December 2024: Hirings, promotions, and other personnel matters in the nation’s biggest oil patch—or in companies who do business here. SM Energy Company announced Sept. 9 that Beth McDonald had been appointed as its Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. President and Chief Executive Officer Herb Vogel commented: “We are delighted to welcome Beth to our […]
The 4-Day Work Week in the Oil Patch
I once heard a quote that sums up the oilfield work week: “It’s only two more workdays til Monday.” Unless the world is planning to change, work does not stop in the Oil Patch on Friday, much less on Saturday or Sunday. For families in the Permian Basin, where both parents work, what would […]
Two Stock Bargains in the Delaware Basin
In recent months I have discussed multiple stock investment opportunities in the broad Permian Basin. Today, I will focus on two that are bargains in the Delaware Basin specifically. The Delaware has a higher percentage of natural gas to oil production than the Midland. While in the past companies were very focused on oil, […]
Sourcing Capital, U.S. Debt, Virtue Signaling, and [unvirtuous] Candied Pork Belly Bacon Bites
The journal entries below are excerpted from recent installments of James Wicklund’s “Things I Learned…” newsletter. It was a fun week in Dallas. The real treat [first week of October] was the Hart Energy Capital Conference in Dallas. The 400 attendees set a record for the conference. Karl Rove was the keynote so you can imagine […]
Civility in the Workplace
A couple of things come to mind as topics worth discussing this month. One is hiring foreign workers, and the other is the Presidential election. Starting with hiring foreign workers, I was initially grateful that what appeared to be well-educated migrants from Venezuela and Cuba had come to the Permian Basin to find jobs. There […]
Conventional Thinking, Efficiency Mindedness, Record-Breaking Outputs, and the “Value” of Political Prattle
Sentimental? No, not nearly. Exxon got the Pioneer deal done with the worst government requirements ever announced. It is now starting to reorganize its holdings. What that means is the legacy part of Pioneer, the conventional drilling that put them on the map appears to be going away. Exxon announced the pending sale of up […]
Carbon Capture as an Investment Play
In recent articles I discussed some bullish oil and gas investment ideas in the Permian. Energy though, as you well know, is in a massive transition period. Over the next decade, three things will happen that are not in much doubt anymore. U.S. onshore oil production in the Lower 48 will peak and […]
Life in the Merge Lane
The shale revolution of the previous decade began with mantras of “drill, baby, drill,” interspersed with “spend, baby, spend,” and “buy small, grow fast, sell big, make money!” That didn’t work, as the resulting river of shale oil flooded the market and crashed prices. Only a lucky few made big money on that plan. […]
Water and Its Ways
For decades oil and gas producers had a great luxury—they could cheaply dispose of produced water in saltwater disposal wells (SWDs) near the production wells. But the old saying about going to the well once too often is becoming more and more real in the SWD space, necessitating some big changes, with potentially much higher […]
Open Enrollment
It is time for many employers to begin open enrollment for their employees’ insurance and other benefits for the 2025 year. Are you ready? Have you met with your broker and rebid your current product offerings? Have you met with at least one other broker to see if your current broker continues to be […]
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