When we started OneEnergy Partners in 2016, the management team lived in different cities.  By the time we sold in 2018, we still did.  It made for awkward introduction meetings when people would ask “Where is your office?” “Dallas/ Houston/ Denver/ Portland/ Jal/ here!” came the responses. In fairness, we did have a mailing address: a prominent Houston landmark building we affectionately called “The OneEnergy Tower” (others might know it as the AIG building).  The set up sounds downright...

With oil recovering $70/bbl, the glory days are back! OK, that’s not exactly true, but $30/bbl feels a lot better. What’s going on? At the trough of the lockdown, it is estimated that worldwide demand for oil was down 35 mmbo/d. That’s a whopping 35%! And while production cuts in May by OPEC+ of 9.7 mmbo/d, plus an estimated 3 mmbo/d from the U.S and Canada shut ins has helped, and as mobility data shows that driving is returning, we...

While I may disagree with Elon Musk on some points, one can’t deny he has been at the forefront of innovation since PayPal. With Solar City, Tesla, Space X and the Boring Company, just a few of the companies he has built to explore ideas, his personality matches his incessant need to challenge the status quo. It’s why when he rants about the lockdown, it’s worth listening to. First, he’s selling his houses: why? With unemployment headed to 25% (and...

Imagine it’s 2008 and you are graduating from college and have no job prospects.  The logical thing to do is to beg, plead, hustle, grind your way into a Dedication ceremony to the Y in Dallas for T Boone Pickens and have him hire you as an intern.  Join me for a wide ranging discussion with Billy Bailey, investor, portfolio manager, Founder of Saltstone Capital Management and all around great guy as we start at Alabama football, work through...

Sure, it’s easy to get down when a barrel of oil is the same price as a “Hope is not a plan” t-shirt (and natural gas, don’t get me started, you’d need 15 of those bad boys).  There is lots to be optimistic about! Home Depot has never been busier.  In the midst of the lockdown where we are saving lives with every small distanced step of closing non essential things, at least you can renovate your bathroom or...

Opinion pieces are just that. An opinion.  No one knows the answer until it’s too late to react and for oil and gas professionals, there are a lot of opinions being thrown around about the state of jobs in the industry. The best description I’ve heard was in the last 24 hours by two people who said “Energy has been in a 6 year bear market, since June of 2014.”  Wow.  That is so accurate.  Living it, I didn’t feel...

As the day wound down, and I put my three masks away, my email, text and LinkedIn started to vibrate in succession.  News was out that Oxy was offering employees a voluntary resignation package and some people were really fired up about it.  Personally, I thought it was the best of a very unfortunate situation.  If you have read more than one blog post I've written, you know I don't defend anything if I don't believe it.  I am...

Buy low, sell high. Seems like a really easy concept.  The problem?  Emotions.  Emotion always seem to get in the way of sound decision making.  Last week, Shell reached an agreement to sell it's Appalachia shale gas assets to National Fuel for $541 million (and... if National Fuel wishes, it can pay $150 million of the proceeds in common stock).  Said Shell "The transaction is part of divesting non-core assets and in line with Shell's Shale strategy which focuses...

Today I am joined by Laura Preng of Preng and Associates who is a long time energy recruiter to talk about the state of the industry, tips and tricks of the trade to be more visible and be considered for more roles, thoughts on what to do if you want to pivot from an energy career and what to look for in the next 5 years.  I’ve been friends with Laura for a long time and I always enjoy...

To all the moms who have been there for the failures and who’s nurturing, love and support enable the wins.  Happy Mother’s Day. Love and hugs.