room, the delegates were to tour Chevron’s training facility and Fasken Oil and Ranch field operations. Their visit will conclude this morning with a visit to the Petroleum Museum.
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