Newsroom
Stay tuned to the PBPA website for the most up to date information concerning breaking news on all new legislation, regulations, and events effecting the industry and the Permian Basin at large.
PBPA's 56th Annual Meeting Media Coverage
Midland - On October 24 and 25, 2018, the PBPA held its 56th Annual Meeting in Midland, Texas. Media attending the event came from as far abroad as France. The following are just a few of the articles covering the event as seen on the front page of the Midland Reporter Telegram:
"PBPA speaker details the follies surrounding hydrocarbon discussions" - Mella McEwen, MRT.com/Midland Reporter Telegram, October 25, 2018
"PBPA panelists say pipelines are just part of takeaway issues" - Mella McEwen, MRT.com/Midland Reporter Telegram, October 27, 2018
"Elected officials kick off PBPA meeting discussing energy challenges, opportunities" - Mella McEwen, MRT.com/Midland Reporter Telegram, October 25, 2018
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PBPA U.S. 285 Construction Notice
October 3, 2018 5pm
Tomorrow, the TxDOT Odessa District plans to issue a press release regarding currently underway and ongoing improvements to U.S. 285. These improvements will reportedly help better monitor traffic, in particular oversize and overweight vehicles (OS/OW), in work zones and more importantly, increase safety for construction zone workers and traveling motorists.
As the TxDOT Odessa District begins moving forward with improvements (click here for project descriptions) and investing nearly $100M in projects along U.S. 285 between Pecos and the New Mexico state line, TxDOT is asking trucks with wide loads to travel between 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. on weekdays. In addition...
morePBPA Effort Yields Results
August 28, 2018
Sunset Commission Unanimously Rejects DPS Proposal to Close License Offices
Austin, Texas-Today, the Texas Sunset Commission met in Austin and responsibly pushed back against a DPS proposal that would eliminate up to 87 Driver’s License offices across rural Texas, including the booming Permian Basin.
“Today, the Members of the Sunset Commission from across the state unanimously rejected the DPS proposal to close the offices in our region and across the state and I am very proud of the Legislature for listening to our concerns and the concerns of all Texans.” said PBPA President, Ben Shepperd.
This rejection will offer the Legislature guidance on how to proceed on this issue when the Texas Legislature convenes in January 2019.
He also added, “We are hopeful that our efforts, and the efforts of the public at large, to increase efficiency in other areas at DPS will continue and are thankful for the leadership of Chairman Birdwell, Vice-Chairman Paddie and Senators Buckingham, Hall, Nichols, and Watson as well as Representatives Flynn,...
morePBPA Opposes DPS Office Closures
August 24, 2018
Midland, Texas - Today, The Permian Basin Petroleum Association (PBPA) stated their opposition to a recommendation by the Texas Sunset Commission to close drivers license offices in the Permian Basin and across much of rural West Texas.
“We oppose the potential closing of drivers license offices in the Permian Basin because of the rapid growth of the oil and gas industry and the need for our member companies to be licensed as required by state law. The Permian Basin is the most prolific source of energy production in the United States and we cannot remove resources that are vital to the economic growth of the region and the state.”
PBPA works to effectively advocate for the growth, prosperity, and best interests of the Permian Basin petroleum industry,
“The hundreds of member companies and thousands of individuals that make up our association are also joined in these efforts by Permian leaders like Senator Charles Perry, Senator Kel Seliger, Representative Tom Craddick, Representative Drew Darby, and Representative Brooks Landgraf and we...
moreDark Skies Initiative Recommened Lighting Practices
MIDLAND, TX — March 7, 2017 — Today, in collaboration with the University of Texas McDonald Observatory, located in Ft. Davis, Texas, the Permian Basin Petroleum Association (PBPA) released their Recommended Lighting Practices for oil and gas operations in the seven counties surrounding the Observatory. These recommendations are the result of research and analysis of current lighting practices, study into alternative practices more in line with the needs of the Observatory, and conversations with stakeholders of all sorts who support the endeavors of the Observatory. All those involved strive to make sure the Observatory can continue to conduct their research by utilizing some of the darkest skies in North America.
The PBPA and the oil and gas industry of the Permian Basin strongly supports the McDonald Observatory and the research it pursues. Knowing that dark skies are vital to that research, the PBPA and the McDonald Observatory have comprised their recommended practices to preserve the environment the Observatory needs to accomplish its research.
The...
moreCongress Passes Legislation Lifting the Ban on Crude Oil Exports
December 18, 2015 - Today, the U.S. Senate voted overwhelmingly in favor of a package of spending bills and tax breaks known as the Consolidated Appropriations Act for 2016. The Act, already passed by the House of Representatives, now goes to the desk of the President for his signature. Included in the Act are provisions repealing the outdated 1970’s-era ban on the export of crude oil produced in the United States.
“The Permian Basin Petroleum Association has supported the efforts in Congress to lift the export ban, which first became a possibility after the passage of Representative Barton’s H.R. 702 out of the House in October,” provides President of the PBPA Ben Shepperd. While H.R. 702 was not voted on in the Senate, its provisions were the basis for the language lifting the export ban in the Act. “Amidst all the wrangling and partisanship in Washington recently,” continued Mr. Shepperd, “I am pleased to see Republicans and Democrats working together to end the ban on crude oil exports. We are grateful to Representative Barton and Chairman Conaway, among others,...
moreU.S. House of Representatives Votes to Lift Ban on Crude Oil Exports
October 14, 2015
(MIDLAND, TEXAS) Today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 702 to adapt to changing crude oil market conditions, which repeals the outdated 1970’s-era ban on the export of crude oil produced in the United States.
The bipartisan bill, sponsored by Representative Joe Barton (R-TX), has 137 co-sponsors and comes after almost a year of hearings, deliberations, and reports from across the political and economic spectrum – all making the case that exporting crude oil will significantly boost the economy, create hundreds of thousands of new jobs, and empower our allies around the world.
In response to the passage of this historic legislation, PBPA President Ben Shepperd said the following:
“Amidst all the wrangling and partisanship in Washington recently, I am pleased to see Republicans and Democrats working together to end the ban on crude oil exports. We are grateful to Rep. Barton and Chairman Conaway, among others, for their tireless work to bring this bill to the floor. Hopefully the bipartisan nature of this effort will encourage the...
morePBPA v DOI Decision
September 2, 2015
U.S. District Court Finds for PBPA, Vacates Lesser Prairie Chicken Listing
(MIDLAND, TEXAS) Yesterday, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas granted summary judgment in favor of the Permian Basin Petroleum Association and vacated the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) rule listing the Lesser Prairie Chicken (LPC) as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. In PBPA et al. v. Department of Interior et al, Senior U.S. District Judge Robert Junell concluded that the decision to list the LPC was arbitrary and capricious under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) and that the agency failed to properly apply its Policy for Evaluation of Conservation Efforts When Making Listing Decisions (PECE Policy) to conservation efforts already undertaken on millions of acres across five states to improve habitat for and diminish threats to the LPC.
In response to the ruling, PBPA President, Ben Shepperd, issued the following statement: “The PBPA applauds Judge Junell’s decision in our suit against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the...
morePBPA 84th Texas Legislative Session Report
June 17, 2015
Science, Emotion, and the Public Interest
June 16, 2015
It turns out hydraulic fracturing isn’t the root of all evil after all.
Over the years, opponents of domestic energy production have spent millions of dollars and thousands of man-hours maligning the oil and gas industry as a bunch of comic book villains bent on destruction of our land and resources. Typically, the chief culprit in these attacks is hydraulic fracturing, a well completion process that is central to the shale oil renaissance taking place in the Permian Basin and across the country.
Despite the game-changing turnaround in domestic oil and gas production – not to mention the hundreds of thousands of jobs and billions in tax revenue it generates – opponents blame this process for everything under the sun. Like many things in our popular culture, “fracing” is vilified by organizations with an axe to grind and something to sell.
In the past few months, we have seen a wave of reports and studies from the academic world and the Environmental Protection Agency setting the record straight on hydraulic fracturing, what it does and – perhaps more...
moreA Sanction By Any Other Name…
April 2, 2015
Years of sanctions imposed on the sale and export of crude oil have wreaked havoc on Iran’s economy and helped force them to the international bargaining table to discuss their nuclear program. What has gone unreported in all the recent coverage is the link to our economy here at home. The US is suffering the effects of crippling economic sanctions as well.
This journalistic oversight isn’t intentional; it’s a problem of vocabulary.
Americans are familiar with the term, “sanction”, as an oft-used instrument in the US foreign policy toolbox. Recently, Secretary of State John Kerry has spent a good deal of time in negotiations with his international and Iranian counterparts over the future of Iran’s nuclear program and, consequently, the existing international sanctions prohibiting them from exporting crude oil.
According to news accounts as this issue goes to press, Iran could be rewarded for good behavior with the right to export one million barrels of crude oil per day, a move that would help to rebuild an Iranian economy that has been utterly destroyed by the...
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