The american oil and gas in dustry has a hometown, it's Midland. The West Texas city has been a base for oil companies since drilling in the region first began in the 1920s, and the town has lived and died with the industry in the decades since. Drive the long, flat roads in and out of Midland and you'll see nodding pump jacks, some decades old, pulling oil and gas from the ground. It all comes from the Permian Basin, a hydrocarbon-rich vein of sedimentary rock that has so far produced more than 29 billion barrels of oil. At night, the sparse scrubland is lit up by floodlights from rigs a hundred feet tall and the rig floors buzz with activity, because when times are booming and prices are high, the drilling never stops. Which is exactly why the highways, pipe yards, restaurants and hotels of Midland are so crowded and why you might have better luck renting an apartment in Manhattan than in what Texans call the Tall City.
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