A Paragraph to Ponder

From the Texas Tribune:

"Texas is reveling in unprecedented oil production, triggered by technological advances such as hydraulic fracturing. The state is producing more than 90 million barrels of oil each month. That’s easily more than twice the monthly oil production from three years ago, accounting for more than one-third of all U.S. production, according to federal data.

West Texas has played a starring role. Its Permian Basin, whose steady production before a 1980s price crash cemented Texas’ reputation as an oil-rich state, is now the most lucrative region in the U.S. Texas regulators are issuing more than twice the drilling permits there than they they did in 2007.

But producing that oil requires plenty of energy. And as operators connect rigs, pump jacks, compressors and other equipment to the energy grid, they suck more electricity.

From 2007 to 2012, energy consumption in West Texas increased by nearly 14 percent, according to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, or ERCOT, which manages the grid covering ­­­­­­most of the state."