A Midland, Texas, the new gold rush in the black

Welcome to Midland (Texas), a corner of the desert is unpleasant, swept continuously by a dust, which insinuates itself everywhere. Major roads are poorly maintained, take the place of avenues, along which everything seems to be built on the fly and when the wind attacks it with ardour, to large identical buildings, and without elegance.

Yet, it is here, in the stronghold of the two former presidents Bush, right in the middle of the Basin, permian (west of the State), play the revolution that is transforming the U.s. economy, and, therefore, to redraw the global balance of the oil. This is mainly due to the production of this region that the countries led by Donald Trump, could become, from this year, the first producer of black gold in the planet.

“It’s weird to wake up in the morning and say that it is in the center of the universe “, tells the story of Tommy Taylor, the boss of Fasken Oil and Ranch, an oil company local. At the wheel of a large pick-up truck, he oversees the drilling, the pipelines under construction, and the tanks of oil and gas fill.

In his hands, he grasps a handful of very fine sand, imported from Wyoming (north-west of the United States). Large quantities of water and sand, this is the key to hydraulic fracturing, which allows it to drill in depth to extract the oil shale. Encased in a rock hard like marble, it requires the use of a technology thorough.

New technology

“It is an oil demanding,” observes Tommy Taylor. The wells are particularly productive over the next three to six months, but the curve comes back down quickly. “To maintain a high level of production, it is thus necessary to multiply the drill “, he says. In the control booth of the well, TeeJay says in front of his computer as his work relies more and more on digital technology : “Before, we had dug at the trial. Now, we analyze the data permanently. “

The…

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