With the spread of coronavirus continuing throughout the world, oil companies are trying to remain calm.
Companies and business people in the Permian Basin, such as Tommy Taylor, are attempting to not overreact with the constant media attention being directed toward the virus, and the fact that the virus has now been detected in the area, according to NewsWest9.
Taylor is the director of development at Fasken Oil and Ranch and has been working in the industry for over 35 years. Taylor referenced times when prices per barrel dropped to as low as $6, and said that he is trusting the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) to do what they can to control the virus.
Should the virus continue to spread, there is the potential for the price of oil to drop, especially if the coronavirus takes hold in the United States, Taylor said.
Ray Perryman, a forecaster of economic environments, said that the continued spread of the virus may impact the global economy.
“If it continues to rise and becomes a greater concern it is going to slow down global growth for a time,” Perryman said. “The Permian Basin is definitely vulnerable to something like this in the long run and even in the short term as it affects oil prices all of those things matter in the Permian Basin, but once it is under control we have found repeatedly under many circumstances for many cases over centuries the economy is capable of rebounding very quickly.”