One of the first casualties in the late 1990s energy downturnwas the closure of Texas A&M Engineering and Extension ServiceDrilling Rig School near Abilene, TX. As the industry struggles tobuild up exploration and production activities, it also isstruggling with finding enough workers — and Texas RailroadCommissioner Charles Matthews wants the school to open its doorsonce again.

Matthews, who was instrumental in opening the roughneck schoolin 1997, said that now that energy prices have rebounded, drillingfor “natural gas has again become an imperative issue facing theUnited States energy picture.”

The school’s training program was originally designed to handleboth ex-offenders and other unemployed or under-employedapplicants. However, once the oil and gas industry hit bottom in1997, the school closed because there weren’t enough applicants andthere was no funding to continue.

Matthews first started lobbying for the school to reopen lastNovember. After listening to some industry officials express theirconcern about a lack of personnel in drilling during last week’sTRC natural gas hearings, Matthews said he would pursue theschool’s reopening once again.

“I continue my efforts in looking for funding both on the stateand federal levels for such an important initiative,” he said. “Ihave worked on this issue for a long time and believe that thistraining program is needed more now than ever before due to theincrease in energy demand.”

Texas never recovered its workforce in the drilling industryafter 1998, he said, noting there was a 3% drop in oil patchemployment in Texas for every 10% drop in gas prices in thedownturn. “Since gas prices have rebounded, a 10% increase in pricehas increased employment by only «%. There are not enough skilledworkers in the field now.”

Even if the school reopens, there remain questions about whetherit can recruit enough people for the training. Last year, officialsat the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) said theythought the recruitment plan was far-fetched and short term (seeDaily GPI, May 30, 2000). The TDCJ helped implement the Abileneprogram, which never did very well from the beginning.

“It’s unfortunate, but most of the training and the jobs are inrural communities and the ex-prisoners don’t get to reunite withtheir families and they are usually far away,” said Dr. VirginiaRoss a program specialist in cognitive intervention with TDCJ. “Thejobs are good, but it hasn’t always worked out too well.”

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