Texas searches for oil industry salvation

Record low oil prices are compelling the state to consider proration. But greater measures may be needed to stave off financial ruin

Economic conditions across the Texan oil patch are dire. Unemployment rates have skyrocketed in recent weeks, while the rig count is in freefall. Oil contracts plummeted into negative territory for the first time in US history on 20 April, scarcely believable when, just a few months prior, WTI topped $50/bl. Fears of industry collapse across the shale patch have become so severe that a host of independent producers, headed by Parsley Energy and Pioneer Natural Resources, are pleading with Texas to enforce state-wide proration of output—much to the chagrin of larger operators such as ExxonMobil and the newly-enlarged Occidental. “Producers think an orderly reduction in oil supply will protect