It don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got… good rocks.
Four Colorful Figures
The famous Four Sixes Ranch in West Texas was founded by a famed rancher, Burk Burnett, who later became a famed oilman (viz., the Burkburnett Oil Boom of the early 20th Century). But before his oil days, Burnett lived the frontier life in the grand manner. In 1905 he invited Pres. Theodore Roosevelt to the Big Pasture area of Oklahoma, along the Red River, for a wolf hunt. The big draw was U.S. Marshal Jack Abernathy, who caught wolves with his bare hands. In the accompanying photo, Abernathy (center, holding wolf by the jaw) is seen with Quanah Parker kneeling at Abernathy’s left. The President stands second from the right; Burnett stands at the far right. On YouTube, you can find a vintage clip of Abernathy catching a live wolf by the mouth and subduing it.
Word of the Month
Rock: n., a concreted mass of stony material (merriam-webster.com); consolidated or unconsolidated mineral matter (ibid); good rocks (oil and gas, colloquialism): acreage with productive substructure. Used in a sentence: “[Scott Sheffield] has perfected the recipe for success in the industry. Simply put: good rocks, good books and, most importantly, good people.” Another: “If you don’t have good rocks you don’t have anything” (Ken Boyd). Another “It’s time for the rest of us to start building an oil stock wish list. The two key elements: good rocks and low debt. l—Christopher Helman, Forbes
They Said It
“Just one gallon of gas has the energy equivalent of 80 days of manual labor.” —Mark Mathis
“Believe you can and you’re halfway there.” —Theodore Roosevelt
“Keep your eyes on the stars and your feet on the ground.” —Theodore Roosevelt
“Many of us spend half of our time wishing for things we could have if we didn’t spend half our time wishing.” —Alexander Woollcott
“If you’re looking for long-term returns in the E&P space, Permian, absolutely going to be some growth there in the next three years.” Tim Melvin, Benzinga.com
“There will be beneficiaries in this market—companies that have been run very, very well and have not over-levered—and they’re likely to be beneficiaries scooping up assets. We might come out of this seeing that one-third of the participants have consolidated.” —Joe D’Angelo, Carl Marks Advisors
“Wind and solar power are land-intensive, a green sin, but not energy-dense, and affordable only when heavily subsidized. And wind power must be supplemented with hydrocarbons for reliability.” —Mark McKinnon
“It’s just madness. First email. Then instant message. Then MySpace. Then Facebook. Then LinkedIn. Then Twitter. It’s not enough anymore to ‘Just do it.’ Now we have to tell everyone we are doing it, when we are doing it, where we are doing it and why we are doing it.” —Mark McKinnon
“Elections are won by men and women chiefly because most people vote against somebody rather than for somebody.” —Franklin P. Adams
“Too much truth is uncouth.” —Franklin P. Adams