In the episode of This Week In Energy for April 6, 2024: According to Mike Wirth, CEO, Chevron, the oil and gas industry should be included in energy transition discussions since its expertise can be leveraged to build a new system, says Chevron’s top executive.
Mike Wirth, the company’s Chairman and CEO, said during the recent American Energy Security Summit that the sector is rife with top-tier talent that can help lead the way.
“To pretend that it’s possible to build a new energy system without leveraging the capabilities not only of companies that produce energy but those in every aspect of our supply chains and our technology value chains, it’s just not a realistic way to see things,” Wirth said.
Wirth isn’t alone in his thinking. According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Global Energy Institute, the nation needs a mix of fuel sources to maintain affordable and reliable supplies.
Rather than disrupt energy diversity, policymakers should focus on how to maintain it, the institute said.
Wirth expressed his hope that oil and gas would be included in energy policy and strategy, saying they could contribute to progress.
He emphasized the importance of having dialogues with different perspectives, as he said they would help build understanding and consensus for the future.
“We’re businesspeople. We’re Americans. We’re patriots, and we want our country to be strong, secure and viable,” Wirth said.
Clint Kling of Shepherd VR joins TownSquare Media KLXX 1270AM’s Talk of the Town with Steve Bakken and special guest co-host Jason Spiess.
The interview stems around a discussion on how Toyota and several police departments are integrating VR Training into their HR, safety and overall culture.
“I mean a lot of my university research was based on assessing effectiveness in training just because everybody said VR was better,” Kling said. “Nobody really had any hard data. I spent a year and a half or so setting up experiments and running them and basically showcasing what is effective training and as far as VR goes, what's effective training as far as our traditional methods go. So VR definitely has taken leaps and bounds on the effectiveness of the training.”
Toyota Motor of North America produced and developed a VR experience that teaches team members about assessing risks associated with new equipment on the factory floor. Kling discussed how this translates into other areas of heavy industry and manufacturing training.
“So in that environment we ended up designing an open pit mining scenario so you know when you put on the goggles you're basically transported from the classroom into the open pit environment,” Kling said. “Everything's adjusted to scale so everything looks like it should if you were on that site. So the equipment sizes, the high wall sizes, we had a conveyor crusher units presented in a kind of a real life scale.”
At last week’s Sioux City city council meeting, the council voted unanimously to allow the department to use a $75,000 grant to purchase a Virtual Reality training system.
This simulated training will allow officers to use VR headsets to work on movement commands, learn how to de-escalate hostile situations; all while in a mobile and safe environment.
“So like what the police academies are doing, that's fantastic,” Kling said.
Kling is a seasoned professional in mining and oil operations with over a decade of hands-on industry experience. Kling bolsters his practical knowledge with robust academic qualifications - a Master of Science degree in Mining Engineering and a Graduate Certificate in Safety Management. But his ingenuity doesn't stop there.
In the course of his doctoral studies, Kling has been meticulously creating and refining virtual reality modules to amplify the effectiveness of safety training. By weaving together advanced neuroscience and psychology principles, he's brought to life the unique Functional Integral Training (FIT) method.
Click here for entire interview
Click here to contact Clint Kling, Shepherd VR
Kunal Patel, Dallas Federal Reserve, joins The Crude Life to breakdown the recent Energy Survey. This quarter’s survey also includes for the first time a set of questions regarding price expectations for oil and natural gas over six-month, one-year, two-year and five-year horizons.
According to Patel, activity in the oil and gas sector was relatively unchanged in the first quarter of 2024, as documented in the survey in regards to oil and gas executives responding to the Dallas Fed Energy Survey.
The business activity index, the survey’s broadest measure of conditions energy firms in the Eleventh District face, was 2.0 in the first quarter, suggesting little to no growth during the quarter. The index was essentially unchanged from last quarter.
Oil and gas production decreased in the first quarter, according to executives at exploration and production (E&P) firms. The oil production index moved down from 5.3 in the fourth quarter to -4.1 in the first quarter, suggesting a small decline in production. Meanwhile, the natural gas production index turned negative, falling sharply from 17.9 to -17.0.
Costs increased at a slightly faster pace for both oilfield services and E&P firms. Among oilfield services firms, the input cost index increased from 21.3 to 31.2. Among E&P firms, the finding and development costs index was relatively unchanged at 24.2. Meanwhile, the lease operating expenses index increased from 22.6 to 33.7.
Oilfield services firms reported modest deterioration in nearly all indicators. The equipment utilization index remained negative but increased from -8.4 in the fourth quarter to -4.2 in the first. The operating margin index moved down from -32.0 to -35.4, suggesting declining margins. The index of prices received for services was unchanged at -6.2.
The aggregate employment index was relatively unchanged at 3.4 in the first quarter. While this is the 13th consecutive positive reading for the index, the low-single-digit reading suggests slow net hiring. The aggregate employee hours index increased from 2.8 in the fourth quarter to 6.9 in the first quarter. Additionally, the aggregate wages and benefits index increased from 21.2 to 32.8.
The company outlook index rebounded in the first quarter, jumping 24 points to 12.0.
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Witting Partners CEO and The Energy Detox Podcast host Joe Sinnott explains why companies who are stagnant or in a time of pause due to market conditions or mergers can get ahead with proper coaching.
Sinnott, who has been through major mergers in the past, explains how uncertainty can become infectious and controlling the narrative and energy is paramount during these times of flux.
“Building on a career spent leading diverse teams through the breakneck pace, unique challenges, and unrelenting demands of the oil & gas industry, Witting Partners helps leaders grow, protect, and sustain success for themselves and their stakeholders,” Sinnott said. “Witting Partners helps high-potential leaders remain focused on the increasing demands of today’s energy industry without unwittingly sacrificing the long-term personal and professional satisfaction they, their teams, and their families desire.”
Click here for entire interview
Energy Expert Robert Bryce talks about Land Use Conflicts in Michigan. Specifically, Bryce recaps several of his conversations regarding the controversial use of wind and solar in the Wolverine State.
A land-use conflict occurs when there are conflicting views on land-use policies, such as when an increasing population creates competitive demands for the use of the land, causing a negative impact on other land uses nearby.
According to some climate experts, Land Use and the Sun are the two biggest drivers in climate change, not carbon or fossil fuels.
Bryce has given over 300 invited or keynote lectures to dozens of groups including the Marine Corps War College, Sydney Institute, Jadavpur University, Northwestern University, and a wide variety of professional associations and corporations. He has also appeared on dozens of TV and radio shows including NPR, BBC, MSNBC, Fox, Al Jazeera, CNN, and PBS.
He spent 12 years as a reporter for the Austin Chronicle. From 2006 to 2010, he was the managing editor of the Houston-based Energy Tribune. From 2010 to September 2019, he was a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute.
Click here for Robert Bryce Substack Page
Carolina Ortega, vice president of sustainability, Milestone Environmental Services, talks about the integration of energy, environment and carbon. The conversation begins with separating Sustainability and ESG (Environmental Social Governance).
“Think about when you go to the doctor, and the doctor takes your cholesterol level, and they take your blood pressure, and they take your different levels of vitamin D, and they just do a blood test, and they come up with all these metrics, all these numbers on your health, right?” Ortega said. “Those metrics, I kind of make a parallel with ESG.”
Using oil and gas as a backdrop, Carolina explains how sustainability strategies are becoming more accepted everyday.
“When you're able to tell a story about how a company is welcomed by local communities when it sets up its operations, that is sustainability,” Ortega said. “It's long-term value creation. It's long-term risk management. And that's the big difference.”
Putting the science in layman terms Ortega, explains how the waste that comes out of fields that produce oil and gas is called slurry.
“So the waste that comes out from oil and gas fields is brought over to our facilities and it's managed in an environmentally responsible way,” Ortega said. “So we take that thick, heavy mud that is the waste that comes out of oil fields. It's called slurry.”
She added that Milestone Environmental Services “takes out the heavy solids from it, and then we re-inject it into deep injection wells.”
“So essentially, think of it as oil and gas production in reverse,” Ortega said. “Instead of taking the oil out of the ground, we put it back in.”
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Terry Etam, author of The End of the Fossil Fuel Insanity: Clearing the Air Before Cleaning the Air'; columnist for the BOE Report and blogger for Public Energy Number One; gives an update from Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
Etam talks about how natural gas continues to be a wild card, yet foundational energy source for Canada. He explains how politics and policies have creates issues for almost all energies north of the border.
The author also discusses the emerging carbon management industry in Canada. Companies are vying for tax subsidies and carbon credits in order to create new revenues for their respective shareholders.
The discussion also veers into similarities and differences between doing business in the United States and Canada when it comes to energy services.
When supply chains run smoothly, the economies they support do too.
But when even the smallest disruption occurs, supply chains can quickly turn into the equivalent of a daisy chain — where one event sets off a cascading impact down the entire logistics value chain.
Experts fear that this is what could happen up and down the East Coast as businesses and shippers try to manage the fallout from the March 26 collapse of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge as a result of a cargo ship collision.
According to Maryland Governor Wes Moore port is responsible for over 51 million tons of foreign cargo. That's the largest in the country. For everybody who was buying cars, everybody who was buying farm equipment, we're the largest port in country that does that. So, this is not just impacting Maryland.”
In regards to the Energy Industry, smaller companies like RMI Supply are able to remain nimble, ready and able for new business opportunities.
“The big companies and ones involved with mergers or buyouts have an added layer of issues related to time and supply chain,” RMI Supply president Mark Workman said. “Smaller companies can make a decision in the moment, whereas a larger company can take months to make a simple decision.”
RMI Supply is a leading provider of specialty oilfield chemicals focusing on delivering environmentally-friendly products to the market combined with a fast and responsive service.
Click here for entire interview
Click here for RMI Supply’s website and more information.
Plus much much more on This Week In Energy.
Music heard on This Week In Energy by singer songwriter Alma Cook and independent funk fusion group known as The Moody River Band.
Click here for Alma Cook’s music page
Click here to support Alma Cook’s Energy Career
Cook Compliance Co is a boutique compliance management & consulting firm that believes in doing more than just checking the right boxes. With special emphasis on education & planning, Cook helps contractors get ahead of their competition by making sure their crews are work-ready even before the next MSA is signed.
Click here for the Moody River Band’s website
For over a decade, Moody River Band's unique brand of blues/folk rock has rocked and rolled all over the Upper Midwest and Rocky Mountain region.
You can download their two records absolutely free by clicking here!
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This Week In Energy for April 6, 2024