Watch Out, OPEC: Busiest U.S. Oil Play Heads for Record Spending

(Bloomberg) -- Bad news for OPEC: the epicenter of the shale boom is headed for record spending this year.

The Permian Basin in West Texas and southeastern New Mexico, the nation’s busiest oilfield, claims nearly $2 out of every $10 spent on oilfield services and equipment around the globe, according to Tulsa, Oklahoma, consulting firm Spears & Associates.

Spending in the dusty terrain -- an area larger than the entire state of Florida -- is expected to climb 50 percent this year from the boom times of 2014 to a record $45 billion, Richard Spears, vice president at Spears & Associates, wrote Friday in a note to investors.

“The oil is a half day’s drive from the global headquarters of most oil companies, sits smack in the middle of the world’s largest consuming nation, the natives are friendly, and the government’s ‘take’ is light,” Spears wrote. “We are confident that the Permian will grow from here.”

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