Here are this week’s special guests on The Crude Life Week In Review Episode 455:
The Crude Life’s Chief Intention Officer Jason Spiess interviews Doug Wiles, City Forester, about the oil and gas industry’s contribution to their city tree programs. He explains how community minded sponsors have partnered together with the City of Bismarck to provide funds for a matching grant to help homeowners plant street trees. This grant offers a direct reimbursement to citizens and businesses who plant trees in the City’s boulevard area adjacent to their property.
Interested in becoming a sponsor? Click here For the city of Bismarck’s Partners In Planting/Arbor Day donation form. Companies who have participated in the program include:
Marathon Petroleum Community Investment Programs
Montana Dakota Utility Environmental Community Opportunity Fund
Knutson Realty
Elk Ridge
Starion Bank
Plant Perfect
Robert & Marcia Gutman
Wentz Landscape Co.
Cashman Nursery
Prairie View Landscaping & Nursery
KLJ Engineering
The Crude Life Content News Correspondent Ken Lavin interviews Ward Polzin, Camino Natural Resources, about his recent trip to Antarctica and where they are currently drilling.
“My wife and I just got back from 30 days in Antarctica. It was a trip of a lifetime.” Polzin said. “There’s some consistencies that we all have in this industry. We are outdoors people, we like animals, we like geology, and that’s what Antarctica brought… we went 8000 miles on a ship… lots of things stood out, penguins galore, icebergs. At one point we were in a colony of 200,000 penguins.”
The two continued to discuss Antarctica and some of the unique attributes that part of the world brings.
“There’s now predators on land for a penguin, so they are not scared of you,” Polzin said. “It’s great to get up that close to see wildlife, geology and nature.”
The interview also covered specific oil and gas topics too. Like what Camino Natural Resources is currently do in the oilfield. According to Polzin, they are currently operating three rigs in Oklahoma
“We just added the third, kinda approximately in the middle of this last year so we are going to see production growth this year in 2022 of about 20-percent over 2021,” Polzin said. “And then even if we keep those three rigs and keep those flat over a give-or-take-five year period, we’ll have about a 10-15% growth rate. So we as you can see we are not trying to grow massively, but we are definitely trying to grow.”
Polzin talks about all the different issues in oil and gas right now – ESG, Ukraine, high oil prices – and advises to be cautious with moves, commitments and financing.
“We need to be really careful right, that those higher oil prices do not bring some unintended consequences to our industry,” Polzin said. “So we just need to keep doing what we do, extremely well, and add a little production where we can.”
Camino Natural Resources is an independent oil and natural gas company operating in the core of the SCOOP and Merge plays of Central Oklahoma. With over 100,000 net acres, Camino is pursuing its growth strategy by applying strong technical analysis and operational integration, resulting in industry leading well results and attractive investment returns.
Spiess interviews Dwayne Farris, Black Creek K9 Pipeline Inspections about their work in the oil and gas industry.
Farris talks about the different types of dogs doing a variety of work for oil and gas operators, as well as others.
Farris gives an overview of how their dogs detect leaks in pipelines, including the science behind the scent, as well as why these canine workers may be a bit different than other employees.
“Our relationship (with the dogs) is definitely two fold, and yes they are our working dogs and our business,” Farris said. “So without them we are not able to do the things we say we can do in business, but also they are incorporated within our family unit.”
In addition to pipeline leak detection, BCK9 also offers drug, narcotic and weapon detection for companies and organizations.
Farris’ military background is also folded into the conversation.
“I had the fortunate paths cross of canine work and military while in the Marines and I competed and got selected and that’s what started the journey,” Farris said.
Understanding the skills of the canine and working ethics of a dog was something Farris found remarkable and totally understands why Hollywood has gotten on the Military Dog angle the past decade as a way to connect a military brand to the average person.
“Even in movies today you can see how they’ve gone towards telling the story of these dogs,” Farris said. “A lot of that is trying to capture memorable events for military or service members with working dogs.”
Kunal Patel, senior business economist, at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas joined Jason Spiess to discuss the new Energy Survey of over 200 companies.
As a member of the Research Department’s energy group, Patel analyzes and investigates developments and topics in the oil and gas sector. He is also heavily involved with the production of the Dallas Fed Energy Survey and is an organizer of the annual Dallas Fed–Kansas City Fed energy conference.
Before joining the Dallas Fed in 2017, Patel worked in a variety of energy-related positions at Luminant, McKinsey and Co. and Bank of America Merrill Lynch.
Patel received a bachelor of business administration from the Business Honors Program at the University of Texas at Austin and an MBA in finance from the University of Texas at Dallas.
About 200 Firms Surveyed
The Dallas Fed conducts a quarterly survey of about 200 oil and gas firms located or headquartered in the Eleventh District—Texas, southern New Mexico and northern Louisiana—which operate regionally, nationally or internationally.
The information collected is a valuable component of economic analysis and serves as input for Federal Open Market Committee monetary policy deliberations. Survey respondents are asked whether various measures of their firms’ business activities have increased, decreased or remained unchanged relative to the prior quarter and the year-ago quarter. Responses are aggregated into diffusion indexes; positive values indicate expansion while negative values indicate contraction.
Activity in the oil and gas sector accelerated in first quarter 2022, according to oil and gas executives responding to the Dallas Fed Energy Survey. The business activity index—the survey’s broadest measure of conditions facing Eleventh District energy firms—jumped from 42.6 in the fourth quarter to 56.0, reaching its highest reading in the survey’s six-year history.
Oil production increased at a faster pace, according to executives at exploration and production (E&P) firms. The oil production index rose sharply from 19.1 in the fourth quarter to 45.0 in the first quarter. Similarly, the natural gas production index advanced 14 points to 40.0.
Costs increased for a fifth straight quarter. Among oilfield services firms, the index for input costs increased from 69.8 to 77.1—a record high. Only one of the 50 responding oilfield services firms reported lower input costs this quarter. Among E&P firms, the index for finding and development costs advanced from 44.9 in the fourth quarter to 56.0 in the first. Additionally, the index for lease operating expenses also increased, from 42.0 to 58.9. Both indexes reached highs for the survey’s six-year history.
Oilfield services firms reported improvement across all indicators. The equipment utilization index remained elevated but edged down from 51.1 in the fourth quarter to 50.0 in the first. The operating margin index advanced from 11.6 to 21.3. The index of prices received for services jumped from 30.3 to 53.2, a record high.
All labor market indexes in the first quarter reached record highs, pointing to strong growth in employment, hours and wages. The aggregate employment index posted a fifth consecutive positive reading and increased from 11.9 to 28.0. The aggregate employee hours index jumped from 18.0 to 36.0. The aggregate wages and benefits index also rose, from 36.6 to 54.0.
Six-month outlooks improved significantly, with the index climbing from 53.2 last quarter to 76.3, a record high. The outlook uncertainty index also jumped from -1.5 to 31.9, suggesting uncertainty became much more pronounced this quarter.
On average, respondents expect a West Texas Intermediate (WTI) oil price of $93 per barrel by year-end 2022; responses ranged from $50 to $200 per barrel. Survey participants expect Henry Hub natural gas prices of $4.57 per million British thermal units (MMBtu) at year-end. For reference, WTI spot prices averaged $103.07 per barrel during the survey collection period, and Henry Hub spot prices averaged $4.65 per MMBtu.
Alma Cook released her video “5000 Candles” worldwide with a professional video and production company. Cook also works for Cook Compliance Solutions in the oil and gas industry as a safety compliance officer.
Music heard on The Crude Life Week in Review is written and performed by Alma Cook. Support her music career at www.hearalma.com
About The Crude Life Week in Review
Award winning interviewer and broadcast journalist Jason Spiess and Content Correspondents engage with the industry’s best thinkers, writers, politicians, business leaders, scientists, entertainers, community leaders, cafe owners and other newsmakers in one-on-one interviews and round table discussions.
The Crude Life Week in Review has been broadcasting on radio stations since 2012 and posts all updates and interviews on The Crude Life Social Media Network.
Everyday your story is being told by someone. Who is telling your story? Who are you telling your story to?
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Sponsors, Music and Other Show Notes
Studio Sponsor: The Industrial Forest
The Industrial Forest is a network of environmentally minded and socially conscious businesses that are using industrial innovations to build a network of sustainable forests across the United States.
Weekly Sponsor: KBL Complete Services
Strikingly dynamic, incomparably strong and absolutely reliable, KBL Complete Services excels at all of your pipeline needs. From AGM Surveys, ILI tool tracking, Digsite Locating, and Equipment Decontamination, to Project Management, KBL Complete Services are ready to make your project a success.
Weekly Sponsor: Great American Mining Co
Great American Mining monetizes wasted, stranded and undervalued gas throughout the oil and gas industry by using it as a power generation source for bitcoin mining. We bring the market and our expertise to the molecule. Our solutions make producers more efficient and profitable while helping to reduce flaring and venting throughout the oil and gas value chain.
Join Podcasters from across the world and all walks of life as they unite to bring civil solutions to life and liberty.
Studio Email and Inbox Sponsor: To Be Announced
Featured Music: Alma Cook
For guest, band or show topic requests, email studio@thecrudelife.com
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