Oil and gas production in the Brazos Valley isn’t going away anytime soon.
That was among the statements made during a panel discussion hosted Wednesday by the Bryam/College Station Chamber of Commerce.
Five men involved in the industry spoke to more than 300 attending the economic outlook briefing.
Len Legate, who works with nine trade organizations with the Statewide Joint Association Oil and Gas Education Initiative, pointed out how hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling has increased production from here on south through the Eagle Ford Shale. Legate says the United States is importing the least amount of oil from OPEC countries since 1991.
The head of the Texas A&M department of petroleum engineering, Dr. Dan Hill, expects the current production boom will continue until the next big discovery.
Exploration in cities and suburban areas has been around for only a few years. Obie O’Brien with Apache Corporation says they’re working to be a good neighbor with those landowners.
Robert Willen, the president of College Station based Rio Bravo Acquisitions, says in the last six months there have been 323 oil and gas permits issued in Brazos, Madison, Burleson, and Grimes counties.
Brent Greenfield of the Consumer Energy Alliance provided a nationwide perspective of states that are leading in oil and gas production, including Texas, versus states that don’t.
Click HERE for opening comments from the panelists.
Click HERE to listen to questions, answers, and other comments.
(L-R) Obie O’Brien, Dan Hill, Luke Legate, Robert Willen, and Brent Greenfield.