New U.S. Census Bureau figures show populations are not rebounding in the growing oil and gas fields of eastern New Mexico as experts thought they would.
Oil prices have rebounded but not the populations especially in the state’s sector of the monster Permian Basin where more than 400 oil and gas rigs are operating. As the Santa Fe New Mexican recently reported, the state’s entire population has remained mostly flat and grew only by a tenth of 1 percent.
As for an explanation of why the population has not grown in the Permian Basin’s oil fields, observers say it’s likely due to new technologies and more automation by energy companies.
“Employment in oil and gas has not come back as fast as prices have,” Jim Peach, an economist at New Mexico State University told the newspaper. “Part of that is the tremendous technological change that has occurred in drilling.”
The number of people living in the southeastern New Mexico county shrank by about 1,091, or 1.6 percent.
Though declining oil prices tamped down the boom of the surrounding Permian Basin in recent years, the area has since rebounded.
New Mexico boasted record oil production in 2017, and major producers have piled in, buying up stakes in the area.
This latest boom may feel different, however.
When prices fell in 2016, oil companies dug in and made operations in West Texas and New Mexico more efficient to remain competitive.
That means more of the work in the oil fields has been automated, requiring fewer employees on the ground.
Many day-to-day operations, such as checking the levels in tanks, can be managed from the offices of oil companies in Oklahoma City or Houston. Automated water pump stations can save companies from hauling water on trucks for use in hydraulic fracturing.