The Crude Life host Jason Spiess joins Genneca with The Country Twins radio network for their weekly conversation about life, liberty and lubricants.
The interview began with a discussion about Wyoming’s recent Rig Zero news. Spiess pointed out that this is beyond devastating to the Wyoming local economies. From property tax increases to decreased school budgets to the secondary supply chain, Spiess cites numerous examples of the reverse ripple and economic impact.
“There’s all kinds of studies, I think they equate like a hundred workers per rig. I get where they are coming from but I think it is more than that,” Spiess said. “There’s a supply chain involved, cafes and convenience stores, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg along with the upstream, downstream and midstream. That’s why I always joke ‘salmon stream’ because there is such a whole different marketplace and economy from the secondary supporting supply chain to industry.”
Spiess speculated about the oil and gas industry’s future with the nexus of COVID Shutdowns and Climate Activism. He believes the buyouts and bankruptcies will continue as centralization of global energy companies will continue.
Wyoming’s decline of rig counts has many people questioning the current leadership in industry. Spiess points to the past by not learning from previous downturns and reacting the the current market rather than being proactive as examples heard across Shale Play USA.
“I would have never guessed that Wyoming would have gone down to zero rigs, and that is significant for a lot of reasons. I mentioned the job side of things, but look at the leadership,” Spiess said. “Now we are talking about schools, municipalities, non-profits and these types of organizations who are not only not going to receive charitable donations from the oil and gas companies because they are not around there, but the state is now not going to have any money to fund those organizations either.”
The dissection of leadership continues in conversation.
“There is an increasing trend of poor leadership. What I mean by that is, appointed leadership. Take a look in Wyoming,” Spiess said. “How is it that we didn’t hear from anyone in the state, whether it is the petroleum council or a state legislator or the state’s oil and gas division, how come nobody over the last month came out and said ‘I don’t want to alarm anyone and I am not saying we’ll hit zero rigs, but we might hit two’. We didn’t even hear that.”
Spiess said right now there are many appointed leaders who are reacting to industry change rather than being proactive or directing the discussion.
“So to have all these leaders come out after the fact and say ‘here’s my reaction to us hitting zero rigs’. How is that acceptable?” Spiess asked. “How is that even leadership. Anyone can react. Who is going to lead right now? I get it when you sit in a room with a bunch of Yes Men and you are trying to be proactive it’s a risk. I get that, I’ve been in those meetings where people talk about being proactive and other buzz words but are when it comes time to act, they don’t act.”
The interview also discussed “pockets of positivity” in the oil and gas industry. Spiess gives an example of Swan Energy buying natural gas leases and offering a well share program from laid of oilfield workers as a couple examples of productive progress for those facing the potential of a downward spiral.
“Humans are interesting because we resist change,” Spiess said. “That’s why when change comes it happens fast.”
The Crude Life Podcast can be heard every Monday through Thursday with a Week in Review on Friday.
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