CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Jim Devlin has been in the oil and gas industry in South Texas for almost 40 years.
But for the last decade or so, he says the drilling business has been on the decline.
“The activity level is a fraction of what it was ten years ago," he said.
With President Joe Biden now in office, Devlin expects to see policies on the oil and gas industry that he believes will lead to less oil and gas production.
He says that's bad news for those local drilling companies.
"Lower production will just make that worse, and the people that are still in the business will be challenged," Devlin said.
He's also concerned that if oil and gas production declined under President Biden, it would slow down the Port of Corpus Christi.
But the leader of that facility, dubbed 'The Energy Port of the Americas' in part for being the largest exporter of U.S. produced crude, expects business as usual -- at least at first.
"We think that we’ll continue to see for the immediate term more exports through the Port of Corpus Christi which will create more jobs here and keep our economy vibrant,” Port of Corpus Christi C.E.O. Sean Strawbridge said.
