Addressing Climate Change: A Better Way Forward

Featured image for the article with white text and dark blue background

Political, business and environmental leaders across the globe are coming to grips with the flaws in their poorly conceived plans to deal with climate change through a renewables-centric energy transition. The fact is there’s always been a better way forward. It’s still true today.

Continue reading “Addressing Climate Change: A Better Way Forward”

Climate Fanaticism’s Distorted Lens

climate fanaticism distort

A character in Oscar Wilde’s play Lady Windermere’s Fan famously defines a cynic as one who “knows the price of everything, and the value of nothing.” When it comes to shaping public opinion concerning the carbon economy, it’s fair to say climate fanaticism—and the bleak lens through which it views the future—has had an abiding impact.

Continue reading “Climate Fanaticism’s Distorted Lens”

Travelers on a Road to Nowhere

Photo of a highway road leading to nowhere.

This post was updated on June 24, 2019. 

Imagine a contest between two horses. History suggests one of the animals, having lost most of its races to the competitor, is the slower of the two. You are given even odds. Would you bet on the reliably slower horse?
 
The answer, of course, is no. Only a glutton for punishment would take even odds on a horse that’s expected to lose.

Continue reading “Travelers on a Road to Nowhere”

Can American Shale Keep It Up?

Image of oilfield equipment against an American flag

The New York Times recently published an Op-Ed on the American shale industry that garnered significant attention within the oil and gas community. The piece was written by Bethany McLean, co-author of The Smartest Guys in the Room—the book-turned-documentary many consider to be the definitive account of Enron and its unraveling.

Continue reading “Can American Shale Keep It Up?”

For Oilfield Suppliers, It’s Adapt or Die

Image of oilfield worker standing next to a pump jack against an ominous sky.

This post was updated on June 26, 2019. 

Oil prices have rebounded from their 2014 collapse. Yet for upstream suppliers, it’s hard to tell.

It’s going to take more than crude in the $60s to rebalance the oilfield. The problem remains structural. In short, there are too many players chasing too little demand. Continue reading “For Oilfield Suppliers, It’s Adapt or Die”

Succeeding in a Cyclical Industry

Business Cycle Chart

Achieving sustained performance in the oil and gas industry can, quite frankly, be a challenge. A primary reason is cyclicality. For suppliers, the task of continually scaling one’s organization to match market temperament can prove especially tricky.

Numerous factors lead to the swings in demand that define the oilfield. Mercurial commodity prices top the list. Fluctuating exchange rates, capital availability, seasonality and weather, government policy, and geopolitical events also play their part. Continue reading “Succeeding in a Cyclical Industry”

Laying the Groundwork for Better Times Ahead

Image of workers laying a cement foundation with a gold masthead and white text.

The tendency of many suppliers to the oil and gas industry is to live for the up cycle. When challenging times hit, enthusiasm inevitably wanes. Companies go through the motions, but their hearts aren’t in it.  Some even shut their doors until times improve.

But it does not have to be this way. Forward-looking suppliers always have the opportunity to the lay the groundwork for better times ahead. For some, this new foundation will be evolutionary.  For others, it can prove revolutionary.

Continue reading “Laying the Groundwork for Better Times Ahead”

Oilfield Equipment: Let Gaps Guide Investment

Top Drive

In the 1980s and 1990s, the oilfield equipment sector, for all intents and purposes, neglected the customer.  Since then, a select group of companies have successfully kept the focus of their efforts on satisfying  customers with dependable products.  They have coupled this with responsive service.

The results are impressive. In fact, they’ve played critical roles in advancing the industry’s capabilities.  Horizontal wells are now drilled as adroitly as vertical wells.  Offshore operations are carried out at previously unimaginable water depths.  High temperatures and pressures are routinely brought to heel.  Better bit designs save Continue reading “Oilfield Equipment: Let Gaps Guide Investment”

Hydraulic Fracturing & The Nocebo Effect

No Fracking Way

Recently, residents of Denton, Texas voted to ban hydraulic fracturing within the city limits.  One way to read the results from the referendum is to conclude that the verdict is in: unconventional drilling for oil and gas poses enough health risks to nearby communities that it had to be stopped in the Dallas-suburb home to drilling innovation.

But is fracking really to blame for recently high incidents of asthma, nose bleed and nausea reported by Denton residents?  As a pioneering city for hydraulic fracturing, the practice has been in place for decades in and around Denton.  What’s novel to the city is the anti-fracking activism and its coverage in both the local and national media. Continue reading “Hydraulic Fracturing & The Nocebo Effect”