SHALE Oil & Gas Business Magazine May/June 2017

SHALE MAY/JUNE 2017

» EXPERIENCE THE OLD WEST IN SAN ANTONIO SAPA AND WEN TEAM UP

DONALD TRUMP IS KEEPING CAMPAIGN PROMISES TO THE ENERGY INDUSTRY

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NAVIGATING NEW TERRITORY: BLUEBONNET DISTRIBUTING

CONOCOPHILLIPS’ CHARITABLE GRANTS SPAN THE EAGLE FORD SUPPORTING ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN THE ENERGY SECTOR

JOHN WALKER SCOUTING FOR SUCCESS WITH ENERVEST

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Providing energy for the world while staying committed to our values.

Finding and producing the oil and natural gas the world needs is what we do. And our commitment to our SPIRIT Values—Safety, People, Integrity, Responsibility, Innovation and Teamwork— is how we do it. Applying our expertise to develop responsible energy solutions for tomorrow—that’s ConocoPhillips.

© ConocoPhillips Company. 2017. All rights reserved.

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www.conocophillips.com

MAY/JUNE 2017

CONTENTS FEATURE

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Global Energy Perspective With Regina Mayor

COVER STORY

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After spending years on Wall Street, John Walker had plans to start a successful business in the energy industry. EnerVest, going on its 25th year, is the culmination of Walker’s determination and planning.

INDUSTRY

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PESA Washington Fly-In

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POLICY

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Donald Trump is Keeping His Campaign Promises to the Energy Industry

BUSINESS

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Healthcare After Obamacare

COVER PHOTO AND TABLE OF CONTENTS PHOTO BY MICHAEL GIORDANO

FEATURE

BUSINESS

22 Unique Opportunity in the Gulf Coast Region to Bring Economic Growth

54 Navigating New Territory

INDUSTRY

LIFESTYLE

40 Citizens of Frack Nation 42 Success Stories From the Eagle Ford 44 Alien Territory 46 Supporting Entrepreneurship in the Energy Sector

POLICY 50 In Western States, Tom Steyer Quietly Grows His Political Operation

60 Tex-Mex at Home 62 The Galleria

SOCIAL 68 Fiesta With SHALE 70 San Antonio Pipeliners and WEN Team Up

COMMUNITY

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ConocoPhillips’ Charitable Grants Span the Eagle Ford

LIFESTYLE

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Experience the Old West in San Antonio

SOCIAL

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Cover Party Honoring Shana Robinson MAY/JUNE 2017  SHALE OIL & GAS BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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ADVISORY BOARD

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Omar Garcia Senior Advisor

shana robinson

Thomas Tunstall, Ph.D.

As President and CEO of the South Texas Energy & Economic Roundtable (STEER), Omar Garcia is an expert on business opportunities associated with the Eagle Ford Shale. He works with the oil and gas industry, local officials, community members, regional stakeholders, educational institutions and economic development organizations to ensure that the oil and natural gas industry in South Texas is advancing in a positive way that is beneficial to both the community and the industry. Garcia has more than 12 years of economic development experience, and he spent two years working for Bank of America as Vice President of Business Development for the bank’s treasury management division. He is a certified economic development finance professional through the National Development Council, and he graduated from St. Edward’s University with majors in international business and Spanish. In 2010, Gov. Rick Perry appointed Garcia to the Texas Economic Development Corporation.

Shana Robinson is currently the Chief of Sales & Growth, Baptist Health System (BHS) for the Tenet San Antonio Market.

Shana is a graduate of the University of Texas San Antonio, receiving her Bachelor of Liberal Arts degree. Shana joined the Baptist Health System in January of 2007. Her years of experience in sales, physician relations, business development, community service and marketing has been fundamental to her success in the development and implementation of wellness programs for the Baptist Health System. Shana’s most recent challenge and success has been the development and initiation of the Business-to-Business (B2B) programs for BHS, which encompass services such as healthcare screenings for athletes to onsite clinics which assist participating employers to reduce healthcare costs by providing onsite health services for employees.

Thomas Tunstall, Ph.D., is the Research Director for the Institute for Economic Development at The University of Texas at San Antonio. Previously, he was a Management Consultant for SME and the Component 1 Team Leader for the Azerbaijan Competitiveness and Trade project. Tunstall also served as an Advisor Relations Executive at ACS and was the founding Co-chair for the Texas chapter of the International Association of Outsourcing Professionals (IAOP).

He has published a business book titled Outsourcing and Management (Palgrave, 2007) and was the technical editor for Outsourcing for Dummies (Wiley, 2008). Tunstall has consulted in both the public and private sectors.

In 2005, he completed a long-term assignment in Afghanistan, where he was Deputy Chief of Party for a central bank modernization project. In 2006, he taught Ph.D. candidates in a business and government seminar at The University of Texas at Dallas.

SHALE OIL & GAS BUSINESS MAGAZINE  MAY/JUNE 2017

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PUBLISHER’S NOTE VOLUME 4 ISSUE 2 • MAY/JUNE 2017

I AM SO EXCITED TO BRING YOU THE MAY/JUNE ISSUE OF SHALE MAGAZINE! This issue is meant to celebrate the entrepreneurs of the world, like myself. It's not widely known that SHALE Magazine was started by myself and a small team after I realized there was a need for a publication that bridged the oil and gas community and the business community. I am proud to say SHALE is in its 5th year and going strong. The success of the publication can only be attributed to our amazing advertising partners, our expert content providers and our hard-working SHALE team members.

I have a special appreciation for those out there who take on the task of running your own business. It's not always easy to strike out on your own but it can be so rewarding. Our cover story on John Walker also tells the story of a man with the dream of creating and maintaining a successful business. His story is truly inspiring and uplifting.

Now that summer is on its way, we are going to be seeing an increase in natural gas usage. We are actively working to share the benefits of natural gas and its clean, environmentally friendly uses.

We believe in the years to follow natural gas usage will continue to grow higher and higher. And we will continue our work of sharing the benefits of natural gas with the community to dispel untruths and misconceptions on this plentiful, cheap domestic energy resource.

On a final note, I wanted to make sure that I mentioned how excited I am now that the ExxonMobil and SABIC ethylene plant in the Portland/Gregory area has been slated for construction. The economic benefits to the surrounding areas will be substantial and impactful on the lives of students, community members, and businesses. I believe more opportunities such as this are headed our way in the near future thanks to oil and gas.

I appreciate your support of SHALE Magazine and I hope you enjoy this next issue. We are working to grow our content to include plays across the globe and across different sectors including the service industry, midstream and downstream, and much more. We are always interested in hearing from our readers and supporters, so if you'd like to reach me or the SHALE team please feel free to email info@shalemag.com.

KYM BOLADO

CEO/Publisher of SHALE Oil & Gas Business Magazine kym@shalemag.com

KYM BOLADO

CEO / PUBLISHER CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER Deana Acosta EDITOR IN CHIEF Lauren Guerra OIL AND GAS ASSOCIATE EDITOR David Blackmon ART DIRECTOR Elisa G Creative COPY EDITORS Katie Buniak, Maegan Sheppard VICE PRESIDENT OF SALES & MARKETING Kristy Sommers ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES Jennifer Sudol, Edward Armstrong, Cheyenne Williams ONLINE CONTENT MANAGER Fernando Guerra SOCIAL MEDIA DIRECTOR Courtney Boedeker CORRESPONDENT WESTERN REGION Raymond Bolado CONTRIBUTING WRITERS David Blackmon, Omar Garcia, Bill Keffer, Simon Lomax, Regina Mayor, Kelly Moore, David Porter, Thomas Tunstall, Ph.D., Timothy Zawinsky STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Malcolm Perez CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER Michael Giordano PRODUCTION & EDITORIAL INTERN Clayton Muniz

PROUD SPONSORS AND PARTNERS:

www.shalemag.com For advertising information, please call 210.240.7188 or email kym@shalemag.com.

SHALE OIL & GAS BUSINESS MAGAZINE MISSION STATEMENT:

SHALE Oil & Gas Business Magazine is a nationwide publication that showcases the significance of the petroleum and energy market. SHALE’s mission is to promote economic growth and business opportunities that connect businesses with oil and gas companies. The publication supports market growth through promoting industry education and policy, and its content includes particular insight into the current outlook of all the energy plays in the U.S. and the economic impact of domestic energy production. SHALE further connects businesses and oil and gas companies through events and social engagements to promote synergy within the industry and the community.

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For editorial comments and suggestions, please email lauren@shalemag.com.

SHALE MAGAZINE OFFICE: 5600 Broadway Ave., San Antonio, Texas 78209 For general inquiries, call 210.240.7188 Copyright © 2017 Shale Magazine. All rights reserved. Reproduction without the expressed written permission of the publisher is prohibited.

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IT’S OUR MISSION to serve as the bridge connecting the oil and natural gas industry to South Texas communities.

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 FEATURE

Global Energy Perspective With Regina Mayor Special to SHALE

T

he energy industry is going through a significant change, both in the U.S. and globally. Energy companies all over the world are rethinking their strategies to adapt to the new normal. SHALE magazine editors sat down with Regina Mayor, Global Sector Head and U.S. National Sector Leader of Energy and Natural Resources at KPMG LLP to get a lay of the land. Below she shares her insights.

SHALE Magazine: You attended the World Economic Forum in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland, and Gastech Exhibition & Conference in Tokyo earlier this year. What were some interesting topics you heard at the conferences? Did anything surprise you?

Regina Mayor: This was my first year attending Gastech and the World Economic Forum [WEF], and they were both tremendous experiences. At WEF, I found significant interest in topics around the rise and impact of populism, the changing geopolitical landscape, and the number of nations turning their economic policies inward. There was also discussion on the concept of either-or problem-solving. In energy, these scenarios might look like low cost or carbon neutral, global commodity or energy security. We need to shift our thinking and focus on an all-of-theabove strategy to provide low-cost resources in an environmentally sustainable way while generating returns for shareholders and creating value for our customers. We have to find more balanced solutions.

At Gastech, which is primarily focused on the gas and LNG industry, I found that LNG is still a strong, long-term market; but it will get more competitive, and price points will likely

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go lower given robust global gas supplies.

However, the industry overall is bullish on longterm potential with several developing growth opportunity areas: creation of demand in less mature markets to bring electrification to the 1 billion people who, today, do not have access to electricity; providing small-scale LNG to island nations; and being an integrated “gas and power” solution, potentially serving as a bridge while renewables scale and mature.

LNG is currently viewed as a buyer’s market.

Historically, banks and other financing vehicles rely on contract commitments, but long-term, committed contracts in a buyer’s market don’t make sense; therefore, the industry has to come up with new ways to finance projects.

At both conferences, it was incredible to hear how well-versed the rest of the world is in American politics and the keen insights they derive even though they don’t live here.

SHALE: These are huge and prestigious events with many different countries represented. Did you sense any significant differences between the U.S. energy industry and any foreign energy practices?

Mayor: I saw more similarities than differences, in how we’re all feeling the shifting energy landscape. In my discussions with CEOs and other global energy leaders, it was abundantly clear that no matter where in the world a company is based, they’re all grappling with the rise of major, disruptive change across the industry. The need to transform their operating models to be agile is top priority for industry executives.

SHALE: What are the new technologies or breakthroughs being discussed by industry executives? How could these innovations

affect the U.S. and the global energy industry?

Mayor: There are a number of technologies shaping the industry. Some trends that we’re having a number of client discussions around are renewables technology, the hydrogen concept or “creating energy from air,” battery storage, and digitalization in the industry.

Innovative technology is booming right now and has the potential to really disrupt the industry. Industry players have the opportunity to embrace these technologies and really lead the way.

Another newer concept that I’m fascinated by is the advent of autonomous and driverless vehicles. This is a trend that has had significant effects on the automotive industry, and is now starting to fundamentally shape the energy industry as we look at its effect on fuel efficiency standards, miles traveled, and gasoline consumption. The future of fuels manufacturing and retailing could potentially change as this new social and digital trend, changing consumer attitude and spending, and unique approach in mobility services transform the approach to personal transportation. It’s very interesting and exciting to watch unfold.

SHALE: From your view of the global energy landscape, do you foresee any changes coming for U.S. energy companies and/or the energy market?

Mayor: There is an abundance of opportunity for our industry in the U.S. While global opportunities exist, the focus really resides in the U.S. North America currently has five times more assets on the market than other regions. Global E&P spending is expected to increase 7 percent in 2017, and

North American spending is expected to increase 27 percent. High-quality unconventional assets in U.S. basins and global LNG-related assets will likely find buyers. Within North America, the Permian Basin has been the primary driver of recent acquisitions. U.S. deals accounted for 60 percent of the global market volume, and 77 percent of global market value in 2016.

With expected stabilization of commodity prices, the market for M&A [merger and acquisition] activity is poised for an increase. E&Ps are focusing again on growth, which will drive acquiring incremental assets to portfolios. We expect to see larger M&A deals primarily in deep water and LNG. Stable players — those with the most cash and those that weathered the downturn — will be the primary drivers of activity. On the contrary, sellers of assets will include those most affected by the downturn, as well as larger players with portfolio rationalization programs.

SHALE: As KPMG’s global and U.S. energy leader, has your international role provided you with any new insight into the energy industry that will improve the services offered by the energy segment at KPMG? Mayor: Since taking on my role as the global energy leader, I’ve realized even more that there is power in connectivity. KPMG is a global business, serving the needs of global companies. In the energy sector, we’re experiencing significant change. The need to be flexible and adapt to this change is challenging companies to redefine their value and competitive advantage. We understand that the needs of each of our clients vary greatly, and our team is committed to understanding our clients, their businesses and the issues they face. We’re constantly looking for better practices and emerging technologies, which helps us provide a highly informed perspective and high-quality service.

SHALE: Overall, what is your feeling on the industry going forward?

Mayor: There is a sense of overall optimism currently running through the industry. Prices are stabilizing, break-even prices are becoming more sustainable and industry leaders feel that growth is on the agenda. The energy sector is really quite an amazing place to be right now. We’re a unique industry: Energy makes the world a better

»

place, and we have the potential to change the dialogue across the globe. Especially with the abundance of innovative technologies — while they may be disruptive, they’re putting us in a position to make big change ... to cross into new frontiers. We have the ability to bring energy to less mature markets — to bring electrification to the 1 billion people who today do not have access to electricity. And electrification is directly tied to wealth creation, so by taking part in these programs, we’re truly contributing to making the world a better place. Despite the downturn, there is so much we are doing in the sector. I’m personally so excited about the opportunities ahead and couldn’t be more proud to be a part of this industry!

Regina Mayor is Global Sector Head and U.S. National Sector Leader of Energy and Natural Resources at KPMG LLP. She is based in Houston.

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ď “ FEATURE

Unique Opportunity in the Gulf Coast Region to Bring Economic Growth By: Omar Garcia, President and CEO, South Texas Energy & Economic Roundtable

The South Texas Energy & Economic Roundtable (STEER) is encouraged by the news that ExxonMobil and SABIC have chosen to build a multibillion-dollar plastics manufacturing facility along the Texas Gulf Coast. This project is a once-in-alifetime opportunity for the region to create high-paying jobs and increase the tax base for area communities and school districts.

South Texas has been blessed with the benefits from the Eagle Ford Shale, and this project will utilize natural gas from neighboring counties. The economic development and jobs created along the Gulf Coast have transformed the region. As a region, we welcome the 600 permanent jobs with annual salaries of $90,000 and $72 billion of economic gains to the state and local communities.

The oil and gas industry makes safety and environmental sustainability a priority. Both ExxonMobil and SABIC are industry leaders when it comes to safety and protecting the environment. The protection of the environment and the safety of those working and living near the facility during all phases of the project is of the utmost importance

to ExxonMobil and SABIC. Together, these companies will deploy the best technology available to protect the public health, safety and the surrounding environment.

ExxonMobil and SABIC are committed to open communication with the community, informing them on project progression and making positive contributions to the quality of life in the area. This industry has a proven track record of coming together and working with community stakeholders to ensure that all concerns are alleviated.

As a region that is built upon the technologically driven oil and natural gas industry, I urge South Texans to embrace this opportunity. We must work together to ensure future tax revenue, secure job opportunities and sustain the economic growth that the industry has brought to South Texas.

As a region that is built upon the technologically driven oil and natural gas industry, I urge South Texans to embrace this opportunity About the author: Omar Garcia is the President and CEO of the South Texas Energy & Economic Roundtable, STEER. STEER connects the oil and gas industry to South Texas communities, facilitating and coordinating communication, education and public advocacy surrounding the production of energy resources in South Texas.

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TRAIN ELEVATE NETWORK The go-to resource for oilfield service providers, suppliers and manufacturers.

Get connected at PESA.org.

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cover story

JOHN WALKER: SCOUTING FOR SUCCESS By: David Blackmon

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IT “I coached all my kids’ sports teams. I always had to be the head coach — that way, I could schedule the practices around my work schedule,” he says with a laugh. “So, I’d have one daughter at 4:30 and another daughter at 6. That way, I could coach soccer, basketball, softball and still get my work done.”

“Looking back, there’s probably a lot of sports careers I’ve ruined because I was such a bad coach,” Walker laughs again.

“But it was a great, great way to spend time with the children, especially later when the girls got better and I could be the coach of a club team, but also have a trainer, who taught me a lot. You travel all over the place doing that. A lot of driving to San Antonio, Dallas, or flying to North Carolina, places like that. It was a lot of fun.”

We caught up with Walker at the EnerVest corporate headquarters in downtown Houston, where he was able to carve an hour or so out of a typically very busy day.

Walker created EnerVest 25 years ago, with a mission to build a company to “buy, enhance and sell proven onshore production” in the United States. In executing that strategy, Walker has made the company an extraordinary success.

“Fortunately, we’ve become the largest operating company in the United States — we operate more wells than any other company — more than 33,000 across the country. And that entails more than just the pumpers and the foreman

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PHOTO COURTESY OF JOHN WALKER

should not come as a surprise to anyone that John Walker is the CEO of a company that he created. From his days as a Boy Scout, to college, to his military service, to parenthood to the earliest days of his business career, Walker has always made it a point to be involved and do everything he can to take control of his own destiny.

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Tough Beginnings It’s possible that Walker’s desire to be in control of his own destiny stems from his childhood.

“My father died when I was 1,” he says, reflecting on his early days in Lubbock, Texas, “so it was just my mother and me growing up. She was not ‘educated,’ in the traditional sense, but if she were here alive today, she would have so much more common sense than I still do. The most my mother ever made was $250 per month, so we weren’t exactly wealthy.”

That lack of wealth would not stand as a roadblock to Walker ultimately becoming a success in business, and in life. His mother emphasized education, and his excellent grades served as a stepping stone to college.

“I received an academic scholarship to go to Tech for $500 per semester. At that point in time, it was enough to pay for my tuition and books, with a little bit left over. But I worked my way through Texas Tech,” he says, ultimately obtaining a BBA with honors.

He had plans to further his education to pursue an MBA, and had applied to several northeastern graduate schools, when the Vietnam War intervened.

“While I was accepted to go to the grad school I selected, the Lubbock draft board told me I was going to be drafted.”

But even when fate intervened, Walker took steps to control his own destiny. “I changed plans in February of my senior year, got into the Navy, went to OCS [Officer Candidate School] and was deployed to Vietnam.” After returning from Vietnam, he had 18 months left on his Naval obligation but received an early release along with 2,400 junior officers.

Upon release from the Navy, it was time to go back to work on that MBA. “Of course there was no internet at the time, so you had to contact all the grad schools you wanted to attend all over again, pay all the fees required to reapply, which I did; and I ended up going to New York University.” Paying for a master’s degree from such a prestigious university wasn’t easy: “I was still in the Navy Reserve because I needed the money; I had the GI Bill, which helped; and I also worked 30 hours a week with a college teacher’s retirement equity fund while attending grad school.”

After graduating with honors, Walker became an oil analyst on Wall Street. “I did that for 11 years, and for seven of those years I was ranked either No. 1, 2 or 3 in the Institutional Investor Magazine Poll [an annual poll of institutional investors that ranks the top analysts on Wall Street]. So, I decided that I really knew everything you could possibly know about oil and gas,” he says with a chuckle.

At that point, Walker decided it was time to start his own oil and gas company, and he named it Walker Energy. “If I had any common sense back then, I’d have figured out that anything named after yourself is destined to fail. Within three or four

PHOTOS COURTESY OF JOHN WALKER

WALKER CREATED ENERVEST 25 YEARS AGO, WITH A MISSION TO BUILD A COMPANY TO “BUY, ENHANCE AND SELL PROVEN ONSHORE PRODUCTION” IN THE UNITED STATES

and the superintendent in the field; it includes all the engineers, the geologists, the geophysicists and landmen. Importantly, it also entails all the back-office staff that provides accounting, all the administration, and the land work, etc.”

Operating that many wells brings with it the obligation to pay an even higher number of royalty owners each month, and that can be expensive. “We spent $12 million the last two years upgrading our hardware and software necessary to send out more than 100,000 royalty and working interest checks each month. We have actually broken EnerVest into 34 separate functions and determined that if you’re doing any of those functions poorly, you impact the whole company.”

So EnerVest is a big enterprise, and being its CEO is a similarly big job. As has been an ongoing theme in his life, Walker likes to be involved in many different aspects of the business, and he does what he can to control his own destiny. However, that desire to control one’s own destiny should not be confused with being a control freak. Walker knows that one of the most important aspects of his job is to make sure he surrounds himself with strong people who do their own jobs well.

“A big part of success is recognizing your deficits more than your assets and hiring good people who are much smarter than yourself in areas where you need help. Clearly, I needed strong engineers, geologists and land people; and we have been fortunate to attract a lot of really quality people.

That’s really been the key to our success — as long as I don’t get in their way, we do pretty well.

I’m involved in a lot of the parts of the business, but I spend most of my time deferring to their recommendations.”

John and his rad hiking stick in New Zealand

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The Company Matures EnerVest has long been on the cutting edge of innovative company financing. The company’s management team and employees operate and manage the assets of a series of investment funds, each of which is used to acquire a discrete portfolio of assets, develop those assets and then ultimately sell them as appropriate for the best possible return on investment. The company’s results over 25 years and 14 funds have been outstanding, attracting a steadily increasing number of investors and total capitalization with each new fund.

EnerVest’s first six of seven funds, from 1992 through 1998, were executed with GE Capital, which invested about $350 million with EnerVest during that period of time. Those funds were highly successful; but in 1998, Walker and his management team decided it was time to begin to include other financial institutions.

“When we told GE after our sixth program with them that we wanted to include other financial institutions, there was some hesitation, just from the standpoint that they liked being the sole investor. Which is understandable,” Walker says. “So, raising that first fund with multiple institutions took a long time — it was the most effort we’ve ever made for the least amount of money. We saw 86 institutions several times, and it took us a year and a half to raise $101 million. Fortunately, that turned

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out to be a successful program, and so the amount raised for every subsequent program has gone up.

“We have now raised 14 funds, and our 14th fund is $2.4 billion in equity, which we closed in 2015. So, we’ve gone from $101 million (in Fund VIII) to more than $2 billion, which is pretty good progress.” Raising funds in this way from institutional investors is always a challenge. The ups and downs of the overall economy can obviously complicate the process, and one might think that the boom and bust cycles in the industry itself could also make the exercise more difficult.

John, London, Lisa, Molly, Andrew at multiple waterfalls in New Zealand

Molly Walker, Brynne Dyrhood, Lisa Walker, John Walker Dad, Lisa, Brynne and Molly with river behind them in New Zealand

He believes the company’s timing has more to do with market conditions than anything else. “We buy when people are looking to sell.

We’d rather raise funds when the price is low, as it was in 2015, but it’s obviously much easier to raise the funds when the price of oil is over $100. It’s just that our industry has had tremendous problems as a result of investing so much money in 2013 and 2014, including ourselves.

So, historically we haven’t used a lot of debt, but when you have an 80

PHOTOS COURTESY OF JOHN WALKER

weeks of setting up Walker Energy, I realized that I really didn’t know anything about oil and gas. When you’re on Wall Street analyzing the industry, you aren’t really analyzing the companies and all that goes into them. It’s not like managing a stock and bond portfolio — it’s very intensive to do it the right way.”

However, Walker’s struggles to build his first company did not harm his reputation with others in the industry. Soon, a new opportunity came along, as he was offered to become President of Torch Energy Advisors, a company that formed and managed partnerships for oil and gas investors. After serving in that role for a few years, Walker decided it was time to strike out on his own once again, and he left Torch to form EnerVest. Not surprisingly, getting his new company off the ground wasn’t easy. “We struggled at first — it took us two years to raise our first fund. We did that deal with GE Capital.”

The deal with GE had actually failed with the same seller six months before. Walker shakes his head at the memory of that day. “I was going in on I-10 to close the deal, had my lucky tie on and got into the office and the three principals at that company had changed their mind overnight. They had their business manager call me and tell me that ‘they’re not going to do the deal, they’re all out of town, and they’re not going to take your call.’ It was one of those really depressing calls. So, I thought that we were going to fail right out of the chute.” But failing is not a part of the John Walker vocabulary. What he did instead was the same thing he did when he returned from Vietnam — he got back to work on controlling his own destiny.

The perseverance paid off: “We ended up getting the deal together [with GE Capital] after six months. It wasn’t a particularly good deal for us, but that’s just part of starting a company: You just keep fighting and fighting and fighting to get it done. And obviously, even after 25 years, we’re still fighting and fighting to get things done.”

Jud, Lisa, John, Molly, Brynne, Andrew Hiking with waterfall behind them in New Zealand

percent price decline, it impacted us too.

“Exxon was the longest-standing company with a triple-A credit rating, and it lost that standing last year.

So when Exxon is having problems, we all are. I don’t want to give you the impression that we haven’t had issues. Our Fund XIII was invested primarily in 2013 and 2014, and it’s been the one that was most severely hit.

“The public markets are not always open, as we’ve found, so the fact that we’ve been able to raise money on a pretty continuous basis allows us to be in the market pretty much all of the time. If you look at the last six years, we have been somewhere between 5 and 7 percent of the acquisition and development market overall.”

“We Do Things Differently Than the Portfolio Companies”

A constant presence in the A&D market has allowed EnerVest to enter into advantageous positions that other, more traditional companies might have passed over.

A great example came with the company’s entry into Ohio in 2003. “We saw something below the existing shallow wells called the Knox formation. We had a geologist who was very successful in identifying the seismic bumps that we like to drill into.

So, we were buying the shallow wells that produced on average about 9 mcf of gas per day, in order to get something for ‘free.’” Over an eight-year period of time, EnerVest purchased four of the top five producing companies in the state, acquiring more than 9,000 wells and 1.2 million acres of leasehold in the process. Walker smiles at that: “We pick up acreage, but in a different way than most other

“WE HAVE NOW RAISED 14 FUNDS, AND OUR 14TH FUND IS $2.4 BILLION IN EQUITY, WHICH WE CLOSED IN 2015. SO, WE’VE GONE FROM $101 MILLION (IN FUND VIII) TO MORE THAN $2 BILLION, WHICH IS PRETTY GOOD PROGRESS.” companies. Not many other companies can handle 9,000 wells.”

The Knox formation did turn out to be successful, even more so than the company had expected. So, as Walker and his team had anticipated, EnerVest did indeed get something for “free” out of its efforts. But the dividends from that Ohio entry were just beginning to accrue.

In 2003, neither EnerVest nor anyone else in the industry understood that the shale revolution was about to begin in earnest. As it turned out, the 1.2 million acres EnerVest had acquired not only sat atop the Knox formation, they also lay above the Utica Shale. As Walker says, “Having 1.2 million acres in the Utica play served us pretty well. Our average peracre cost in the Utica is about $10 per acre, and we ended up selling some of our holdings for about $15,000.”

One of the positive developments created by the low commodity prices during the past few years has been the ability of independent producers to find innovative ways of lowering the costs of drilling and producing oil and gas. We asked Walker about the kinds of initiatives EnerVest has undertaken to produce such cost efficiencies.

Walker first made a decision that no one in his position ever wants to undertake, but which he and most of his peers in the industry have found necessary during the last three years.

“I started EnerVest 25 years ago this year, and until last year we had never had a layoff. But about a year ago, we had to lay off about 200 people, and it’s one of the saddest days of my life. There wasn’t a single person that wasn’t doing their job, that deserved to be laid off, that wasn’t qualified,” he says with obvious regret, “And you can’t do something like that that’s meaningful and allows your company to survive by just focusing on your lowest-cost people, so it had to go all the way to the highest levels.

“I remember not sleeping the night before, because I felt the responsibility of coming in and meeting with many of these people.

They’d be crying and I’d be crying and the whole office was crying. It was a terrible experience that I never want to go through again.”

As with most upstream companies, the acquisition of debt during the boom times had played a role in making the layoff necessary. Walker looks back on that with a predictable determination to do everything he can to control the company’s destiny in the future: “Clearly, debt levels in the future will be much lower for us. It won’t be anything imposed upon us from the banks — it will be lower from us.”

However, it has not been all unpleasant! Like many of its competitors, EnerVest has been able to reduce costs by creating a company-wide focus on finding ways to create cost savings. “When you operate 33,000 wells like we do, and have an interest in another 8,000 wells, we had to create an environment of driving costs down. So, in our five divisions,

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Andrew, Brynne, Holly Walker with Fallyn Walker, Jud with London Walker, Molly, Lisa, John with sailboats behind them in New Zealand

Andrew, Molly, Lisa, John, Fallyn, Brynne, London, Jud, Holly standing on top of a mountain in New Zealand

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with. When you’re the largest factor in a field and your gatherer won’t deal with lowering costs, we have leverage to apply. We don’t want to be a bully, but we all have to recognize the situation we’re in.

“We are the largest leaseholder in Ohio; we are the largest player in the Austin Chalk; we are tied for second with XTO and Total in the Barnett Shale; we are the largest producer in the Anadarko. We are by far the biggest player in the Canyon Sand area out near Sonora [Texas]; we’re one of the top seven producers in the San Juan Basin. In Karnes County [in Texas], we’ve spent $1.5 billion in less than a year in building a position that had been producing less than 10,000 BOPD and is now up at 38,000 BOPD. So, our operating costs are pretty darn low at this point.”

An Industry Leader Walker has provided leadership to the entire industry through trade association activities and served as Chairman for the Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA) from 2003 through 2005, after serving with that association in several other roles. When asked about his philosophy on taking on that kind of assignment, which consumes time that might otherwise have been dedicated to his own business, Walker again points to his desire to control his own destiny.

“Our industry has always been under attack, and if you don’t get involved, then there are going to be a lot of regulators and politicians that control your destiny,” he points out. “In some [presidential] administrations, we have had to try to block things to just keep our industry alive, and now, in this [Trump] administration, we set up committees to get information into the transition team and legislative committees, and I think we’re having an impact there.”

Obviously, the chairman of IPAA must frequently travel to Washington, D.C., to attend to association business, make visits to Capitol Hill and executive branch agencies, and even testify before congressional committees. “The travel commitment and time commitment at IPAA was more at that time than it is now. Mike Linn [founder and retired CEO of LINN Energy] followed me, and he was the last CEO/Chairman for IPAA. Now, the association President is also the CEO. When you’re CEO of an association, you’re involved in all the details, all the things involved in running a company. But we were never going to be able to attract the people necessary to be Chairman going forward if that CEO title was still a part of the requirement. So, I think that change has worked out very well.

“It was a big personal commitment, but it really was what you wanted to make out of it. I think that’s true of anything. Coming in, I

PHOTOS COURTESY OF JOHN WALKER

one of the things we get a report on every week is what have you done to drive down costs?

“It’s not just the division manager dictating it — our people in the field have become very creative in finding ways to cut costs. The other thing is, by being a big player in nearly all of our fields because we have built these concentrations of assets, we have been able to deal with some contractual issues that others may not have been able to deal

thought about how I might help IPAA, and we set goals and went about working to accomplish those goals.”

Walker also mentions that he served as IPAA Chairman during a time of high commodity prices and a Republican presidential administration. As he points out, others have not been so lucky. “Some guys just draw the black bean. Bruce Vincent [then-President of Swift Energy Company] was the Chairman when prices collapsed; what a capable guy to have as the leader then, and he did a great job. I was fortunate that the price of oil and gas went up during my two years, and I took full credit for that in my speeches,” he adds with a laugh.

Walker is often self-effacing, but that doesn’t mean others aren’t taking notice of his abilities and contributions. As a result of his service at IPAA and other accomplishments in the oil and gas industry, he was awarded the industry’s Chief Roughneck Award in 2007. He spoke about how meaningful it was to receive what is generally considered to be the industry’s highest award.

“Well, it was a surprise — they do a great job of keeping it all a secret. They had done filming [a personal profile film is a part of the presentation ceremony, which takes place at IPAA’s Annual Meeting each year] at my neighbor’s house, and I didn’t even know anything about it. I thought I might be a candidate for it somewhere down the road, but it was totally unexpected coming when it did.”

Andrew Dyrhood, Brynne Dyrhood, John Walker, Lisa Walker, Molly Walker, Jud Walker rafting in Montana

Personal Life as a Reflection of Business Life “From where I stand now, reflections on my past are both illuminating and painful. Before I came to Houston, I had gone through a divorce.

And a big part of that is that, as a Wall Street analyst, you’re always working. So, the problem in my divorce was me,” he says with obvious regret. “Anytime you go through a divorce, it’s a giant failure. It’s the biggest failure of my life, in fact. The biggest blessing of the marriage is our son, Jud.” “When I came to Houston, I knew that I was going to be very unsuccessful going to bars,” he says with a laugh. “I made a decision that I’d just like to meet some nice people, so I volunteered, went to church. One of the things I volunteered for was the United Way, because it’s such a broad-based organization, and Lisa [my wife] happened to be working there. So, I met her through that volunteer activity, and I still can’t believe she married me. And we’ve been married 30 years as of May 30.”

John and Lisa Walker are the proud parents of three adult children who are all successful in their

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own right. “Our son, Jud, who is a geologist, worked for eight years at Chesapeake, and they just gave him all he could handle. They drilled 28 wells that he generated his first year there.

He is now the CEO of our operating company.

We have two daughters. Our oldest, Brynne, is also at a nonprofit, as the Chief Development Officer at Stoney Creek Ranch. It’s a program that takes at-risk urban children to a Christian camp for five days. It’s really had an impact — they had 2,400 kids in the program last year and will have more this year. Her husband, Andrew, received his undergraduate degree from the University of Houston in December and is now working as a geologist.”

“Our younger daughter, Molly, is a special needs teacher in Dallas. She is with Notre Dame Academy, which helps to give special needs children and adults life skills so that they can become more self-sufficient. She has a lot more patience than I do, and when God’s up there grading us all in terms of success, she’s going to get a very high grade.”

As proud as he obviously is of his children, Walker beams when asked to talk about his wife. “Lisa is being considered for sainthood just being married to me,” he laughs. “She was a cheerleader at The University of Texas. She worked for United Way, and then for Volunteer

Houston after we got married. The things she’s involved in say so much about her. Every Wednesday night, our church has a function called Circle of Friends, which now provides services to more than 100 special needs teenagers and adults. She’s been doing that for more than 10 years. Lisa has the skill set to deal with special needs children.

“But what Lisa does the best of anyone I know is that, when people are having problems, she goes to see them in hospitals, she cooks for them, she’s just so giving. There have been many times I’ve walked into the house and said something like, ‘Man, that smells great! What’s for dinner?’ And Lisa says, ‘Well, I’m really cooking for another family, and you are taking me out to dinner.’ That’s Lisa.”

“I Like to Be Involved” In addition to his impact on his family and in his business life, John Walker takes time to make an impact in ways that are helpful to others. His lifelong involvement in the Boy Scouts of America and his service to Texas Tech University are two examples.

Walker was first appointed to serve on the Texas Tech Board of Regents in 2012 by thenGov. Rick Perry. Following a three-year hiatus,

he was reappointed to the board by current Gov. Greg Abbott in 2016.

Walker describes himself as a big fan of Texas Tech athletics and goes to his share of Red Raiders football games. When he decided to get involved as a booster of Tech athletics, the west-side stands at Jones AT&T Stadium had recently been completely re-done, but the east side still looked like a 1950s football stadium. “The Athletics Director took my friend Gary Petersen, an EnCap Founder, and me out to lunch and said he’d like for us to put up the money to refurbish the east-side stands. I said, ‘Well, there’s a thousand guys who love football and who would help you with that stadium, including Gary. Instead, Lisa and I want to help you build a new soccer complex.’”

At that time, the women’s soccer program at Tech was going through hard times. The team had gone winless in the Big 12 the previous year, had to practice at the Tech track field, and obviously had a hard time attracting top players.

“So, Lisa and I funded the soccer complex, but I told them that we would build the best complex we can build, but the school has to hire the best soccer coach they can find.”

At Walker’s encouragement, and armed with a state-of-the-art soccer complex, Tech’s athletics department hired former Clemson

DON’T EV ER WASTE A CHANCE TO

WANDER.

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University Head Coach Tom Stone. Walker was thrilled. “[Coach Stone] had been an all-American at Duke, scored the winning goal when Duke won the national championship. He became a pro player, coached the women’s U.S. U-20 team to a World Cup, and was then the head coach at Clemson. His first year at Tech, the best players on the team were his freshmen players; the next year, again the best players were his freshmen players.”

The team has gone from winning zero Big 12 conference games to being in the NCAA tournament the last six years. They won the Big 12 in 2015 and have been nationally ranked in many of those years. “It’s kind of fun to start something that had been down and see it excel,” Walker says. “Coach Stone has created that success, but we’ve been able to help from the standpoint of creating great facilities and attracting him to come to Lubbock.” Just another example of how Walker’s planning and influence has helped others to better control their own destiny.

The same can be said of his involvement in the Boy Scouts. “When I give money, I like to be involved. I give money to scouting, but I’m also very involved.”

When he discusses his history with the Boy Scouts, it’s with an obvious sense of pride in his achievements and gratitude for what the organization has meant to him and his family. “I was an Eagle Scout. I was 11 years old, and there were 32 of us at the First Baptist Church in Lubbock.

This incredible man, Sam Henry, started the church’s first Boy Scout troop, which was Troop 1. I’d known him, because we went to church together, and his son was one of my best friends. He was highly organized, and all 32 of us got our Eagle Scout Award about four and a half years later. That was the only time in U.S. Scouting history in which that has occurred.

“Not having a father growing up, Sam really did become sort of a

surrogate father to me. There were other people who took the time and interest to help me. But he was probably the most influential.

“So, I got involved in Scouts when I came to Houston and have led the local council. And I’m still very active in it. My son, Jud, is also an Eagle Scout, and he now leads our local Eagle Scout Association.

Houston is the biggest Boy Scouts Council in the United States, in the world actually. We have more than 1,000 Eagle Scouts every year in Houston, which is a great accomplishment.”

In reality, John Walker says that God, not he, is in control of his destiny, and his life is about much more than control. For him, and for every member of his family, it’s also about giving back to the community, helping those less fortunate and doing whatever they can to help others be more in control of their own destinies. When the Walkers want to help a program or organization, they don’t just throw money at it, they get involved, and when that happens, good things tend to come along with it.

About the author: David Blackmon is Associate Editor for Oil and Gas for SHALE Magazine. He previously spent 37 years in the oil and natural gas industry in a variety of roles, and the last 22 years engaged in public policy issues at the state and national levels.

Contact David Blackmon at david.blackmon@shalemag.com.

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INDUSTRY

PESA Washington Fly-In

SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TEXAS) DISCUSSES LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES WITH PESA FLY-IN ATTENDEES.

R

epresentatives from PESA-member companies — Baker Hughes, Cameron (a Schlumberger company), Caterpillar Oil and Gas, Cummins, DistributionNOW, FairfieldNodal, Forged Products, Halliburton, Hoover Ferguson, Industrial Tax Consulting, Li Gear, M&M International, Premier Pipe, Schlumberger, SOR Inc., Stallion Oilfield Services, TechnipFMC and Weir Oil and Gas — met with Congressional members and staff during the PESA Washington, D.C. Fly-In held February 26–28.

As the new administration and Congress begin to move forward with their agenda, the oil and natural gas industry is experiencing a sense of optimism.

The Fly-In provided an opportunity for PESA and attending member

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companies to convey the importance of implementing policies that ensure a secure supply of abundant, affordable and reliable energy for the American people in an environmentally responsible manner.

Attendees developed and strengthened relationships with the offices of more than 20 Congress members, including Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-Louisiana), as well as House and Senate staffers.

The 26 Fly-In attendees divided

into five groups to meet with Congressional offices, creating an opportunity to discuss detailed contributions to job creation and innovation as well as potential negative impacts and unintended consequences that regulations may have on his or her own business.

In between Congressional meetings, Fly-In attendees had lunch with David Bernhardt of Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck.

Bernhardt serves as an advisor to the Trump transition team for issues associated with the Department of the Interior (DOI).

Bernhardt shared his insights on the process of bringing in a new leadership team at the DOI and other departments and agencies.

The program included presentations and discussions with representatives from a policy institution and D.C.-based leadership of multiple exploration and production companies. These discussions began on Monday morning with a presentation by Adam Sieminski from the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Sieminski discussed the current geopolitical energy landscape and the implications for the industry in the future.

Participants also heard from an operator panel of D.C.-based representatives including Mary Streett, Vice President of Communications and External Affairs at BP; Bill Koetzle, Manager of Federal Government Affairs at Chevron; and John Dabbar, Vice President of Federal and State Government Affairs at ConocoPhillips. During

The 26 Fly-In attendees divided into five groups to meet with Congressional offices, creating an opportunity to discuss detailed contributions to job creation and innovation as well as potential negative impacts and unintended consequences that regulations may have on his or her own business

PHOTOS COURTESY OF PESA

Special to SHALE

TEXAS GOV. GREG ABBOTT ENGAGES WITH PESA FLY-IN ATTENDEES AT THE CAPITOL.

the discussion, topics included specific regulations and legislation of importance, as well as the overall policy and political landscape in Washington regarding the oil and natural gas industry.

On Monday afternoon, all attendees met with top energy policy staffers from the offices of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) and House Speaker Paul Ryan (R- Wisconsin). In these meetings, staffers shared their views on the near-term outlook for key legislative initiatives including the overhaul of the Affordable Care Act and tax reform.

While at the Capitol, PESA attendees crossed paths with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who was in town for the National Governors Association meeting. Gov. Abbott was pleased to learn PESA was engaging with members of Congress on the importance of the oil and natural gas industry and the commitment of the service and supply sector to innovation, safety and job creation.

Monday closed with a reception and dinner in the Capitol building, where Congressional offices, state officials and industry representatives networked and discussed policy priorities for 2017 and beyond.

While the outlook for the energy industry is positive, there is still plenty of uncertainty

PESA FLY-IN ATTENDEES ASSEMBLE IN FRONT OF THE CAPITOL PRIOR TO THEIR MEETINGS WITH MEMBERS OF CONGRESS.

on many policy issues as well as continued challenges from the anti-fossil fuel movement.

It is paramount that PESA and member companies continue to educate policymakers about the sector, our shared commitment to innovation, safety and job creation, and the

importance of oil and natural gas to society.

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For more information about PESA, visit pesa.org.

MAY/JUNE 2017 ď “ SHALE OIL & GAS BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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INDUSTRY

Citizens of FrackNation By: Bill Keffer

E

nvironment, education, and experience contribute to perception and bias, which, in turn, create the opportunity, if not the likelihood, for a willingness to accept certain propositions uncritically or reject converse propositions out of hand.

When I represented the oil and gas industry in high-stakes lawsuits involving claims of catastrophic contamination, seeking millions of dollars in damages, the accepted reality was that our trial team entered the courtroom with three strikes already against us because of the common perception and bias held by jurors: 1) We were the evil corporation; 2) even worse, we were the evil oil and gas corporation; 3) in a case involving claims of environmental contamination, was there even a question that an evil oil and gas corporation was not responsible? And the frequent bonus burden was a likelihood of being found liable that was in direct correlation to the cost of gasoline at the pump — as the price of gas went up, so did the odds of being hammered by a jury. In those few cases where I represented the individual landowner suing those “evil oil and gas corporations,” I unabashedly played on those same inherent biases to my client’s advantage.

My point is that a negative bias toward the oil and gas industry is common in our society; and common bias leads to uncritical thinking and illogical, even masochistic, public policy. Does it make any rational sense to so reflexively and harshly judge an industry that is the fundamental reason for our ability to function as the first among all First World economies?

This reality has manifested itself repeatedly over the years, but its current iteration,

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of course, comes in the form of hydraulic fracturing. On the one hand, our response to the advent of hydraulic fracturing and the shale revolution it has helped unleash should have been unequivocally positive, since it suddenly and surprisingly revealed a source of future domestic energy that could support our economy for many more decades and rescue us from a game of geopolitical chess that has unquestionably distorted our decisions, expenditures, and military commitments abroad. Instead, however, the dominant drumbeat throughout the American elite, media and academia has been to resist that welcome news to the point of outright rejection. To promote that narrative, those opposed to fracing have engaged in guerilla journalism.

One such notable purveyor of anti-fracing propaganda is Josh Fox, the creator and

value, shock value, entertainment value — and prompting the viewer to think twice about the risks and benefits of hydraulic fracturing.

People in the film were able to light the water from their kitchen faucet on fire for goodness sakes! Because many American who are not otherwise in the oil and gas industry are endowed with an anti-industry bias, viewers and critics alike were quick to embrace the propositions contained in Gasland.

Fortunately, not everyone accepted the Gasland dogma without question. Curiously, however, one of the heretics turned out to be an investigative journalist from Ireland who had absolutely no connection to the oil and gas industry. Phelim McAleer asked Josh Fox at a conference promoting Gasland a simple question about the well-documented history of naturally occurring methane in the area where the flaming faucet had been filmed. McAleer asked Fox if he knew that the water had been flammable in the area long before the arrival of hydraulic fracturing. After initially dodging the question, Fox finally admitted that he knew that flammable water in the area had been documented as far back as 1936, but he didn’t mention it in the film because he considered it to be “irrelevant.” It was that overt admission of outright distortion of the truth to promote a particular policy position (to ban hydraulic fracturing) that inspired McAleer to make a counter documentary film called FrackNation.

If you have never seen it, you need to. In fact, the ideal approach would be to watch Gasland first in order to experience how effective distortion can be; then, watch FrackNation to be reminded how important it is to critically

My point is that a negative bias toward the oil and gas industry is common in our society; and common bias leads to uncritical thinking and illogical, even masochistic, public policy director of the 2010 “documentary” called Gasland. I remember pulling up a chair in my hotel room the night that Gasland premiered on HBO. It had been given a significant buildup as the film that would tell the untold story of the horrors experienced by unsuspecting Americans across the country. And it certainly didn’t disappoint, when it came to production

analyze what anyone is telling you about exceedingly important matters of public and economic policy.

After eight years of a national administration hellbent on stopping the fossil-fuel industry in its tracks and promoting the renewable-fuel industry at great cost and with unbounded — and unfounded — hope for its day in

the (renewable) sun, it’s almost unfathomable that there is a new administration in Washington that not only has a different perspective, but is already demonstrating in decisive ways that common sense is once again welcome at the table.

As of this writing, only 60 days into this new administration, significant pronouncements have been made that are so counter to the ways of the federal government that chiropractors are likely in for a minor boom in business. For starters, last year, Obama’s EPA sent letters to 15,000 owners and operators, requesting that they provide the numbers and types of equipment at onshore oil and gas production facilities and a more specific facility survey with questions about methane emissions (known as the Information Collection Request). Undoubtedly, this was an information roundup that would have led to more aggressive regulation of operations,

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Does it make any rational sense to so reflexively and harshly judge an industry that is the fundamental reason for our ability to function as the first among all First World economies? probably to the point of making it prohibitively expensive to operate — all in the name of eliminating methane emissions. On March 2, newly appointed EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt withdrew the pending request in its entirety.

By notoriously blocking approval of the Keystone XL Pipeline and throwing up roadblocks to the Dakota Access Pipeline, Obama attempted to use those projects as symbolic statements that the U.S. would start self-inflicting damage to our economy in order to wave a flag of fictional climate rescue. Trump has already issued orders for both pipelines to be approved, built and completed as soon as possible. On Feb. 28, Trump ordered the EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers to stop and reconsider another notorious battle front between private-property owners and the federal government relating to the definition of what constitutes waters of the United States. Trump has also issued an order that aims to dismantle the Clean Power Plan, which was Obama’s strategy to eliminate coalfired power plants.

The message is being delivered swiftly, comprehensively and with unmistakable clarity. Can it be possible that the seemingly unstoppable trend of the past 50 years toward energy poverty and self-inflicted economic decline is not only being slowed down and even arrested — but reversed? Sixty days is not long enough to start composing encomia about the presidential election that is turning the American ship of state. The Gaslanders in our country will not likely go gentle into that good night. Protests will not only continue at pipeline sites — they will probably intensify. My constitutional law professor always said that the liberals never truly lose — they just postpone their win until another day. The citizens of FrackNation will have to remain ever vigilant.

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5600 Broadway Avenue • San Antonio, TX 78209 KingRealtors.com tabitha@kingrealtors.com MAY/JUNE 2017  SHALE OIL & GAS BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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INDUSTRY

Success Stories From the Eagle Ford

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ities in South Texas have been through a lot in the recent past. Around seven years ago, seemingly from out of nowhere and almost overnight, the Eagle Ford area was inundated with oilfield workers, housing shortages, crowded restaurants and busy roadways. Starting with just a handful of oil and gas rigs in 2010, the shale field eventually peaked at over 250 rigs in 2014. And yet even with the drop in energy prices since then, the Eagle Ford continues to produce over a million barrels of crude oil and condensate each day. Cumulative production stands at around 2 billion barrels, with total estimated recoverable oil and condensate at 10–12 billion barrels.

To date, The University of Texas at San Antonio Institute for Economic Development has assembled four economic impact reports on the Eagle Ford

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chronicling its development since 2010. The most recent report was released in 2014 and covered activity through calendar year 2013. A fifth study is now in the works — to be released in early summer — will provide Eagle Ford estimates for 2014 to 2016.

One of the initial concerns about the boom and bust cycle of the oil and gas industry was the way in which communities in South Texas would deal with those ups and downs. In order to learn more about how this process has played out, researchers from the Institute for Economic Development recently ventured into South Texas. Not surprisingly, rig counts had dropped below 40, following the price of oil as it went as low as $26 per barrel in February 2016. However, more recently, rig counts rebounded above 60, and West Texas Intermediate crude prices have held steady above $50 per barrel until March 9.

In our travels to the Eagle Ford, the research team has spoken with Larry Dovalina, the City Administrator of Cotulla, Texas; Don Tymrak, the former City Manager of Karnes City, Texas; and Genora C. Young, the President and CEO of the Gonzales Economic Development Corporation (EDC). Despite obvious challenges, the news is encouraging.

In Cotulla, Dovalina told us that the city’s free trade zone approval is expected soon, which will include Gardendale, Texas, as well as land south of Cotulla. With additional tax revenue as a result of Eagle Ford activity, the city has extended its airport runway to 5,000 feet, which gives Cotulla the ability to land small jets, providing the city with an edge over nearby general aviation airports that have shorter runways.

Buoyed by increased sales and property tax revenues from Eagle Ford-related activity, the city has constructed ballfields and a natatorium. The Cotulla ISD built a new elementary school and football stadium, and purchased additional land.

In Karnes City, Tymrak told us that community leaders have designated new parks and a stadium scoreboard with its additional tax revenue from Eagle Ford activity.

Street infrastructure has been upgraded with an allweather surface. Funding for a drainage project resulted in a new cross-country park. Tymrak indicated that many of the young people who had left are starting to return to Karnes City, capitalizing on newly available economic opportunities.

Young told us that several new businesses are opening

PHOTOS COURTESY OF THOMAS TUNSTALL

By: Thomas Tunstall, Ph.D.

Comfort.

Comfort.

Connectivity.

Connectivity.

Choices.

Choices.

Comfort.

Connectivity.

Choices.

up downtown. Gonzales, Texas’ Come and Take It festival occurs annually in October, a three-day event that sells out all of the hotels in the area. Estimated attendance is between 15,000 and 20,000 people.

Here again, younger residents who had moved away are returning, in part because they can find housing close enough to walk to downtown. The city offers a variety of economic incentives for business startups, and the EDC focuses as much on assisting existing businesses as it does on attracting new ones to the city. Current priorities for the EDC are to revitalize the downtown area and increase the stock of single and multifamily housing.

Other cities and counties in the Eagle Ford have also proactively worked through the ups and downs of oil and gas industry activity. Details of those and other developments, along with the most recent economic impacts will be included in the upcoming Eagle Ford Shale Economic Impact Report.

About the author: Thomas Tunstall, Ph.D., is the senior research director at the Institute for Economic Development at The University of Texas at San Antonio. He was the principal investigator for numerous economic and community development studies. He has published peer-reviewed articles on shale oil and gas, and has written op-ed articles on the topic for The Wall Street Journal. Dr. Tunstall holds a Ph.D. in economics and public policy, and an M.B.A. from The University of Texas at Dallas, as well as a B.B.A. from The University of Texas at Austin.

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INDUSTRY

Alien Territory By: David Porter

I recently spent three days attending events for Earth Day 2017 in Dallas. While it can be challenging at times to deal with the misconceptions of the anti-oil and gas opponents we cannot leave the marketplace of ideas to them alone. That Thursday I attended an alternative fuel vehicle seminar and on Friday I attended a seminar on responsible shale energy extraction. Finally, on Saturday I spoke on a panel (aimed at the general earth day attendee) on alternative fuel vehicles. My purpose was to present CNG-fueled vehicles as good alternatives to the status quo.

Friday’s seminar on responsible shale energy extraction was better balanced. I would say most of the presenters wanted economic growth and oil and gas production in a safe, responsible, environmentally friendly manner. However, there were a few environmentalists that hate oil and gas production and won’t be happy until we are all back living in caves. The oil and gas industry must remain engaged in the marketplace of ideas. Many people are not inherently hostile to oil and gas production but they want it as safe and with as little impact as possible. If we don’t engage with them, all they will

Some of those elements were in attendance but I felt that due to Trammel Crow’s leadership Earth Day Texas was an open forum for all those who believe we need a clean, safe and economically vibrant environment, even though we don’t agree on all the details of how to get there.

While it can be challenging at times to deal with the misconceptions of the anti-oil and gas opponents we cannot leave the marketplace of ideas to them alone

About the author: David Porter served six years as a Texas Railroad Commissioner (2011-2017) chairman (2015-2016) and as Vice Chairman of the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission 2016. Prior to serving on the commission, Porter spent 30 years in Midland, Texas as a CPA working with oil and gas producers, service companies and royalty owners. Since leaving the commission, Porter is working as a consultant for oil and gas companies. He is also serving as chairman of the 98th Meridian Foundation, a nonprofit concerned with water, energy and land issues.

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IQONCEPT/BIGSTOCK.COM

Thursday’s alternative fuel seminar had three major panel discussions: natural gas-fueled vehicles, bio-fueled vehicles, and electric vehicles. There was a night and day difference between the three panels. The panel on natural gas vehicles was full of facts, figures, and substantive discussion on the money that can be saved by using natural gas as fuel, about the environmental benefits of using clean burning gas, and the economic and geopolitical benefits of using a plentiful, domestic energy supply. The other two panels used, in my opinion, emotional arguments and scare tactics such as the discredited peak oil theory and hysteria about oil and gas destroying the earth. I think it is immoral to use crop land for fuel production when we have a plentiful and cheap source of oil and gas. Regarding electric cars, the “greenness” of electric cars can vary substantially depending on what fuel source generates the electricity, the efficiency of the grid, and how much rare earth and other natural resources are used in producing the equipment used to generate the electricity.

hear are the voices of the anti-oil and gas groups. I want to thank those that put on and participated in the responsible shale energy extraction seminar; especially Secretary of Energy Rick Perry and Texas Railroad Commissioner Ryan Sitton.

Yes, it was alien territory for me. But at a time when the marketplace for ideas is shrinking due to political-correctness and intolerance, Earth Day Texas had a place for Conservatives, Moderates, Liberals and environmentalists all to exhibit and participate. I have in the past thought of Earth Day as an antifreedom, anti-market totalitarian celebration.

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INDUSTRY

Supporting Entrepreneurship in the Energy Sector Special to SHALE

W

hen you’re part of America’s oil and natural gas sector, you know the names of many of our industry’s largest players—companies such as Chevron, BP, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil, Shell, Halliburton and many others.

What’s less well known—inside and outside our industry—is that the oil and natural gas sector is supported by tens of thousands of small businesses employing hundreds of thousands of people.

Many of these businesses provide essential, established operations, such as transportation and warehousing. But our industry also includes newcomers—small companies driving innovation in E&P, materials, energy efficiency, water management and more.

In addition to spurring energy innovation, these entrepreneurial companies provide an important foundation for business growth and job creation. The energy sector’s entrepreneurial ecosystem benefits from an engaged investment community, academic support, and the leadership of larger companies.

In addition, positive public policies play a critical role in promoting energy sector entrepreneurship.

Private Sector and Academic Support Some entrepreneurs fund their own startups, also known as bootstrapping. But many

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entrepreneurs, even if they bootstrap at first, will seek outside investors. Fortunately, some venture capital firms specifically seek out investment opportunities in oil and natural gas. Some business incubators, such as New Orleansbased ENERGYx, also nurture oil and gas startups.

Larger energy companies, like many high-tech companies, also have their own venture capital operations. For example, Chevron Technology Ventures (CTV) invests in businesses for financial value, but also for access to new technologies.

CTV helps startups with seed money but will also provide capital to enable established small businesses to expand.

Universities also play a role in promoting entrepreneurship in the energy sector. Last year, for example, Texas A&M launched its Petroleum Ventures Program, which brings together business and petroleum engineering faculty.

The Role of Public Policies No business—entrepreneurial

or otherwise—can grow and thrive without a pro-business policy environment. Our industry benefits from public policies that promote innovation and investment, and minimize regulatory and tax burdens.

Key policy issues impacting entrepreneurial opportunities include: • Taxation—Energy companies are less attractive for investment and have fewer dollars themselves to invest when they are singled out for higher taxes.

• Regulation and Access—When energy is limited geographically—e.g., most offshore areas are off limits to energy exploration—or by overreaching regulations, moratoriums and flat out bans, investment opportunities can be negatively affected.

• STEM Education—Federal and state educational policies should support advanced learning in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). To build a workforce of future energy entrepreneurs and innovators, STEM education, starting in K-12 schools, is essential.

The best way for members of our industry to support positive, pro-energy, pro-business public policies is by participating in API’s Energy Nation program. A workforce advocacy organization operating online and on the ground, Energy Nation keeps energy employees informed about key public policy developments and helps you make an impact in the policy arena.

We can help our industry today, as well as tomorrow’s energy entrepreneurs, by standing up together to support policies that foster small business growth, drive innovation, and strengthen our ability to provide oil and natural gas to our nation and markets around the world.

No business—entrepreneurial or otherwise—can grow and thrive without a pro-business policy environment To learn more about Energy Nation and its mission, visit www.energynation.org.

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FASTEST GROWING PROFESSIONAL GROUP FOR WOMEN IN THE ENERGY INDUSTRY Join WEN today! www.womensenergynetwork.org/houston About WEN The Women’s Energy Network (WEN) is an international organization of professional women who work across the energy value chain. Our mission is to develop programs to provide networking opportunities and foster career and leadership development of women who work in the energy industries.

Thousands of women are breaking ground in energy industry careers, and 3,000 of them are members of the Women’s Energy Network. Members receive exclusive access to: • Mentoring • Job Board • Group Discussions • Member-only Networking Events • Expert Speaking Engagements • And more

Women’s Energy Network | 1707 Post Oak Blvd., PMB 112 | Houston, Texas 77056

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POLICY

Donald Trump Is Keeping His Campaign Promises to the Energy Industry

S

hortly after assuming office, former President Barack Obama famously told the Republican congressional leaders, “Elections have consequences, and at the end of the day, I won.” Truer words were never spoken. Indeed, what a difference an election makes.

Half a year ago, companies in the U.S. oil and natural gas industry were feverishly trying to figure out how they were going to comply with the latest raft of major, heavy-handed regulatory actions being handed down from Obama regulators in Washington, D.C. Energy Transfer, the operator of the Dakota Access Pipeline, was in the middle of the largest, often violent and destructive protest action ever assembled against any oil and gas-related project; and management at TransCanada had most likely accepted what appeared to be the reality that its proposed northern leg of the Keystone XL pipeline system would never be completed. Almost everyone expected — indeed, assumed — that Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton would become the next president of the United States and would simply continue the Obama regulatory offensive and obstruction of major new pipeline systems.

But then an odd thing happened: Republican nominee Donald Trump managed to turn the previously blue states of Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania red, and in doing so won the presidential election.

The voters had spoken and decided they preferred a radical shift in the direction of the federal government rather than the continuation of the status quo promised by Clinton.

It did not take long for oil and gas companies to begin to feel the impact of that radical shift in direction. Trump is proving to be a man who keeps his campaign promises, and he made several very specific promises related to the oil and gas industry specifically and energy policy in general during his campaign. During his first three months in office, he has done everything within his control to keep each and every one of those promises.

Indeed, within four days of assuming office, President Trump had already issued his promised executive order designed to restart the dormant Keystone XL Pipeline project and to issue the easement necessary for the completion of the final leg of the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL). By the end of March, the construction of DAPL was completed and it was preparing to go into service, and the final cross-border permit had been issued to TransCanada by the Department of State.

During the campaign, Trump also promised to open up more federal lands and waters to leasing for oil and gas exploration. By the

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end of March, the Department of the Interior (DOI) held an extremely successful lease sale in the eastern Gulf of Mexico and announced a first-ever Gulf of Mexico-wide lease sale to take place in August. The Trump DOI also worked on plans to offer up significantly more federal lands in the Intermountain West for leasing in the near future.

When Congress convened in January sporting Republican majorities in both houses, there was great hope that many of the abusive, economykilling regulations the Obama administration had shoved through the process during its final months in office would be reversed under the Congressional Review Act (CRA). The CRA allows a new Congress to review and possibly reverse last-minute regulations implemented during the final six months of the prior administration.

To be fair to Congress, the House of Representatives has indeed used the CRA to pass

resolutions that would reverse dozens of Obama-era regulatory actions. Unfortunately, the Senate has not cooperated, with the GOP leadership using the Democrats’ delaying tactics as an excuse for inaction. The truth is that the GOP leaders have simply failed to make the use of the CRA one of their top priorities, and, as a result, only a handful of Senate resolutions under the CRA have made their way to the President’s desk.

But the Trump administration has not stood idle in the face of Senate inaction.

A great example is an Obamaera regulation finalized in early January by the DOI, which would radically change the regulations governing the valuation of federal royalties on oil and gas produced from federal lands.

When it became apparent that the Senate would not move a resolution related to this moneygrabbing regulation, the Trump administration first announced it was placing this regulation on

Trump is proving to be a man who keeps his campaign promises, and he made several very specific promises related to the oil and gas industry specifically and energy policy in general during his campaign

ACTIONSPORTS/BIGSTOCK.COM

By: David Blackmon

hold pending further review, and then, at the end of March, announced it was administratively canceling the regulation entirely.

Another good example is the last-minute DOI regulation that would govern the conduct of hydraulic fracturing operations on federal and Native American lands. The industry had opposed this regulation because such operations are already regulated by the states in which they occur. Again, faced with a lack of action under the CRA, President Trump issued an executive order directing DOI to place the regulation on hold pending further review.

The President took a similar action on a major EPA power grab under the Clean Water Act, the so-called Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rulemaking.

Characterized by the EPA’s public relations campaign as simply an effort to clarify which federal agency has primary jurisdiction over specific types of waters, this is in reality a massive expansion of EPA authority to regulate every minor creek, pond or drainage ditch in America. It was finalized during 2015, and thus does not fall under the parameters of the CRA. However, the rule-making was placed on hold by a federal court injunction in early 2016 and remains

on appeal at the federal appellate court level.

As a candidate, President Trump actively campaigned against WOTUS, singling it out for action in speech after speech. Few “expert” observers really expected him to follow through with any action should he be elected. But in late February, Trump signed an executive order specific to WOTUS, ordering EPA to conduct a thorough review and reissue a new regulation that does in fact conform to the agency’s stated “jurisdiction-clarifying” mission.

Trump also specifically campaigned on a promise to rescind the Obama Clean Power Plan, which was in reality the Obama administration’s effort to kill the country’s coal industry.

At the end of March, President Trump again followed through on his promise, issuing a far-reaching executive order that impacts not only the coal industry, but the oil and gas industry as well.

This order directs the Council on Environmental Quality to reconsider its artificial Social Cost of Carbon construct that formed the justification for many Obama-era regulatory efforts. It also rescinds the Obama executive order that instructs the DOI and EPA to consider climate change in all permitting and leasing decisions, an order that had been used by bureaucrats to create massive delays in those processes.

No president can force Congress or the courts to do his or her bidding. Thus, President Trump has already experienced difficulties related to his promise to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, and to implement parts of his promised immigration policies. But the President, barely three months into his term (as I write this article), has already by and large kept every major promise over which he has control to act, and the oil and gas industry is one of the major beneficiaries of that reality. Yes, elections do matter.

About the author: David Blackmon is Associate Editor for Oil and Gas for SHALE Magazine. He previously spent 37 years in the oil and natural gas industry in a variety of roles, and the last 22 years engaged in public policy issues at the state and national levels. Contact David Blackmon at david.blackmon@shalemag.com.

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POLICY

In Western States, Tom Steyer Quietly Grows His Political Operation By: Simon Lomax

The Push to Ban Oil and Gas Production in Nevada Nevada campaign finance records show Steyer and his wife, Kat Taylor, personally contributed $70,000 to five state legislative candidates — all Democrats — in the 2016 election. Their victories helped Democrats

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take back control of the state legislature from Republicans, who had been in the majority since 2015.

While Steyer’s outside spending in the U.S. Senate race between Republican Joe Heck and Democrat Catherine Cortez Masto made headlines in Nevada, the San Francisco billionaire’s involvement in state legislative races went almost completely unnoticed. “It never got much traction in the press or with the public,” Ray Bacon, executive director of the Nevada Manufacturers Association, told Western Wire.

But when the Nevada legislature convened in early 2017, Steyer’s anti-oil and gas influence quickly became obvious.

Two lawmakers backed by the activist billionaire introduced a bill to ban hydraulic fracturing, an essential technology for developing oil and natural gas. The bill received a hearing in February, generating local and national headlines.

The introduction of the anti-oil and gas measure was a surprise to many observers.

When Democrats last held a majority in the Nevada legislature, they flatly rejected calls to ban hydraulic fracturing. Nevada isn’t a major oil and gas producer today, but the state’s geology holds some promise, and in 2013 a Democratic legislature voted unanimously — 41–0 in the Assembly and 21–0 in the Senate — for a bill that allowed exploratory drilling and hydraulic fracturing to proceed.

Since then, leading environmental regulators and advocates have also rejected proposals to ban hydraulic fracturing and oil and gas development. For example, Sally Jewell — President Barack Obama’s second-term Secretary of the Interior — has said that hydraulic fracturing “has been

The 2016 elections significantly expanded Steyer’s influence in two key states – Nevada and New Mexico — with major implications for energy and environmental policy across the West LEVELUPART/BIGSTOCK.COM

I

n the world of national politics, California billionaire Tom Steyer is a well-known figure. He was the largest single donor of the past two federal election cycles, spending $163 million trying to win control of Congress and the White House for candidates who share his views on energy and the environment.

Those views are well outside the mainstream, of course. Steyer has tried to ban hydraulic fracturing in California, the fourth-biggest oil-producing state in the nation, and he’s a major donor and a key ally to “keep it in the ground” groups like 350.org and the Sierra Club.

As SHALE Magazine has noted before, Steyer’s efforts at the national level have mostly failed. While the public supports renewable sources of energy like wind and solar, they support the nation’s oil and natural gas producers, too.

At the same time, away from the national spotlight, Steyer and the activists racked up some significant wins during the 2016 election. These were quiet victories in down-ballot races that almost nobody knew about until after Election Day. But they have significantly expanded Steyer’s influence in two key states – Nevada and New Mexico — with major implications for energy and environmental policy across the West.

done safely for many, many years.” Jewell, who served on the board of a national environmental group before joining the Obama administration, has also warned that oil and gas production bans are “the wrong way to go” and the activists who push for state and local prohibitions “don’t understand the science behind it.”

Steyer’s candidates also introduced a bill that would set a renewable electricity mandate for Nevada of 50 percent by 2030, with a longer-term goal of 80 percent by 2040. This is a dramatic increase from the state’s existing standard of 25 percent by 2025, but, once again, passing new laws on renewable energy is a big priority for the California billionaire.

On the campaign trail last year, his political action committee — NextGen Climate — pushed all candidates to support a 50 percent national renewable mandate by 2030. In fact, backing the mandate was a condition of the billionaire’s financial support, according to The New York Times.

Rising Anti-Oil and Gas Activism in New Mexico Just like in Nevada, Steyer made a serious move into New Mexico politics last year, and it also went mostly unnoticed until after Election Day. Together, Steyer and Taylor gave $65,000 to Democrats running for the New Mexico state legislature and Secretary of State’s office, according to state campaign finance records.

But they weren’t alone. A national environmental group with close ties to Steyer — the League of Conservation Voters (LCV), based in Washington, D.C. — put another $185,000 into New Mexico campaigns last year.

The spending was focused on six key contests in the battle for control of the New Mexico state legislature, and a seventh race for Secretary of State. And it worked: Democrats won full control of the state legislature and the Secretary of State’s office.

In New Mexico, oil and natural gas production is one of the state’s most important industries.

Despite ranking 36th in population out of the 50 states, New Mexico is the 10th biggest energy producer, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Roughly one-third of the state’s budget revenue comes from oil and gas development, in fact.

For this reason, oil and gas opponents have taken a more calculated approach. Rather than push for a ban on hydraulic fracturing for oil and natural gas, lawmakers instead proposed a bill to dramatically increase fines against oil and gas companies. But oil and gas supporters blew the whistle nonetheless. “I would really like to see New Mexico encourage the industry and not try to

drive it out of the state,” Carla Sonntag, President of the New Mexico Business Coalition, told the Associated Press. And just like Nevada, Steyerbacked lawmakers proposed a new renewable energy mandate as well — 50 percent by 2030 and 80 percent by 2040.

At the same time, there’s been a noticeable increase in activism against the state’s energy sector. Claire Chase, the Government Affairs Director for Mack Energy in Artesia, New Mexico, said, “We are under constant attack on TV and in print and from the Legislature, and also especially

in social media,” according to the Roswell Daily Record. “[T]he target on us is not getting smaller, it’s getting bigger.”

All Eyes on 2018 The measures supported by Steyer and his allies are unlikely to become law in Nevada or New Mexico in the short term, because both states currently have Governors who oppose his agenda. But in just two years, things could change. Republican Govs. Brian Sandoval of Nevada and Susana Martinez of New Mexico are both term limited, and voters will pick their successors in November 2018.

Will Steyer get involved in these key gubernatorial races? Only time will tell. But in the meantime, it would be wise to pay him close attention.

While the public supports renewable sources of energy like wind and solar, they support the nation’s oil and natural gas producers, too

About the author: Simon Lomax is a Denver-based consultant and an adviser to pro-business groups. Before going into advocacy, he was a reporter for 15 years and covered energy policy for Bloomberg News and Argus Media. The views expressed are his own.

Find him on Twitter at @simonrlomax.

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BUSINESS

Healthcare After Obamacare

A

s I write this, the news is breaking that the American Health Care Act has been pulled from the floor late on a Friday afternoon and we’ll have to wait and see what’s next for healthcare in America. I was originally asked to put together a piece comparing the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) with the AHCA. Perhaps now would be a good time to step back and reflect on how Obamacare actually changed our healthcare environment, and why the concerns about simply “leaving it well enough alone” or “letting it collapse under its own weight” are valid.

In my opinion, Obamacare was never meant to be a sustainable platform. It was designed to do exactly what it has been doing … make the process of governmentmandated healthcare so bloated, so much more expensive, so complicated, and so unsustainable that the private insurers (who signed on to this with greedy, shortsighted deals with the devil looking at the promises of millions more new customers and Candy Land promises from Uncle Sam that they’d be taken care of) would no longer be able

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Do we want to make sure that every American has access to affordable, quality healthcare, or do we want to make sure that they have an insurance card? to provide affordable coverage. As a result, they’d pull out, and then Uncle Sam would have no choice but to step in and sweep all this up into one massive, intrusive, allencompassing superpower of an intractable entitlement that has been at the very top of the liberal progressive wish list for decades.

For those who believe that the people are

better served when there is a competitive marketplace, Obamacare’s design is the very epitome of evil genius.

What’s happened in the past 20 years or so is that the drumbeat from these progressives has now become widely accepted as fact — that cradle-to-grave, government-paid healthcare is a birthright of every American (and, to be even more provocative, everyone who lives in America, whether here legally or not). Meanwhile. some of us have been saying, “Be careful what you wish for,” because while rising tides lift all boats, so too do sinking ships drown everyone who doesn’t throw themselves overboard.

Widespread sharing of worst-case scenario stories has caused the average American to believe that having a health insurance card — any health insurance card at all — in your wallet is more important than access to quality and affordable care for all Americans. This is how entitlement starts, and this is why the idea of a full repeal and replace may sound good to some but will be nearly impossible to do.

Do we want to make sure that every American has access to affordable, quality healthcare, or do we want to make sure that they have an insurance card?

This is the question that Obamacare and its supporters never once stopped to answer.

The promise of a government-paid, no-limit “Obamacare healthcare credit card” was dangled in front of everyone’s eyes, and a lot of smart and difficult questions were never asked, much less answered, in the rush to get Obamacare to pass at long last.

If I were advising President Trump (which I am not), here are two key ideas I’d suggest exploring: We need to have a brutally honest but compassionate dialogue with the American people about what healthcare is and what it is not.

As big and complicated as the healthcare universe is, it has been successfully compartmentalized in the average American’s mind as government-paid doctor and hospital visits. It is much larger than that, including a patient’s own responsibility for

ZIMMYTWS/BIGSTOCK.COM

By: Kelly Moore

taking ownership of their own health and that of their family. Many private insurers, pharmaceutical companies and patient advocacy groups have been working hard at shifting the thinking from sole focus on critical treatment of sick patients to mitigating behavior or lifestyle that can prevent the disease state from progressing in the first place.

Educational programs for targeted populations who are genetically predisposed for diabetes, for example, have been very effective in helping families adjust their diets and lifestyles and be more aware of their glucose levels. Identifying early genetic markers for some cancers has helped patients be more diligent about getting screenings and become aware of what lifestyle factors they can address to stay on top of their own health.

These days, it is almost more common to find a Fitbit or other kind of fitness tracker on a person than not. These kinds of activities and programs are exactly what the doctor ordered, so to speak, for the general public.

The bottom line is that if you are relying on the government to provide you with healthcare, you shouldn’t be the slightest bit surprised when the government then thinks that it can dictate how you live, what you eat and how you spend your money at the grocery store. Unfortunately, there has been a mantra that has been accepted by too many Americans that the government knows better than they do about how to help them fix what ails them. This is one reason why the prospect of taking away something that the American people think they’ve already been given, regardless of what the value of that thing actually is, is so toxic to the prospect of any meaningful dialogue.

This is a context switch that will take years, not months, to effectuate. Just because it will take time doesn’t mean that it won’t have value; and even if it can’t change votes or minds in a short enough timespan to impact the future course of the government’s involvement in healthcare doesn’t mean that it shouldn’t be attempted.

We need to stop devaluing quality care in the patient’s mind.

When a patient’s only financial concern when they go to a doctor is “How much is my copay?” there is no reason to care

about what’s behind the rest of the bill that goes to their insurance company. Similarly, a price point is then set in their mind that “an office visit to a doctor should cost me about $20.” When one Senator suggested that Americans should perhaps start thinking about healthcare as part of their budget in the same way that they think about whether or not they should upgrade their iPhone, he was, predictably, pilloried as an uncaring, out-of-touch bad guy who was telling poor people that they didn’t deserve a new iPhone and healthcare.

If Americans were treated as the proud, strong, self-reliant people they should want to be, then we’d all have healthcare savings accounts, and could decide which care we need and which provider or course of treatment makes the most sense for our budget. That power of the purse would then force healthcare providers to compete for that business and try to offer more value to the patient, better customer service and more meaningful interactions with their patients that could lead to better outcomes.

Health insurance, like every other kind of insurance we purchase for ourselves and our families, was never meant to cover every single health expense that a human being might incur as a result of, well, being human.

It was meant to provide a catastrophic safety net in case of injury or illness that would otherwise be financially ruinous to the individual. Going to the doctor to get a prescription for an antibiotic when you get an infection would be a lot more reasonably priced if the weight of the health of the entire ecosystem weren’t aggregated by actuaries and spread across every transaction for everyone, regardless of health.

There is simply no ideologically pure way to address the healthcare issue.

The government genie is out of the bottle and cannot be withdrawn without dire ramifications for any politician who proposes it. What needs to happen now is an acknowledgement that the government and, therefore, taxpayers are on the hook for providing something, whether we like it or not. What that something is, how those dollars are spent and the return on investment of those dollars (hopefully a healthier U.S. population with better outcomes from disease treatment) should be the focus moving forward.

Introducing the SHALE Mobile App Free to Download on iPhone and Android GPS-Enabled Directory Oil and Gas Survival Kit and More!

About the author: Kelly Moore has sold clinical research and development software solutions to the pharmaceutical and biotech industry for the past several years. She previously spent 20 years in business development for the pharmaceutical R&D field, focusing on multi-study, global clinical programs. She has a bachelor of arts degree in Economics from the University of Texas.

Any opinions expressed in this article are strictly her own and are not meant to represent those of any employer, client, or organization with whom she is affiliated.

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BUSINESS

Navigating New Territory By: Timothy Zawinsky, Founder and President of Bluebonnet Distributing

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business at a young age is daunting. Creativity, weaving in and out of my life and career and helping me tackle the unknown from very early on, started from something simple yet timeless — playing with Legos. The foundation of my entrepreneurial personality first manifested itself when I was a kid. My parents would often buy me Lego sets as presents for Christmas. When building with my Legos, I always discarded the instructions and instead built what I envisioned. This pattern would ultimately propel me to leave my finance career — it seemed like it

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came with instructions, and while I enjoyed banking and private equity, it was largely transactional in nature. I felt drawn to the creativity associated with the challenge of building a business from scratch.

As a native Houstonian, seeing our products around town is amazing and brings me so much joy. This business has provided some incredible opportunities for us to give back daily to foster a positive and constructive community.

One of my favorite moments as President was the first time

PHOTOS COURTESY OF BLUEBONNET DISTRIBUTING

t just 28 years old, after a great deal of intentional deliberation and prayer, I felt called to step out on a leap of faith to leave my career in finance to pursue a vision for what craft beer may become in Texas. So there I was, unemployed and equipped only with my personal savings and an idea.

I incorporated Bluebonnet Distributing in 2013 and began to build the pieces of a business that existed in my mind.

A key factor that fueled Bluebonnet was a fundamental imbalance in the current market, as the distribution channel had gone through consolidation driven by macro-brewery mergers over the years. We understood there was a generational shift underway by the consumer to local and premium beers. This gave us the conviction we needed to take charge and make our first move.

There was an opportunity to support the growth of the craft beer industry by allocating it greater share-of-mind aided by sophisticated technology systems with first-class operating assets. We executed on that conviction by investing with the goal of creating long-term value.

Our relationship-driven approach to doing business allows us to closely partner with retailers while focusing on the unique needs of regional craft brewers and microbrewers. Our growth since opening shows the market has proven our investment thesis.

Not only has there been a shift, but Constellation Brands recently commented that over 100 million cases will migrate from the low-end domestic beer category to craft/imports over the next few years. We are always on the lookout for innovative products, and as such our scope as a business has broadened to include nonalcoholic products, including Topo Chico, Original New York Seltzer and Spindrift Beverage Co. Life doesn’t come with an instruction manual. Starting a new

an employee brought his family up to the warehouse because he was proud of where he worked. Another one of my favorite moments was being able to host a fundraiser for Young Life Houston, a community that I was very involved in as a teenager and that really enriched my life.

My daily role is to help Bluebonnet Distributing execute our mission statement, “To be a light in the darkness by serving others with love, joy, patience, peace, humility and self-control.” I plan to always uphold this mission as we continue to grow, serve and give back to Houstonians.

So there I was, unemployed and equipped only with my personal savings and an idea About the author: Timothy Zawinsky is the founder and president of Bluebonnet Distributing, an independent beverage distribution company based in Houston, Texas, servicing all nine counties in the Houston Metropolitan Statistical Area. Bluebonnet’s relationshipdriven approach to business allows them to closely partner with retailers while focusing on the unique needs of regional craft beer brewers and microbrewers. Bluebonnet was founded with a simple goal in mind - to help bring the craft beers people love to Houston.

For more information: Call 832-968-4095 or visit bluebonnetdistributing.com and follow them on Facebook and Instagram.

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COMMUNITY

ConocoPhillips’ Charitable Grants Span the Eagle Ford

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onocoPhillips has awarded $230,250 in charitable grants to 31 organizations in the Eagle Ford area this year.

“Our company believes in giving back to the communities where we live and work,” said Randy Black, manager, Eagle Ford operations. “This is our way of giving back. These recipient organizations work extremely hard to better the lives of the citizens of the Eagle Ford, and we hope these grants will allow the organizations to help even more citizens.”

Organization

Grant Amount

Organization

Grant Amount

4H Council - Karnes County

$4,000

Kenedy Independent School District

$8,000

American Cancer Society - Relay for Life Kenedy

$7,500

Kenedy Public Library

$5,000

Atascosa Health Center, Inc

$5,000

Kenedy Volunteer Fire Department

$10,000

Boys & Girls Club of Dewitt County

$7,500

Live Oak County Child Welfare

$2,500

Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Research Institute (South Texas Natives)

$7,500

Nordheim County Volunteer Fire Department

$10,000

CASA of Bee, Live Oak & McMullen Counties

$10,000

Nordheim ISD Education Foundation

$5,000

City of Three Rivers

$5,000

Pawnee County Fire Volunteer Emergency Service Department

$10,000

Cuero County Volunteer Fire Department

$10,000

Pawnee Independent School District

$5,000

Friends of the Yorktown Public Library, Inc.

$5,000

South Texas Children’s Home

$5,000

George West Education Foundation, Inc.

$5,000

Three Rivers Volunteer Fire Department

$10,000

George West Volunteer Fire Department

$10,000

Warrior Weekend

$5,750

Karnes City Independent School District Education Foundation

$5,000

Westhoff American Legion Post

$2,500

Karnes City Volunteer Fire Department

$10,000

Westhoff Volunteer Fire Department

$10,000

Karnes County EMS

$10,000

Whitsett County Volunteer Fire Department

$10,000

Karnes County Sheriff’s Office

$10,000

Yorktown County Volunteer Fire Department

$10,000

Yorktown EMS

$10,000

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This year’s grant recipients include area volunteer fire departments, educational institutions, emergency services and various other civic organizations.

Each year, ConocoPhillips invests in local communities through charitable giving, employee volunteerism and sponsorships. These donations support education, health and safety, natural resources, the arts, civic and social services and disaster relief.

For more information, go to www.conocophillips.com. ConocoPhillips is the world’s largest independent E&P company based on production and proved reserves. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, ConocoPhillips had operations and activities in 17 countries, $90 billion of total assets, and approximately 13,300 employees as of Dec. 31, 2016. Production excluding Libya averaged 1,567 MBOED in 2016, and proved reserves were 6.4 billion BOE as of Dec. 31, 2016.

SHALE OIL & GAS BUSINESS MAGAZINE  MAY/JUNE 2017

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MAY/JUNE 2017  SHALE OIL & GAS BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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LIFESTYLE

Experience the Old West in San Antonio Special to SHALE

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SAWS gives you the opportunity to learn not only how to use those iconic Old West weapons but why they were important to folks in the Old West, and especially to Texicans

SHALE OIL & GAS BUSINESS MAGAZINE  MAY/JUNE 2017

PHOTOS COURTESY OF SAN ANTONIO WESTERN SHOOTING

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tand and deliver! These words coming from one of the desperate men blocking your way mean it is time for you to get to work. The talkative one gets the first barrel of your 12-gauge shotgun; the one closest to him gets the second.

Drawing your revolver, you go to work on the remaining would-be bandits.

Holstering your empty pistol, you step down from the wagon, shuck the empty shells from your shotgun and smile for the camera as your friends post photos of your San Antonio Western Shooting (SAWS) adventure on Facebook.

If you live in or have visited San Antonio, you no doubt have seen the Alamo, visited the River Walk and taken in the theme parks. Now what?

And where are all the cowboys?

SAWS gives you a chance to learn what it was like to be a part of the Old West: a storied time and place burned into the hearts and minds of residents and visitors alike. You may have grown up on classic westerns, but what was real and what was movie magic?

SAWS gives you the opportunity to learn not only how to use those iconic Old West weapons but why they were important to folks in the Old West, and especially to Texicans.

SAWS has been providing clients with a safe and authentic western shooting experience since 2011.

Sessions are conducted on a private “Old West” range near Alamo City.

Keep in mind, this is not a show — SAWS clients do all their shooting using a variety of classic guns.

The organization utilizes “cowboy” firearms designed or manufactured prior to 1898. Guns include modern copies of Colt 1873 Peacemaker revolvers, double-barreled shotguns, and lever-action Winchester Model

1866 and 1873, and Marlin 1894 rifles.

All revolvers and rifles fire pistol-caliber ammunition in either .38 Special or authentic black powder .45 Colt. SAWS ammunition closely mimics Old West velocities, which are considered mild by modern standards. It is fun to shoot, and you’ll shoot a lot of it.

You may be thinking, This is for beginners, and I am an experienced shooter. Well, it ain’t so! This experience was designed to have something for everyone, from the beginner to experienced shooters. There are fun trick-shooting challenges: a little friendly competition mixed with some history. SAWS guns are simple to shoot but are very different from modern firearm design.

All SAWS clients get one-on-one instruction and some practice. Once you gain confidence in your shooting ability, you’ll deal with stage robbers, a crooked card dealer, and marauding Comanches, among other challenges.

Absolutely no Hollywood horseplay, fast-draw, or fanning are permitted.

SAWS clients shoot real guns using real bullets under controlled conditions.

The organization follows National Rifle Association (NRA) and Single Action Shooting Society (SASS) range and

»

firearms safety protocols at all times.

To date, SAWS has hosted visitors from 26 foreign countries and almost every state in the U.S. Many clients have never handled, or even seen, a real firearm before signing up. The hundreds of overwhelmingly positive comments (and photos) posted on TripAdvisor and Facebook speak to their experience.

SAWS staff members include retired military officers and senior noncommisioned officers, firefighters, paramedics, two attorneys, a nurse and one dentist. Staff members are competitive shooters and all hold multiple training, range safety and instructor certifications from the NRA and SASS. Sessions are by appointment only.

SAWS is a small business that has a love of old guns and the Old West, but the proprietors are also retired. Making reservation requests at least 30 days in advance is recommended. Shoots start at 10 a.m. and generally last about two and a half to three hours. The minimum age for shooters is 11. To ensure safety and a quality experience, sessions are usually limited to a maximum of eight shooters. Experience the Old West today at San Antonio Western Shooting.

For more information or to make reservations, contact San Antonio Western Shooting at sawesternshooting@gmail.com or 210-213-9812, or visit www.sawesternshooting.com.

MAY/JUNE 2017  SHALE OIL & GAS BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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LIFESTYLE

Tex-Mex at Home Special to SHALE

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Guacamole Comparison

Taco Comparison

Enchiladas Comparison

Chipotle Guacamole

Kona Grill Taco Trio

Chili’s Chicken Enchiladas With Green Chiles

Calories: 230 Total fat: 22 g Sodium: 375 mg Total carbohydrates: 8 g Fiber: 6 g Sugars: 1 g Protein: 2 g

Calories: 630 Total fat: 29 g Sodium: 1,730 mg Total carbohydrates: 59 g Dietary fiber: 5 g Sugars: 9 g Protein: 33 g

Calories: 260 Total fat: 12 g Sodium: 1,030 mg Total carbohydrates: 20 g Dietary fiber: 3 g Sugars: 3 g Protein: 18 g

H-E-B Edamame-Broccomole Ingredients: Frozen shelled edamame, broccoli crowns, H-E-B Pico de Gallo, 2 large Hass avocados, 1 lime

H-E-B Ahi Tuna Tacos With Creamy Avocado Slaw

H-E-B Tomatillo Cilantro Enchiladas Verdes

Calories: 80 Total fat: 5 g Sodium: 40 mg Total carbohydrates: 7 g Dietary fiber: 4 g Sugars: 2 g Protein: 4 g 16 servings, 1/3 cup per serving www.heb.com/recipe/recipe-item/edamamebroccomole/1398800842043 A little fat goes a long way in the calorie department. When using healthful ingredients like avocado, bulk up the serving with lowercalorie, nutrient-dense, ingredients like broccoli and edamame. By blending this healthier guacamole to a smooth, decadent texture, your family won’t mind these nutritious additions while enjoying 1/3 cup of it compared to 2 tablespoons for nearly the same amount of calories. It’s the best of both worlds: Eat more dip with 17 grams less fat and more than 300 mg less sodium.

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SHALE OIL & GAS BUSINESS MAGAZINE  MAY/JUNE 2017

Calories: 440 Total Fat: 15 g Sodium: 760 mg Total carbohydrates: 36 g Dietary fiber: 5 g Sugars: 4 g Protein: 40 g 5 servings, 2 tacos per serving https://www.heb.com/recipe/recipeitem/ahi-tuna-tacos-with-creamyavocado-slaw/1398731527792 May is the perfect time to use seasonal produce like cabbage and avocado served atop these fish tacos.

H-E-B’s Ahi Tuna Tacos With Creamy Avocado Slaw use an omega-3-rich fish, and have 40 grams of protein and about 1,000 mg less sodium and half the fat compared to the Kona Grill tacos.

Calories: 250 Total Fat: 6 g Sodium: 690 mg Total carbohydrates: 32 g Dietary fiber: 4 g Sugars: 5 g Protein: 21 g 6 servings, 2 enchiladas per serving https://www.heb.com/recipe/recipeitem/tomatillo-cilantro-enchiladasverdes/1392677291488 Enchiladas are a Tex-Mex must-have. When cooking H-E-B’s Tomatillo Cilantro Enchiladas Verdes at home, you get half the fat and 300 mg less sodium. The best part is the full-flavored tomatillo sauce in this dish.

For more meal solutions, visit heb.com recipes and explore the Health and Wellness category for tasty, yet nutritious recipes.

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South Texas favorite, Tex-Mex is a staple cuisine for many families. We bring good news for Texans seeking healthier lifestyles who don’t want to miss out on flavorful favorites like guacamole and tacos.

The secret to healthy Tex-Mex is taking control of the cooking methods and ingredients. Tex-Mex meals have the opportunity to incorporate a lot of quality ingredients. Simple swaps like using fresh vegetables, low-fat dairy, whole grains and lean proteins will not only prove better nutritionally, but comes with the same flavors we love with less grease and more nutrients our bodies crave.

Get inspired by our favorite Tex-Mex meals to make at home for your family.

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MAY/JUNE 2017 ď “ SHALE OIL & GAS BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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LIFESTYLE

The Galleria Special to SHALE

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SHALE OIL & GAS BUSINESS MAGAZINE  MAY/JUNE 2017

favorites, such as Saint Laurent, Ralph Lauren, Fendi, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Valentino, Chanel, Prada and Miu Miu. Younger shoppers adore fashion-forward collections found at H&M, Topshop/Topman, Forever 21, and Abercrombie & Fitch, and the popular must-haves from Tory Burch, Madewell, Free People, Loft, Gap and Banana Republic.

Galleria shoppers are assured all the latest trends for home and lifestyle from Apple, Sephora, Off the Wall Gallery and Lovesac — just a few of the 400-plus fine retailers found at The Galleria.

The Galleria opened on November 16, 1970, after more than two years of construction.

Built by Houston developer Gerald Hines and architects Harwood Taylor of Houston and Gyo Obata of Hellmuth Obata and Kassabaum of St. Louis, The Galleria mirrors its Milan

Spanning 2.4 million square feet of space, housing 400 fine stores and restaurants, two high-rise hotels, and three office towers, The Galleria is Houston’s most popular retail and tourist destination, meeting every budget, style and taste

PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE GALLERIA

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ore than 30 million visitors a year seek the dynamic, comprehensive, fine shopping environment uniquely offered by The Galleria, Texas’ largest shopping domain and ninth largest nationally. International guests on a week’s buying trip blend seamlessly with Houstonians in the mall on a quick errand or area executives entertaining clients at one of the signature eateries.

Nestled between two of the city’s most exclusive neighborhoods, River Oaks and Memorial, The Galleria is as internationally respected for its architectural style and imprint as its shopping panache. Modeled after the revered Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II in Milan, built in 1867, The Galleria stands as one of the premier examples of a dynamic, mixed-use, urban environment. The adjoining office towers offer 7,000 business professionals 1.1 million square feet of office space and the benefit and convenience of having The Galleria just a short walk away.

Spanning 2.4 million square feet of space, housing 400 fine stores and restaurants, two high-rise hotels, and three office towers, The Galleria is Houston’s most popular retail and tourist destination, meeting every budget, style and taste. A plethora of amenities, including a full-size ice rink for recreational and figure skating, a stateof-the-art children’s play area, two swimming pools, two full-service banks, tailor shops, beauty salons, and a post office, continually serve a wide range of age groups and demographics. There are seven valet parking stations and 13,900 parking spaces in seven garages to accommodate drivers.

For shopping, opportunities are endless at anchoring stores Neiman Marcus, Macy’s, Saks Fifth Avenue and Nordstrom, and at high-fashion

inspiration, incorporating elegant shops, restaurants and living quarters under a dramatic glassvault dome. This unique design created America’s first mixeduse environment to shop, dine, work and stay. The relationship between hotels, offices and retail is synergetic, each benefiting from its proximity to the other. Honors and accolades ensued; the Urban Land Institute awarded the prestigious Award of Excellence to The Galleria in 1979.

Since it premiered, The Galleria has grown in four stages and has undergone several extensive renovations. In 2013, Simon initiated a multiyear luxury transformation of The Galleria to complement the construction of a new, state-of-the-art flagship Saks Fifth Avenue store, which debuted in April 2016. Simon is in the process of converting the former Saks store into a new and vibrant multilevel mall extension.

The area, anchored by Saks Fifth Avenue on one end and Neiman Marcus at the other, will feature approximately 110,000 square feet of space to house 35 new and unique retailers and several new restaurants opening in 2017. Additional components of the renovation include the construction of a 14,000-square-foot, freestanding retail building, referred to as the Jewel Box. Completed in late 2015, the Jewel Box is now home to The Webster, a luxury fashion boutique that opened in January 2016, added Yauatcha, a Michelin-star Chinese dim sum tea house, in March this year.

Most recently, Simon announced the addition of a luxury hotel and residences to The Galleria. The hotel and residences, co-located in one building, will nestle on the corner of Sage Road and West Alabama Street, with direct access to shopping and dining at The Galleria and conveniently located near the office buildings in Houston’s Uptown District.

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For more information on The Galleria, visitwww.simon.com/mall/the-galleria.

MAY/JUNE 2017  SHALE OIL & GAS BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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WHAT’S YOUR NEXT MOVE?

connect. share ideas. discuss.

• space planning • office furnishings • moving solutions

courtierconsulting.com/reality

SHALE Oil & Gas Business Magazine is an industry publication that showcases the significance of the South Texas petroleum and energy markets.

SHALE’s mission is to promote economic growth and business opportunity that connect regional businesses with oil and gas companies. It supports market growth through promoting industry education and policy, and it’s content includes particular insight into the Eagle Ford Shale development and the businesses involved.

Shale’s distribution includes industry leaders and businesses, services workers and entrepreneurs.

OIL & GAS BUSINESS MAGAZINE

http://www.linkedin.com/company/ shale-oil-&-gas-business-magazine

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SHALE OIL & GAS BUSINESS MAGAZINE  MAY/JUNE 2017

Save $200

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#BAKKENOILCONF Follow Us: twitter.com/NAShaleMag MAY/JUNE 2017  SHALE OIL & GAS BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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SOCIAL

Cover Party Honoring Shana Robinson

PHOTOS COURTESY OF SHALE

SHALE hosted a cover party honoring Shana Robinson on April 13 at the Shavano Park Paesanos in San Antonio. Guests were treated to cocktails and appetizers while enjoying time to meet new people.

Speakers included Haley Curry of STEER and former Railroad Commission of Texas Chairman David Porter. Kym Bolado introduced Robinson, allowing her to give insight into how Baptist Health System is working with companies, including those in the energy industry, to improve healthcare delivery for employees and drive down costs for employers.

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SHALE OIL & GAS BUSINESS MAGAZINE ď “ MAY/JUNE 2017

MAY/JUNE 2017  SHALE OIL & GAS BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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SOCIAL

Fiesta with SHALE

PHOTOS COURTESY OF SHALE

SHALE celebrated the start of Fiesta and debuted the SHALE and STEER/TEAC medals in a collaborative event on April 18 hosted at the Fogo de Chão downtown location overlooking the lovely riverwalk. Guests had the opportunity to purchase the medals at half cost and enjoy the delectable eats and drinks from the Brazilian steakhouse!

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SHALE OIL & GAS BUSINESS MAGAZINE  MAY/JUNE 2017

The time has come to celebrate a Shale Revolution with a toast to excellence! Shale wine celebrates the innovation, creativity, performance and prestige of the energy industry.

America now relishes in an era of energy independence thanks to hydraulic fracturing.

We salute the individuals that work each day in the energy industry to provide Americans with the products they need to fuel our world. So enjoy your bottle of Shale wine and be thankful for our energy industry powering America.

Great corporate gifts, retirement, birthday, dinners or any other special occasion

Enjoy a glass of SHALE Wine

The Creator of SHALE Wine Has Received Over 65 Awards The SHALE Cabernet Sauvignon is a Double-Gold Winner.

L E A R N M O R E AT S H A L E M A G . C O M MAY/JUNE 2017 ď “ SHALE OIL & GAS BUSINESS MAGAZINE

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SOCIAL

San Antonio Pipeliners and WEN Team Up

PHOTOS COURTESY OF SHALE

SHALE was pleased to join the San Antonio Pipeliners Association for their Women in Energy luncheon in collaboration with Women’s Energy Network on April 13. The event featured a panel including Barbara Canales, Port of Corpus Christi Commissioner; Mary Rose Brown, Chief Administrative Officer and Executive Vice President of NuStar GP LLC; and Meredith Howard, Media Contact, Howard Energy and M2H Communications. This event was moderated by the SHALE Publisher, Kym Bolado.

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SHALE OIL & GAS BUSINESS MAGAZINE  MAY/JUNE 2017

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SHALE OIL & GAS BUSINESS MAGAZINE  MAY/JUNE 2017

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