American Oil and Gas Reporter - August 2018 - 38

PBIOS Preview

Castle Guides 2018 PBIOS
Through Record-Setting Times
In Red-Hot Permian Basin
By Danny Boyd
Special Correspondent
MIDLAND-The official theme of the
2018 Permian Basin International Oil
Show-"We're Back"-demonstrates how
innovations in oil and gas technology,
equipment and systems are changing
everything. As the course of reinvention
and retooling continues for both conventional and unconventional upstream operations, infrastructure needs are impacting
both ends of the industry pipeline.

from national media, Castle says.
While the show always has attracted
industry attention, the sharp upswing
in Permian activity since the 2016 show
gained the world's interest as basin
players went back to work with a
vengeance in the lucrative stacked tight
oil plays, he points out. In mid-summer,
the Permian accounted for half of all
U.S. working rigs, with more than 50
drilling each week in Midland County
alone. Permian oil and gas production
are on a tear, rocketing to new all-time

"We are drilling horizontal wells with
7,000-foot laterals faster than we used to
drill 7,000-foot vertical wells in the old
Spraberry play.

PBIOS President Stephen Castle is
quick to point out that it is the dedication
of the working men and women from the
rig floor to the field office and executive
suite who collectively are the driving
force behind all the positive changes.
While the Permian "global superbasin"
is the poster child of America's ingenuity
and resource potential, the U.S. oil and
gas industry as a whole has emerged as
an energy-producing and energy-exporting
powerhouse.
Set for Oct. 16-18 at the Ector County
Coliseum and Fairgrounds in Odessa,
Tx., PBIOS is expected to draw visitors
representing all industry sectors around
the world and already has received interest
38 THE AMERICAN OIL & GAS REPORTER

highs almost by the month. The basin
is attracting two of every ten dollars invested globally in upstream services
and equipment.
By any measure, the Permian is back
and in a very big way. The only objection
one may have with the 2018 PBIOS
theme is that it doesn't end with an exclamation point . . . or two!
"We are extremely busy in the basin,
and that is what our theme is all about.
But it's not meant to put down other
basins or energy sectors," emphasizes
Castle, a lifelong oil patch veteran and
president and owner of Cowboys Resources Corporation, a Midland-based
working-interest investment company.

"We need all kinds of oil and gas basins
and all kinds of energy."
In July, all available vendor space was
committed and 200 companies were on a
waiting list, says PBIOS Executive Director
Anthony Fry. More than 1,100 spaces
will be occupied by 739 exhibitors showcasing geophysical services, logging equipment, rigs, trucks, heavy equipment,
drilling and completion systems, proppants,
muds, cements, compressors, pumps, and
a host of other products and services that
keep the Permian going, along with exhibits
covering all facets of the midstream and
downstream sectors, he says.
"Basically, we are back faster, fitter
and with more focus than ever," Fry says.
"Obviously, two years ago, things were
slow and now the Permian is back and
going like crazy. We are the hottest oil
and gas basin in the nation, and it would
be hard to find a basin internationally
that can stack up."
Despite the upturn, the show still is
meant to appeal to a broad spectrum of
industry participants, including working
people who get the chance to see the
latest innovations up close, Castle says.
"PBIOS always has been geared to
showing working people the newest equipment and technologies, and show everybody else what working people have accomplished," he says. "The oil and gas
industry is attracting a new generation of
men and women seeking good career opportunities, not only in professional positions but also in field positions. That is
a good thing."
With show leadership typically manned
by those active in the services sector,
Castle's presidency offers a unique per-

American Oil and Gas Reporter - August 2018

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