The battle over ethanol as an added fuel ingredient to gasoline and diesel fuels has been around for going on 50 years. And occasionally it flares up when certain measures or mandates come to the fore in our nation’s capital. Because ethanol is produced by corn farmers, the corn lobby (and agriculture in general) is […]
In Defense of the Fourth Estate
As the United States reaches its 250th anniversary of its birth, many are looking back and looking forward. As for looking forward, if there’s one thing I wish for this country to possess in the years to come, it is a true, functioning news media, respected and heeded by the public. Only with that can […]
Reach Out and Up!
Welcome to this month’s edition regarding everyone’s favorite topic in the Oilfield… Safety! I am eager to present this month’s topic, because it’s about feedback. When I say feedback, I am referring to the feedback from the personnel in the field and from corporate as well. How many times do you actually solicit raw feedback […]
Logisticus Maximus
I sat for longer than I’d care to say at the side of I-20 one morning mid-April. Just west of Midland, at a corner everyone drives by, but no one remembers. I counted large oilfield service trucks for about an hour. Well, I tried anyway. My informal experiment ended just as informally: I lost track […]
Getting the Job
Each Sunday, the Houston Chronicle publishes a jobs section filled with practical, easy-to-read advice. As a reminder, I teach Professional Communications and Human Resource Management. The assignment I emphasize most is the resume, yet no matter how much guidance I offer, about half the class will not follow directions or accept help. If you remember […]
2026 Byword: Behind the Meter
The Huddleston family made national news recently when they turned down about $26 million to sell their Mason County, Kentucky farm to an AI company. Instead, they opted to preserve the family heritage of farming green plants instead of power plants and data centers. State legislators in Alabama, Georgia, and elsewhere have declared moratoria on […]
Swinging into Spring
ODESSA, TEXAS—The beautiful Odessa Country Club was the site on May 28 for the day-long golf event that has come to be known as the Permian Basin Petroleum Association “Spring Swing.” Fine weather greeted the full slate of teams. The format was a four-man scramble. If enthusiastic participation in golf tournaments can be construed as […]
Milton Friedman: Architect of Modern Free Market Economics
Our nation lost the man who was possibly its greatest economist of the last 100 years when Milton Friedman passed away 20 years ago. Some of us are old enough to remember his appearances on television in the 1980s, during the Reagan years, when, with rousing phrases, he championed free market policies and small government. […]
Keeping Things Real
It was James M. Barrie, the English author known as the creator of Peter Pan, who said that “Life is a long lesson in humility.” It seems that we either learn humility on our own, of our own volition, or, if we live long enough, we get it ground into us by life itself, whether […]
Unforeseen Consequences
I am finishing this article on April 15, and I was so delighted to pay my taxes this year. The more you make, the more you are taxed, and if you are 65 or older, the more you pay for Medicare. Our younger workers have no idea what will happen when they turn 65 and […]