http://res.dallasnews.com/inte...13_November/oilboom/

Maybe I should have put this under What Do You Do For A Living. Since I don't do anything it seemed out of place there.

I would have bet all I had, I would never see the oil boom return again to West Texas. I was running a 12-rig operation in Odessa in 1983. By 1985 I was running a 32-rig operation with 20 of them stacked. By 1986 I was running a 3-rig operation with 2 of them stacked.

Back in '83 the rally-cry was "stay alive 'til '85"; then it became, "things will be fine in '89". They weren't. In 1990 I threw-in the towel and moved to Venezuela to get offshore and overseas. Best move I ever made. Looks like things were finally peachy-keen in 2013.

I don't think things ever change, they just go around in circles. You just have to live long enough to see the full cycle.

Would this be a bad time to comment on the classic OK/TX bumper sticker?
"Oh Lord, please let there be another oil boom. I promise not to piss this one away."

I like the old joke, supposedly true, that when asked by a bankruptcy judge what a couple of Texas oilmen had done with the $5 million they had borrowed just before declaring bankruptcy said, "Well, we spent a million on an airplane, a million on trips to LAs Vegas, a million on hookers for ourselves and our customers, and we just kind of pissed the rest away."

Kind of ironic you posted this. Since I was theone who started the other thread, its interesting to say the least, that I opened an office in Midland 1 1/2 years ago.

I surely hope things keep running. I guess we do what we can, while we can!

I sure like working with Texan's. Of course, I have ran in to a few bad apples but over all, a fine group of people!

I have found that Utah and Texas has a lot in common!

I loved my time in Odessa from '78 to '82. The rest....not so much. Some of the best dove, turkey, and blue quail hunting. Great mule deer hunting (near Van Horn).

I thought the best article on the '80s bust was in Texas Monthly with James Dean on the cover. It was written about a Midland dentist and an Abilene land man who started an oil service company from scratch and in a few short years it grew to a Fortune 500 company. Then the industry imploded and the man was again sitting in his dentist office, with no fixtures, having lost everything. Towards the last they had asked me to join them to manage their drilling side. They were obviously in their death throws, and I declined.

Good luck Jason, and have an exit strategy, particularly when it begins to look like it will never end. That IS when it ends. Debt is what took everyone out. You can't play on other people's money for ever.

The most dangerous time in the oil industry is when times are good, and euphoria leads to bad financial decisions that seem like only flesh wounds at the time, but turn into head-shots.

Kensco:

I really do appreciate the advice. The great thing about good advice is that it is free and we can learn from our past.

I probably do spend more money than I should. However, with business I am being careful with what I buy and how I invest. It wasn't but a few years ago that the economy crashed (in oil), here in Wyoming. It hurt us badly, but we survived.

I do have debt but if I were to close my doors tomorrow, I would be able to liquidate and pay what I owe.

I still hold the same job that I had, when I started my business. I am still teaching school! Its funny that most of my employees make more than I do teaching. A few of them make more than double. However, my teaching career allows me to still run my business, given the hours I work, and have retirement and great insurance.

Its still nerve wracking to say the least. Feast or famine is the norm. You learn to live with it and work through it!

quote:

Feast or famine is the norm. You learn to live with it and work through it!

Amen to that one!

Lean and mean, NO debt!


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