Oil and drugs A toxic mix Photo Steve Gonzales, Houston Chronicle. Image 1 of 3. An oil rig at sunset in Midland, Texas Tuesday, June 2. Midland. An oil rig at sunset in Midland, Texas Tuesday, June 2. Midland. Photo Steve Gonzales, Houston Chronicle. Image 2 of 3. An oil rig at sunset in Midland, Texas Tuesday, June 2. Midland. An oil rig at sunset in Midland, Texas Tuesday, June 2. Midland. Photo Steve Gonzales, Houston Chronicle. Image 3 of 3. An oil rig at sunset in Midland, Texas Tuesday, June 2. Midland. Steve Gonzales Houston Chronicle An oil rig at sunset in Midland, Texas Tuesday, June 2. Midland. Steve Gonzales Houston Chronicle Photo Steve Gonzales, Staff. Oil and drugs A toxic mix. As the oil patch demands more water, West Texas fights over a scarce resource. By David Hunn. August 1, 2017 Updated August 2, 2017 1122am. Algonquin Power Utilities Corp. to Form Global Clean Energy and Water Infrastructure Joint Venture and to Purchase 25 Interest in Atlantica Yield plc for US 608. Kevin Taft is author of Oils Deep State James Lorimer Company Ltd., 2017 and former leader of the Alberta Liberal Party. You may have heard the term deep. Fewer jobs in oil patch as automation picks up More automation in drilling could shift work from fields to desks. By Jordan Blum. December 21, 2016 Updated. Steve Pruett has seen more than his share of booms in three decades in the oil business. None, though, as strange as the one gripping the Permian Basin. At Werner Electric Supply, our story is defined by progress. From our modest beginnings in 1948, we have grown to serve the needs of our loyal customers and valued. Back to Gallery. MIDLAND Eddy Lozoya never failed a drug test in the three years he hauled water and sand across the West Texas oil patch, even though he used at least 2. Kenworth T6. 00 semi truck. Lozoya, like his fellow truckers, found ways to beat the tests and keep driving. Earning six figure salaries, they consumed cocktails of drugs to push themselves to their physical limits on trips between scattered drilling sites that could last 3. They would drive their 3. We always had cocaine, he said. Lozoya, a recovering addict at 2. Drillers of all sizes have poured billions of dollars into the prolific Permian Basin this year, rebuilding operations after a two year oil bust that devastated the region. But for all the economic benefits of the industrys high paying jobs, the oil rush again is bankrolling an expanding market for illegal drugs. Law enforcement officials say drug trafficking, drug abuse and drug related crimes have spiked in recent years, evidence that energys boom and bust cycles have had enormous social consequences in West Texas. Inside a small Nazarene church in Midland, converted a decade ago into a drug and alcohol addiction treatment center, the number of people seeking help is on track to more than double from last year. Some 1,2. 00 people have come through the doors of the Palmer Drug Abuse Program in the first six months of the year, one in five of them under 1. Photo Steve Gonzales Houston Chronicle, Handouts. Left Eddy Lozoya during his drug use days. Eddy Lozoya. Right Eddie Lozoya talks about his drug and alcohol abuse and rehab at The Springboard Center Thursday, June 2. Midland. Steve Gonzales Houston Chronicle Left Eddy Lozoya during his drug use days. Eddy Lozoya. Were losing a generation of children to drugs and alcohol, said Michele Savage, the longtime director of the program. Lozoya knows drugs of all kinds are easy to find here. After an injury left him unable to drive commercial trucks, he found another lucrative trucking route, this time transporting narcotic pain medications and other drugs from his home state of California to West Texas. Here, he said, dealers can sell cocaine, marijuana and opioids for two or three times the price in neighboring states because of the remote location and the river of money flowing from the oil patch. Theres a lot of profit to be made out here because its in such high demand, he said. People want it here, and theyll pay for it. Meth is boomingWhile the U. S. opioid epidemic has captured national attention, the drug of choice in West Texas is methamphetamine, or crystal meth, a powerful stimulant oil field workers use to cope with long hours in the Texas heat, and one that is increasingly supplied through Mexican drug cartels, according to law enforcement officials. An analysis of data from the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Houston oil field services company Baker Hughes found a strong correlation between the rise of drilling activity and the number of crystal meth seizures in the area surrounding the Permian Basin. Between 2. 00. 9 and 2. West Texas, the number of meth seizures rose sharply. The rig counts average of 1. In the same period, Texas state troopers saw meth seizures jump from 3 to 7. Permian Basin. CRS Diagnostic Service, a drug testing company in Odessa, found the number of local workers who tested positive for methamphetamine in the first half of this year was more than three times higher than in the first half of 2. Meth is booming, said Craig Smith, a senior vice president at the company. For the oil industry, increased drug abuse in West Texas has exacerbated the struggle to find workers as they rebuild labor forces after widespread layoffs during the recent downturn. Patterson UTI Energy, a Houston drilling and hydraulic fracturing contractor, has hired 4,0. Diana Dotolo, the companys vice president of human resources. The Houston firm recruits workers from around the United States, but for local companies without a nationwide reach, the problem is far worse. Dynamic Oilfield Services, an oil equipment company based in Corpus Christi, has seen roughly half of its job applicants from West Texas fail drug tests this year, and most of its employees in the region are hired from other areas. Decades ago, biker gangs made meth from phenyl 2 pronopol, which was outlawed in the United States in the 1. Now, Mexican drug cartels dominate the commerce of meth, often transporting the substance in liquid form across the U. S. Mexico border, stored in fake gasoline tanks, iced tea bottles or windshield washer fluid reservoirs, law enforcement officials said. They take it to stash houses in places like Phoenix and Dallas before it reaches high demand markets in West Texas, said Will Glaspy, special agent in charge of the Drug Enforcement Agencys El Paso division. Oil field workers are big consumers of methamphetamine, Glaspy said. The Mexican cartels are the biggest sources of supply. Across the West Texas and New Mexico counties that encompass the Permian Basin, the DEA has seized 2,2. October 2. 01. 5, more than triple the amount confiscated in between October 2. September 2. 01. 3. Last year, the agency seized 6. Midland area, compared with 1. When the oil price is up, theres more methamphetamine in our entire community, said Steve Thomason, executive director at the Springboard Center, an alcohol and drug treatment facility in Midland. Its not uncommon, he said, to see a young oil field worker roll up to outpatient treatment in a Corvette. Failing the test. In the first six months of this year, more than 1,0. Houston based DISA Global Solutions, the largest provider of drug testing policies to U. S. oil producers. The number of industry workers failing hair follicle tests, which are more effective in detecting long term drug use, jumped to more than 4,6. Large oil companies and oil field contractors said they have adopted tougher drug testing policies in recent years. Houston oil producer Apache Corp., for example, conducts random, pre employment, post accident, reasonable suspicion and random drug tests. If an employee or contractor fails a test, he could face termination. We are vigilant about ensuring a drug free culture, said Castlen Kennedy, a spokeswoman at Apache. But substance abuse specialists believe drug test failure figures grossly underestimate the number of oil field workers who abuse drugs. Traces of methamphetamine, for example, linger in a persons system for only few days, making it harder to catch meth abusers.