On Aug. 8, PB Oil and Gas Magazine visited with PBPA President Ben Shepperd about the format and topics of this year’s Annual Meeting.
PBOG Magazine: I know you discussed the first two speakers of the meeting (the Sept. 17 session) in your regular column in this magazine, but could you expand a little more about what they’ll be saying?
Ben Shepperd
Ben Shepperd: Yes, certainly. We’re real interested in hearing from Missi (Currier) in respect to all the great work that she’s been doing with the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association (NMOGA) and what NMOGA has been doing together with PBPA. PBPA has never before enjoyed such a good relationship as we currently do with all of our New Mexico associations, but we’re really especially working well together with NMOGA and it’s making us all more effective.
And then we’ll be hearing from Edith Naegele. We’re excited to have Edith with us. She is in her first year as president of the Independent Petroleum Association of America and is doing a fantastic job. One of the biggest areas of challenges for us is at the federal level and IPAA is leading the charge on addressing a lot of those issues and the uncertainty coming out of Washington. It ought to be very interesting to hear IPAA’s take, with them being there on the ground in Washington D.C., as to what’s really going on right now.
PBOG: Seems like there’s so much change happening.
Ben: Yes. Exactly. And the next speaker up is another person we’re very pleased to have—the Director of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). Steve Pearce. Former Congressman Pearce is now the director of the BLM and he’s making big changes at the agency, as far as operations on federal lands are concerned, particularly in New Mexico. He’s going to update us on what some of those changes are, to help us to facilitate better processes and better access to the natural resources. Steve is a former oil and gas businessman himself, from southeast New Mexico. So he brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to that role.
PBOG: That should take us to about mid-morning.
Ben: Correct. We have a water panel that will begin then. The big challenge there for all of these midstream and water management companies is the tremendous amount of investment they’re making in not only infrastructure—to help move produced water around—but in research and development of technology to further the usage and availability of produced water for other purposes. For example, a couple of our panelists will discuss some of the pilot projects that have been approved for utilization of produced water on non-food crop agriculture.
PBOG: It’s a huge topic, we know. Okay, what comes next? A legislative panel?
Ben: Of all things, we’re not having a legislative panel this time. And it’s because of scheduling conflicts. The legislators we would have welcomed are at different events this year, at this time. For example, in the Texas House, the House Republicans called for a Republican retreat. Pretty much none of them are available.
PBOG: I get it. So, it’s not for lack of us trying, but it won’t be happening.
Ben: There’s nothing more to it than that. It’s just that scheduling didn’t work out. And that’s unusual. We’ve never not had a legislative panel. But with what we’re doing in our luncheon session, Christi Craddock, our keynote speaker, will be able to give us a few insights into upcoming legislative matters. Christi will mainly give us an overview of activity at the Railroad Commission. And we’ll get to hear the latest of the Commission’s rule makings as they continue to implement some of the legislation that was approved last session. I expect she’ll give us some forward-looking thoughts as they relate to the upcoming Texas Legislature session in January.
PBOG: Will we be seeing anyone from the University of Texas Bureau of Economic Geology (BEG)?
Ben: Yes—we’ll get a presentation from them, too. [This comes before the luncheon keynote.] Not only are they constantly studying the geology of the Permian Basin, but they’re also doing some research on data centers and the types of resources needed to support those. Land, geology, water, those kinds of things.
PBOG: After lunch, is there a CEO session, as in most years?
Ben: Yes. This year we are hosting Brendan McCracken, the president and CEO of Ovintiv. They’re a very active driller and their presence continues to grow in the Permian Basin. Brendan will give us, from a CEO’s perspective, a picture of what’s going on with the industry and what the future of the Permian could look like. He’ll give some remarks, and then he’ll do a question-and-answer period. That’ll finish us up. Should be a packed agenda and we’re expecting a nice crowd.
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