21-The Future of the Permian Basin-A Conversation with Tim Leach & Tracee Bentley

Speaker A: Welcome to the Permian Strategic Partnership Podcast. I'm your host, Krista Escamilla. Hello, everyone. Welcome to this week's edition of the Permian Strategic Partnership Podcast. I'm Krista Eskamy, and it's a pleasure to spend time with you today. I am so excited about today's podcast. I would like to welcome back a friendly face that you all know and love. We have Tracy Bentley with us, the president and CEO of the Permian Strategic Partnership and also the Director emeritus of the Permian Strategic partnership. We have Mr. Tim Leach with us, but many of you know him as the former chairman and CEO of Concho and the founder of Concho. Thank you so much for being with us today, Tim. And Tracy, excited to be here? Well, I am so excited. Um, we have, you know, heard. We've heard about your story for many years, but we've never heard you tell your story. So I'm so excited. Let's start at the beginning, Tim, if you could just let us know how you got to the Permian Basin and your love for staying here.

Speaker B: Yeah, well, that's a long story. We may not have time for the whole thing, but, uh, um. I was just kind of a normal high school kid in Houston and, uh, got an engineering degree and moved out here in 1982, uh, to take a job. And, uh, never dreamed that 45 years later I would still be here. But, uh, uh, it's been such a great place and, uh, so many opportunities in the Permian Basin, uh, and met so many wonderful people over the. Over the years that. So from 1982 to today, this has been home.

Speaker C: Tim, I'm going to ask a loaded question here. Uh, where did you get your engineering degree from?

Speaker B: Well, you know, there's. I was only aware of one place that really had engineering degrees. I went to Texas A and M. Of course, Travis, uh, I think has done this before. And, you know, Travis came a few years behind me. He's a little bit younger, but he's out of the same mold.

Speaker A: And then I also believe you had, um, some other. You had some further education after that.

Speaker C: Where did you go after that?

Speaker B: Yeah, well, one of the interesting things was that, um, I wanted to. I had a petroleum engineering degree, but I wanted, um. And my dad was an engineer with Shell, and I didn't want to be. I didn't want to work my entire career as a staff engineer. I wanted to learn kind of all aspects of the business, so I wanted to get a business degree. Um, but I didn't have any money. And I had to work, and I needed to find a place where I could go to night school. And UTPB was available, so I got my MBA. I think I graduated in 85, maybe, uh, going every night to night school. And, uh, it was a wonderful opportunity, but, man, I was tired by the time that was over with working and going to school. So I know there's a lot of people that do that every single day, and I sure appreciate what they do well.

Speaker A: And I was thinking also, who do you root for on college day?

Speaker C: Are you.

Speaker A: Are you whoop or are you going hooking horns?

Speaker B: My gosh. You know, I bleed, uh, maroon for sure.

Speaker A: But we're so. We're so excited that you have, uh, utilized utpb. What a gem in our community. Yeah, uh, it truly is.

Speaker B: And really, I don't know if I would have come here if they didn't have a higher ed opportunity for me to go to or advanced degree kind of thing. Uh, so that was kind of a big aspect of coming here in the early days.

Speaker A: I love that you mentioned also, you know, working and going to school at the same time, because you're right, so many people do that, and I love that that was part of your journey. What advice would you give to someone that maybe is going through that right now?

Speaker B: Well, for me, it was do it before you have kids because it's. It takes a lot of energy and, uh, um, you have to have an employer that's sympathetic and wants you to succeed. So I had, you know, they paid for it and they encouraged me to go to school and gave me some extra if I was. If I left a little bit early. They understood.

Speaker C: Tim, you are the, uh. Concho was your vision and your dream, and you built it. Of course, you built a team around you, but you built an amazing company.

Speaker B: Thank you. That's a little overstating. I was a member of a great team at Parker and Parsley. Uh, and then the big merger happened. And, um, it was one of the. It was a vision of many of the executives at Parker and Parsley to stay here and keep doing what we were doing. So I was part of a team. But, uh, um, it was a small team and we had a lot of fun. The early days were scary, though.

Speaker C: So, uh, walk us through that. What was it like? Uh, from. From start to finish. And then, um, by the time that, um, that Concho became Conoco, you had left you and your team. Concho had left an amazing legacy and really set the example for others in our community.

Speaker B: Yeah, um, so we were all at Parker and Parsley. And this was 90, uh, seven that Parker and Parsley merged with Mesa to create Pioneer. And the whole thing was going to move to Dallas. And there was a group of us that thought it'd be better to stay here and uh, uh, they all out of Parker and Parsley. And we were kind of familiar with the work we did here and, and the opportunities that were here. And so, um, we started In June of 97, uh, with really nothing but an idea of, uh. We felt like we were a good team and we could succeed, but we didn't have financial backing, we didn't have a deal, we didn't have a place to office. I tried to office at home for about a week and my wife told me that that wasn't going to work out, that I needed to find a place to go and. And uh, so me and Steve Beal and Dave Croback, uh, uh, kind of, uh, joined together and that was the first Concho. And by August we had a deal. We had financial, uh, backing and it was small by today's standards. It was. We did a $30 million acquisition, um, that got us started. But, uh, um, and then, you know, we um, we raised private equity. Our biggest investor in all Conchos was Yale University. They owned, always about, I think maybe a quarter of the company or something like that. And uh, uh, we were their largest investment and their most successful investment over a decade.

Speaker A: Wow. Wow, that is incredible. What did you learn most during those early days? Because I know it's not easy to start anything.

Speaker B: Yeah. Uh, I think the biggest takeaway was, you know, it doesn't seem apparent when you look at the energy business, but it's a people business. It's. You have to be trusted. You have to do what you say you're going to do. You have to, you have to be a student of the game and know, uh, who the other players are. You have to realize that you're at a giant poker game and you know, you have to stay in the game and you know, things like that. It's. But it's, it's a, it's a people business.

Speaker A: That is a great analogy. Never thought it would.

Speaker C: Great analogy.

Speaker A: I'm going to study poker a little more now. Let's talk a little bit about psp. You were there from the inception. What inspired you to jump into the room?

Speaker B: Right. Um, um, we had success at a different effort, um, in 2015 with a group called the PACE group, where the energy companies came together for one purpose and that was to change the law so that we could export crude oil. And uh, because prior to that time, all the way back to the uh, energy crisis of the 70s, it was illegal for us to export crude oil. And we could see this big shale revolution happening, but we wouldn't have anywhere to go with all this oil if we couldn't export it. And uh, the oil companies had never come, you know, come together. There were legal hurdles. Could you come together and talk about changing the law together, uh, that way? And um, everybody we talked to said uh, it'll never be done. Uh, it was the Obama presidency. They said this will never happen. But we worked together under uh, the PACE group was led by Ryan Lance at Conoco. And that was my first experience with him. He did a great job of leading it. You had so many big egos in the room. It was the CEOs of all these companies. And um, so we divided up the world and uh, each of us had jobs to do. And we actually got a new law passed and made it legal for us to export crude oil. When everybody said it couldn't be done, that was the first example that the oil companies could come together and work together in such a way. And so, um, I don't remember what year it was, but it was. We've been in business now 12 years or something like that.

Speaker C: Seven. But didn't y' all come together in 2018?

Speaker B: Okay, well that's a, you know better than I do. It's 2018. Um, I got a call uh, from Mark Berg and he said, hey, remember the PACE deal? Um, we have this shale revolution going on. Everybody's going to be trying to build companies in the Permian. Um, the infrastructure really doesn't exist. Um, for all no one knows what's really going to happen out there about how much business it's going to create, how many people are going to move there. We need better schools, we need better, ah, health care, all the infrastructure to support an oil industry like no one's ever seen before. And so Scott, um, Kidwell and I went to Dallas and heard their idea. Uh, and I think my role was just tell them all the reasons. I thought that that was a dumb idea and that it would never work. But I said I don't think it's going to work, but Concho's in. And so what we decided to do was kind of, you call three companies, I'll call three companies, pitch the idea and see if we can get anybody else interested in this. And you know, some of the early uh, Folks that joined in were, uh, Al Walker at Oxy. And I, um, can't remember all the six, but, uh, I've been amazed at how well it has worked and, uh, a lot of that. Then we got the thing together. Everybody agreed, uh, that we, uh, could pursue this work together of building infrastructure and reinvesting into the communities, um, because everybody could see how important that was going to be in the future. Um, but pretty early on, we got Don Evans to lead it. And that was another, uh, uh, uh. They looked at me and said, well, do you think Evans would be interested? And I said, there's no way he's going to want to do this. And they said, well, would you go ask him? And so I made the call and kind of gave the pitch to Don. And he said, well, let me think about it. And he called me back and said, yeah, I'll do that. And I, I said, really? You gotta be kidding me. So, you know, I'm not the, uh, I'm not a huge visionary where I'm correct all the time. Um, but it doesn't. If I say something's not gonna work, it doesn't mean it doesn't have a chance to be a great success. Right.

Speaker A: Well. And I think that mindset also helps you look at it, um, from both perspectives. Right. And, you know, it's good to know the pros and cons of why something will or will not work.

Speaker B: And again, it goes back to. That's why it's a people business that, uh, you say, I don't think this is going to work, but if you guys want to pursue this, I'm in. I'll go with you. And, uh, uh, sometimes they don't work, but oftentimes great things happen when you. When you're with a really good team.

Speaker A: And this has been a great thing just to watch and witness as a community member for over 30 years, or almost 30 years. It has really made so many aspects of our community better. When you first started it, when you first looked at it, did you realize the magnitude of what it was going to do? And then we'll talk about, um, some more about psp.

Speaker B: No, no, I don't think, um, I don't think the magnitude. You know, we've got 27 or eight companies now in PSP, and it's not a minor commitment. It's a major philanthropic commitment to join. We even got the universities, uh, in as big participants in this. So I think the size and scope of the whole thing, I don't think anybody anticipated that.

Speaker C: What are a couple of your, uh, most memorable or favorite initiatives that we've done at psp?

Speaker B: Well, the, um. Yeah, I think. I think the pillar that everybody's the most focused on is education. And so everything we've done in the education field, um, ah, is really important to me. Um, you know, whether it's the schools we supported, the, uh, technical training we did in Hobbs, for example, um, I think everybody believes that it's so important. I remember one of the energy CEOs said, I can get my people to move to Kazakhstan, but I can't get them to move to Midland. And it's because, you know, the families are worried about schools. And, you know, I lived in Midland, you know, a long time, and the fact that people go to Kazakhstan but they wouldn't come to Midland, we got to change that, you know, and I think we're working to change that. Um, education can't be a reason to say no, right? And, uh, I think we're on. We're on track and, uh. But education is a big, complicated topic, and we're not the only community that's. That's struggling with, uh. How do you, um. How do you better prepare your kids for life?

Speaker A: I know healthcare is a big initiative as well. Are there some things there that you're proud of? I mean, I. Every time I drive by the Behavioral Health Center, I think. I think of psp.

Speaker B: Well, I really do. And everything we've seen in the news this week just remind you how much, uh, healthcare, uh, uh, mental health, how important that is. And, uh. So, yeah, the PSP kind of spun off the Beacon effort. And, uh, we're on the board of the Beacon, uh, alliance. And, uh, I hope that that area out there will turn into a major thing that, uh, in the future we'll look back and say, well, this all came out of the PSP effort. You know, hospitals and specialties and places to live and, you know, a. Another jewel for our community.

Speaker C: Kind of along those lines. Tim. So, uh, looking at the next five years of psp, what would you like to see us tackle and accomplish?

Speaker B: Well, you know, I think the Beacon's often running, so I think that that will, um. Supporting those efforts is. Is, you know, a good thing. We've always talked about PSP that, uh. We want to be a catalyst. We want, um. We want to come alongside either the state or local communities. Um, I think this rural health care thing is going to be a big deal, not just for Midland, Odessa, but for the entire Permian Basin. If we can somehow lean into this, we've heard some amazing statistics about if you live in rural areas, uh, how disadvantaged you are, if you get sick or how you can be sick and you won't even know it because you don't have access, uh, to as good and as frequent healthcare as other people do. And in today's age of information and technology, I think we can change that. I think PSP can be a catalyst for changing that. So, um, uh, but I think it, uh. You know, the Permian Basin is Now making almost 7 million barrels a day. It's a giant player on the world stage. We were saying that that was going to happen 15 years ago, but it has happened. And it's even become, uh, more apparent how important that is in today's news, when no one knows if they can get energy or can you get oil through the Straits of Hormuz. And, um, you know, this is the largest, most secure supply of energy in the world. The people that live here shouldn't, uh, have to suffer because they're living on top. They ought to have a great life because of it. And I think the PSP can work to make that happen. And, uh, I still think education is something that I think ought to be number one on our list.

Speaker C: Yeah, you just, uh, made me think of, uh, one of our. An amazing stat. But when I first moved here in 2019, um, the average age of a Midlander was not 30, whereas now it is. And since I've been here, I've watched Centennial park go in, downtown, just become alive and vibrant. And I know that you and Concho were a big. Played a big part in having that vision and that dream. You've helped get, uh, restaurants going, you helped build the park and so many other things. Talk about what that was like.

Speaker B: Yeah, well, I think we had a core belief that, um, if Midland and the Permian Basin were going to prosper, you needed to have companies headquartered here, and Concho was headquartered here. And, uh, because it's just different if your leadership lives in the community that they're reinvesting in. Um, you're not having to convince somebody on the outside that it's a worthy investment compared to investing anywhere else in the world. This is, um, the place you live. And I remember talking to the board in the early days of Concho saying if we just. What if we took 10 cents a barrel and just reinvested 10 cents a barrel in our community, no one's going to miss 10 cents a barrel. And it's not a charitable activity. It's an investment it's going to make our company better. And we kind of had that argument. We won that argument. It was. We embraced that. But 10 cents a barrel became a big number when you're, you know, you start making a million barrels a day and things like that. Um, so, um. And. And the companies that are headquartered in Midland, like Diamondback and Permian Resources and. And others, uh, pro petro. Um, they really are great corporate citizens and they are leaning into it. Um, I think, uh, they ought to be the leaders. And I would encourage the bigger companies that aren't headquartered here. Um, they see the importance of the Permian Basin. And if you want to be a player, you need to be a big investor out here in the infrastructure. And I do think we have exciting things going on downtown and in our way of life. We also have the, uh, athletic, uh, fields and the athletic, uh, complex that's gone in. And I, um, hope we're just getting started. I hope when you look back 10 years from now, all those things were catalysts to, um, make life better.

Speaker A: Well, and to kind of piggyback off what Tracy was saying, that average age, you know, the median age, excuse me, is 30. How exciting is that for you to see? You know, people want to come back here and raise their children here and have our own children. Want to come back here and work here and live here. Because that was not the case, say, 30 years ago.

Speaker B: Oh, yeah. And, um, you know, and whether you want to, like one. One of my kids came back here for a job, and I think he grew up here thinking, I can't wait to get away. But he's back here and been here, I don't know, 10 years now or something like that. But has, uh, a great job with Diamondback and, uh. Um. Um. But you kind of grow to appreciate whether you want to come back here or not. This is where the work is. That's why I came or why I came here when I was young. And, uh. So now I get to play with my grandkids that are, you know, six and three and, uh, taking them to the downtown park and the. The splash pad and what they think of as the mountain that they can run up on and all those things. It's. It's tremendous. You know, it's. It's, um. We went there at Christmas and saw how it was decorated, and it's great for families.

Speaker A: Mary Lights is such a gem. It really is. I. I even get a little teardrop when the.

Speaker C: When the.

Speaker A: When the tree comes down after Christmas.

Speaker B: I want to say, too that, uh, some of our early investors, uh, in Concho were from Abilene. They were the Abilene Foundations. And uh, they were investors in all our Conchos and longtime investors. And they also kind of set the mold for reinvesting in your community. And I think Abilene may be a decade ahead of us on reinventing their downtown. And I, uh, was just there last week and it's exciting what they're doing and I think we can do the same kinds of things.

Speaker A: Looking ahead, what challenges do you see the Permian Basin has? And how can, um, PSP and community members help with those challenges?

Speaker B: You know, we have uh, a couple, and I won't be the expert on organizing the thoughts on this, but, um, the cycle nature of our business gives everybody a reason to say, well, I don't want to invest in roads, I don't want to invest in this, I don't want to invest in that. Because, uh, it's either going away or, well, it's going to go to 30 and it cycles. And um, all the people that you're projecting to come out here won't really come out here because, uh, you know, the negative view of the cycle. Business, business. And um. However, I would say never before have. Have this region been producing 7% of the world's oil supply. That kind of changes everything. I think it will still be cycles, but we, we have built companies that will live through the cycle and this will be a place they will invest through the cycle. So one of the challenges is just the, oh, I was here in the 50s, I was here in the 60s, and this place almost dried up and blew away. So you don't want to invest too heavily. That, that negative mindset. Um, I would also say that, um, uh, the reason that I didn't think this was going to work when we started was that oil people are so independent. The notion of working together doesn't come naturally. That's why they call everybody independence. It's uh. Well, I got my own idea. I'm going to pursue my own idea. We're competitors. How do competitors work together? Um, so I think working together and the oil companies, I hope, can be a good model of how we do that. But you have to do that on a political front too. And politics to me seem. And it's not just politics on television, it's politics, uh, at all the board levels of, uh, doesn't, um, promote working together. We need to work together to solve our problems. And we ought to see politics as the way to have a communication Channel, but not something that keeps us from working together, no matter where you come from.

Speaker C: One of my favorite things about our PSP board meetings is of course all of the amazing work that we do and funding, uh, you know, life changing initiatives. But I often find myself just sitting back and watching the board interact. Like Tim just said, you have, I uh, mean some of the most arguably powerful businessmen and women in the world, certainly in the energy business, around one table four times a year and watching how they interact and watching them banter and poke fun at each other and it's, it's truly remarkable.

Speaker A: And it's like none other. This is the only partnership I've heard of, ah, where we're competitors, get together with education and all the same common goal, the good of our community. Has it been Tracy for you to see that? I mean I would love to hear the best piece of advice y' all have both heard in one of those meetings, but has it been above and beyond what you ever could have dreamed it would be be? Because it just sounds to be the

Speaker B: perfect partnership offer for me for sure. It is wildly exceeded my expectation and I think it has. We, we fly below the radar. I don't think uh, the community generally is aware of how impactful Tracy and her team's work is and how much firepower we have. Um, so yeah, I think it's a huge success. And Tracy's leadership, um, this is not an easy job. You know, it's ah, um, being a catalyst is not an easy job.

Speaker A: She just makes it look easy.

Speaker C: Oh my goodness. Well, I always know at the end of the day that I've got the backing, the support, uh, from my board members, uh, and Tim from the very, very beginning, he was one of the very first people that I interviewed with he here in Midland. And um, really I just knew that if this was going to work out that I had Tim behind me. But you know, landing here in 2019, I didn't know a soul, I did not know one person, um, and quickly realized that nobody's uh, going to do the work for me. I've got to really dig into this community and get to know um, and

Speaker A: be part of it.

Speaker C: And so we just dove in head first and it was the greatest decision I've ever made in my life moving my husband and I here. Um, we can't imagine living anywhere else. And if you would have told me seven years ago we would have funded over $200 million in projects um, across the Permian, I would have said that would be hard to believe. But yet here we are, and we're just getting started.

Speaker B: And that wasn't foundation money. That was, had to be destined to be invested in charitable activity. That was companies writing checks out of their earnings to fund things to make make life better, but also good business decisions to build something where they, um, have a stronger employee base.

Speaker A: And I think that's what's so important is you, you didn't do this because you had to. You did it because you wanted to, because you wanted people to want to live here. And I think and enjoy and love where they're at. I, um, think that is something that not a lot of communities across America can say. They have a group of people that do. I can't, I can't think of one.

Speaker C: I agree. I can't tell you how many calls I get on a weekly basis from people around the country saying, we want the secret recipe. How do we build a PSP in this part of the country or in this state? And I say you really just need a few things. Number one is you have to have top leadership. You have to have the decision makers at the table making these decisions. That's the magic sauce, wouldn't you say? And number two, you all just have to agree to put your competitiveness aside, uh, and make decisions based off of community and your workforce. And you have to all agree that we're going to invest up front.

Speaker A: Right.

Speaker C: You don't build it and then hope you invest, you invest and then you build it together.

Speaker A: I love that. Tim, what would you say is the best piece of leadership advice? Because it does take those top tier leaders to make things happen.

Speaker B: Well, it helped that the Permian was an emerging big player and that a handful of leaders, uh, got together and had a good enough relationship, um, that we said, okay, if it's nobody else but just us, we'll do this. But then it became an organization that people wanted to belong to because of who was sitting around the table. So I think the, um, I think the biggest piece of advice is be careful about who's sitting around the table, because that, that kind of dictates where you're going and what the future is going to look like.

Speaker C: Very true.

Speaker A: I love that.

Speaker C: Very true. Tim. This is one of my favorite questions. Um, being a leader yourself, you probably had at least one person, maybe a couple that you looked up to, ah, throughout your journey. Who, who, who, who was that person?

Speaker B: Yeah, I was lucky and, and I got here early and I got to do stuff early in my career that was probably too early. Really. Actually for me to do. But, um, this area was such a welcoming place for a young person from out of town. You may have experienced some of this that I felt like people were rooting for me, not trying to keep me from being successful. So, um, and I got here at a transition period where I was the youngest person in the room, but I got to meet leaders like Ted Collins, John Cox, uh, Ed Leeds, um, and characters in the business. And then I, uh, may be the only one, um, uh, ever that has worked both for the Faskins and the Scarboroughs. You know, there's the two founding families, um, and admire and love both of them. And, uh, um, this is just such a unique community. But so the people I met, the. The energy guys that I met early in my career, you know, like John Cox would invest in. In every well we drilled. And I met him early in my career through Parker and Parsley interaction. Um, the Yates over in Artesia, um, you know, we did a bunch of drilling in New Mexico, and. And John Yates was. He was just fantastic. Um, and I've got to say, um, I've sat back and watched Don Evans, and Evans, uh, he, um. The. His devotion to serving and serving his state, his country, uh, serving this community, and my relationship with Don, uh, I hope pretty valuable.

Speaker A: Did any of them give you one little piece of advice early on that you're like, oh, this is what's sticking with me the rest of my life?

Speaker B: You know, for me, it was looking at all of them, and I would take bits and pieces from all of them. I would say, I'd like to be a little bit like him and a little bit like him. And here's what I like about him. And there were examples of people. I'd say, I don't want to. I don't want to be like that. And we used to, uh. You're in the hat business. We used to give out hats, Concho hats. And on the back. My favorite thing to tell young people was work hard, tell the truth, and show up on time.

Speaker A: I like it.

Speaker B: I love that if you do those three things, you won't have any competition.

Speaker A: That's right. So young people listening.

Speaker C: Do that.

Speaker B: Work hard, tell the truth, show up on time.

Speaker A: Love that.

Speaker C: Love it.

Speaker A: Love that.

Speaker C: Tim, one of the, um. One of my favorite things about getting to know you is I've also gotten to know your wife, Amy, and a little bit about your family. And in the last seven years, um, some big things have happened in your life. You sold Concho, and then you were, uh, on The Conoco board, which you are. Um, but what does the next five years look like for you and Amy and your family?

Speaker B: Well, I wish I knew. I mean, um, we are enjoying life. Um, we have grandkids. If you have the opportunity to have grandkids, that changes everything, I think. But I still um, I feel like I'm at my peak right now. I still want to be fully engaged and so the notion of retirement doesn't really register with me very much. I've always wanted to live a life of adventure and I've always wanted to try to figure out where is the action. And I want to be in the center of the action. And for most of my life the action has been in Midland, Texas and in the oil and gas business. And so I still feel that way. Um, uh, I want to find out where the action is and that's where I want to be and I want to be working hard in that area.

Speaker C: And I know you have a big love for the outdoors, particularly hunting and fishing. And fishing. Where are your favorite spots?

Speaker B: Well, I will fish anywhere there's water. And ah, I've become more of a bird hunter and that's, that's my social hunting, uh, um, uh, uh, hunting quail and things like that. So, um, but really more than a hunter, I'm a conservationist. That's um, what most people wouldn't know about me is that I have a passion for conservation almost as much as I have a passion for the oil and gas business.

Speaker C: Um, well, I always know if I need to get a hold of Tim and he doesn't answer right away. He's probably hunting probably.

Speaker A: Yes, probably. Is there anything, um, looking, looking forward for the next generation, for your kids and you mentioned your grandchildren, children that you would love to see happen here in West Texas. What would that one thing be?

Speaker B: You know, I'm going to sound like a broken record, but I think access to quality education, um, you know, beefing up our secondary, uh, and higher, uh, um, education, having a bigger and better college, um, in this region I, um, think will make their lives better. And so utpb, Midland College, um, I wish they were two or three or four times larger than what they are. And, and I wish uh, people from this region would have opportunities to take advantage of those places more. And so I, I think some of our focus needs to be on that.

Speaker A: Um, so let's keep growing.

Speaker B: Yeah, I think for the size community we're going to be. Not having a bigger university here, uh, will hold us back. I think, um, we need Bigger and more, maybe.

Speaker A: Well, someone can make that happen. I feel like it's you.

Speaker B: I don't know.

Speaker A: Let's talk about Permian, um, Basin. Because, um, living here through the years, the changes you've seen, um, I would like to just know what's your favorite thing? If you're going to go on a Friday night, Tim, and you're going to go do something fun with, you know, and someone's new to the area and they're listening. What is that thing with all your experience that you would say this is a must do do?

Speaker B: Well, last night, uh, there's a new family moving to town that Exxon's transferred into town, and we took them to the Music man at Wagner Noel last night. That's a gym for this entire. There's nothing like it, you know, and. And so to be able to see a Broadway show and be back at your house in 15 minutes, that's. That's pretty cool. So, uh, I really appreciate that.

Speaker A: And here's another thing. Um, you know, with that, the amount of talent that we get here at the Wagner. We just saw Jerry Seinfeld, Chicago's been here. Um, the list goes on. I'm trying to think. Luann Morgan is coming to town. We get these big comedians and singers and performers and Broadway shows that I know some big cities aren't even getting. They're coming here. They're choosing to come to West Texas because that theater is so incredible. Each and every artist that's, uh, that's up on that stage always says, uh, this is one of the best theaters I've ever played in.

Speaker B: I think the other thing, for new people coming to Midland, um, you don't realize, and. And, uh, my son and daughter have talked about this, that, um, there are national parks that you can drive to in a day. You can get to Guadalupe, P Peak, you can get to Big Bend. Um, uh, and they're doable and they're spectacular. And. And so, um, there we. We do have the ability on weekends to go places and that are different. You know, you can. You can go up to Palo Duro Canyon from here, you know, so I kind of like where we're located. I'm kind of a West Texas person now.

Speaker A: I love that. And you can fly out in. You're at the airport 15 minutes or less, no matter, really, if you're Midland, Odessa, uh, you were there in 15 minutes. No traffic in and out International Airport.

Speaker B: And there's a West Texas attitude. And one of, you know, I said this was a people person. Kind of business, but as a shout out to, like to Bill Kent. One of my goals in life would be every time I stop at a gas station, I want to see somebody I know. M. And when I stop at Kent quick, I always see people I know there, you know, so it's, uh. Um. No matter if I'm in San Angelo or what town I'm in, it's pretty cool.

Speaker A: I love that. As we wrap up, what message would both of you like to share about psp, the future of the Permian and where we're going?

Speaker C: Well, when I first landed here, um, I had Tim and Don Evans and several others say, Tracy, here in West Texas, in the Permian, we think big, and it's probably bigger than what you think is big, but that's what we do out here. We do big, big things. And if you. If we think it, if we want it, it will happen. And I didn't at the time appreciate what that meant, but seven years later, that it is. It is so true. And, um, it's really been an amazing experience, and I feel very blessed to have a board that says you're not thinking big enough when I thought I was thinking pretty big. And so it's just. Not everybody gets to say that in the world, and I don't take it for granted. I know how blessed we are, and I am.

Speaker B: I'll tell one last story that, uh, it's probably 20 years ago, maybe even longer, that, uh, I was sitting normally when opportunities come my way. I'm sitting in my office, minding my own business, and the phone rings, and it was Clady Williams. And, uh, he. He. He wanted to talk Texas, uh, A and M. But his message to me was. He said, my generation, the Clay Williams generation is, Is passing away. We've done about all we can do. He said, your generation needs to pick it up. You're not. You're not doing enough, and you need to get your generation to come along faster. And so, um, I feel like I'm kind of where Clady was back in the day. And so one of my message. And when you look at. Around the PSP table, I think the average age of the, of the. Of the leaders, it's younger now. And my message to them is, uh, our generation's passing away. They need to pick it up. This, this vision needs to be their vision.

Speaker A: I love that. Let's leave it better than you found it, and let's keep it going, because who knows what. What the Permian will look like.

Speaker B: It's not up to us anymore. It's up. It's up to you.

Speaker A: I love that. Well, thank you both so much for this time today. I appreciate it. I think this has been in a wonderful conversation. You sure there's nothing else you want to add? Any last minute nuggets? I feel like I'm just going to soak all those in today. This has been wonderful. Uh, anything else you want to add before we go?

Speaker C: I just want to thank Tim for believing in me, for believing in PSP uh, when others didn't think it was possible. And I've, um, really, really enjoyed your mentorship, your leadership and your friendship.

Speaker B: Thanks. Same.

Speaker A: And I think what both of you would do is just truly amazing. Our community is truly better because of psp. So thank you both and we want to encourage you if you are new to West Texas or if you've been here, uh, for forever like some of us have been. Uh, please continue to pass on this podcast so people can hear the good things that are happening in West Texas. I feel like you can never get good news out enough and that's exactly what we are doing here today. So a big thank you to Tracy Bentley and Tim Leach for coming in, sharing their insights on the future of the Permian Basin. Thank you for all you've done and thank you for continuing to make West Texas better through your partnerships with the Permian Strategic Partnership. I also want you to know if you want to learn more about some the of of the initiatives, please go online. There is a fantastic website. It is permian partnership.org you can find out all the things that that PSP is doing to make our community better and how you can get involved. And that's the, that's the goal. Let's keep getting more. We want everyone along for the ride on this. This is amazing to see where PSP is going. And finally, uh, just want to thank you for listening and for your time. We know your time is precious, so thank you so much. Remember, we are all better together and the future lies in the Permian. So we will see you next time. Thank you again for everything and we will see you next time on the Permian Strategic Partnership podcast. You make it a great day.