Boom or Bust in the Permian?

Things are heating up in Texas, and it's not just the weather. There are numerous complexities surrounding the most prolific shale region in North America that has everyone working in the basin uneasy. Though the Permian Basin, in Texas and New Mexico, has pushed the US past Russia and Saudi Arabia as the world's top crude producer, some headwinds have appeared that have this basin fluxed. Today, activity in the Permian varies widely, depending on what side of the wellhead you are on. Drilling cutbacks are on the rise but the reasons for that have been mixed. Some believe a slowdown is not just inevitable but is occurring now. Drillers, worried that production is slowing, admit having cut back their drilling wellhead numbers, while others say the reductions are due to improved drilling efficiencies. The Permian Basin is filled with skeptics and opportunists, willing to bet near-term and long-term.