2018 Fall Profiles

Seven County Infrastructure Stokes Burners for Railroad

pg. 6

UBTech Instructor Brings Passion for Engineering to Classroom

pg. 10

Natural Gas Prices and Energy Market in Uintah Basin

pg. 12

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IN THIS ISSUE Volumn 9 Number 1 April 2017

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Seven County Infrastructure Stokes Burners for Railroad By: Jack Gillund jgillund@ubmedia.biz

With sixty percent of the Uintah Basin’s economy tied to the extractive industry, members of the Seven County Infrastructure Coalition are reigniting the areas hopes for rail and its advantages.

“The Uintah Basin is in a competitive disadvantage to most places. It’s probably one of the most underserved areas in the United States, relating to transportation, without having rail in here,” said Mike McKee, the executive director of the coalition. “We don’t have a rail. We don’t have a freeway. When you look at Economic development and those kinds of things, we’re at a huge disadvantage compared to other areas because of the cost of transportation.”

Because so much of the Basin’s economy is tied to the extractive industry, it is easy for people to think that oil is all that would ben-

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efit. McKee said that isn’t the case, though.

This rail is for a lot more than just the extractive industry,” he said. “This rail would be able to provide goods and services in other aspects. I can see the agricultural community, for example. One of the things that this area does is produce quite a lot of alfalfa hay.

I can see, very easily, with rail coming in here somebody bringing in cubers, cubing hay and exporting that across the United States or even overseas. Manufacturing, once we have rail in here it just opens the doors for us immensely.”

Studies, so far though, have not found rail to be economically feasible.

“In 2001, there was a study that was done on rail in the Uintah Basin,” McKee said. “It evaluated 15 different routes.” Then, there was a 2013/2014 study that the legislature funded.”

McKee said that study looked at the constraints on transportation in the Uintah Basin and how those constraints affect the area

economically.

“In that study, what they showed was that over a 30-year period of time, if we just kind of went along our merry way, the way that we are going, and did not address the transportation issues, their study shows that $29 Billion would be lost over that 30-year period.

It averaged about $1 Billion a year if we didn’t address that.”

According to McKee, the same study also showed that bringing rail to the Uintah Basin would create several new jobs. Still, the study came to a standstill – mostly because of the costs of rail. At the time, it was determined that the build price for rail would be too high.

“They analyzed 26 different routes,” McKee said. “Some of them were in Colorado, some were in Utah. It kind of refined down to going up Indian Canyon. If they utilized the inflation factor, by the time it was built, they projected around a $6 Billion cost. At that point, we dropped it. It was too high.”

Since that time, the Seven County Infrastructure Coalition has “dusted off those alternatives.” According to McKee, HDR engineering, along with Jones and DeMille, looked at rail going into Craig, Colo.

“They estimated the cost of that rail to be so much less,” he said.

“A Billion to a Billion and a half dollars at least from the numbers that they had on that.”

But lower costs isn’t the only factor that needs to be addressed when building a railroad. According to McKee, competition is also a big factor.

“If the rail is to go to Craig, you only have one class one carrier,” he said. “The idea to getting into Craig or Rifle, Colo., where ever it might be, is to get on the national rail network and be able to get products across the United States to where ever they need to be. If

you’re in an area where you have two class one carriers, there is a competitive advantage because you have competition. And there’s substantial rate changes.”

Moving forward with the possibility of rail, RL Banks was hired to conduct a feasibility study, which was concluded “a couple months ago.” According to McKee, the study evaluated two routes: Craig, or Rifle.

“Essentially, that study, from the feasibility point of view recommended Rifle, Colorado, because it had two class one carriers,” he said. “They found the rail to be viable.”

That report, along with the report from HDR and Jones DeMille, helps demonstrate how having rail in the Basin could positively impact the area’s oil fields. Currently, with only one option for refineries. As such, Oil companies are limited to how much they can extract.

“The refineries in Salt Lake, to the best of my information, refine approximately 185,000 barrels a day,” McKee said. “The average production of Uintah Basin Crude that they will take is 70,000 to 90,000 barrels a day. A good midrange of 80,000 to 85,000 barrels is pretty much maximum.”

Based on interviews, McKee said that those numbers are probably going to stay steady. Mainly because of permitting issues and air quality requirements.

“The idea of this rail is not to displace oil,” McKee said. “The oil that is going into the Salt Lake market, it is believed that it is still the sweet spot. Oil would still be going to Salt Lake refineries.

“Current production (of oil) is pretty much going to be capped unless the rail is addressed,” he added. “In interviews that were done with RL Banks, they found a desire expressed by companies to increase production and that there would be significantly more oil that

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would be produced if the oil was getting to outside markets.”

The next step in the process of bringing rail to the Uintah Basin is scheduled to take place on November 6. On that date, McKee and the Seven County Infrastructure Coalition are scheduled to appear before the Community Impact Board to request funding for the planning aspect of the rail to get to an environmental impact study.

“We are seeking the funding so that we would get to regulatory approval,” McKee said. “There is federal funding available through what they call the RRIF program (Railroad Rehabilitation & Improvement Financing). Because we are rural, we can qualify for (interest at) half of the federal borrowing rate, which today would put that at about 1.6 or 1.7 percent.”

Should the Seven County Infrastructure Coalition receive it’s requested funds from the CIB, and should they then receive the funds needed from the RRIF, McKee projects it would take approximately five years to complete the rail project.

“Half of the timeline is going through the EIS study,” he said. “It’s a two to three-year process on an expedited schedule. Then it’s about three years to build the rail.”

Bringing rail into the Basin would “open doors that have been previously closed,” McKee said.

“We have something very special here,” he added.

“We can have the best of both worlds.”

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UBTech Instructor Brings Passion for Engineering to Classroom By: Jack Gillund jgillund@ubmedia.biz

“Brand-new” to Uintah Basin Technical College, Devin Hazelwood brings an experience and passion to her teaching position that she hopes will inspire her students as she prepares them for careers in the oil industry.

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“I’m super interested in infrastructure,” she said about why she pursued a position with UBTech. “I’ve always been that person who thinks about what happens to stuff.”

Hazelwood, said she “likes to break stuff down,” which is one of the reasons she chose engineering as a career.

“Really in pursuit of water,” she said, “but you can’t make anything happen without energy.

“Oil and gas is a very big industry,” she added. “They need a lot of people who are passionate about infrastructure, math and science. I just keep finding my niche, I guess, in that stuff.”

Hazelwood’s passion wasn’t always evident to her, though. After high school, she pursued and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in liberal arts and philosophy from St. John’s College. In Santa Fe, N.M. A degree she draws on still today.

“I learned all of those questioning kind of thoughts,” she said about her degrees in philosophy and liberal arts. “Sort of how humans operate and that has really informed my engineering. But, I wanted to do something with maybe a more tangible kind of a skill set.”

With that thought in mind, Hazelwood pursued and received a Bachelor of Science degree from the Colorado School of Mines in Golden, Colo., and later obtained her Master’s Degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering from that same college.

“I got a bachelor’s then took some time off (from school),” she said. “After I graduated with my bachelors in engineering, in 2012, I got a job at Haliburton as a hydraulic fracturing engineer. I worked there for two years.”

After that, she said she “went into environmental consulting.

“Which was great because environmental engineers support oil fields,” she said. “They have to do all the permitting and all the spills and all those things. The background at Haliburton helped me do oil field consulting from the environmental aspect.”

While Hazelwood’s previous oil industry positions have both involved field and office work, she said that teaching isn’t new to her.

“I have always supplemented all of my jobs, when I was in school, with teaching,” she said. “I have taught Spanish, and, after Haliburton, I went and taught pre-school. I’ve always been a teacher by

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default.

“I am probably one of the only people who has done hydraulic fracturing and taught children how to put shoes on,” she added.

Hazelwood said her background in oil and gas puts her in the “unique place” of facilitating student learning at UBTech.

“Because I, myself, am really kind of learning how to hook up these programmable logic controllers, all this hardware and stuff,” she said.

“The energy services and automation instructor position teaches two classes,” she added. “(The first class is) oil and gas, in which we cover just the oil and gas industry – the math, the terminology and the processes behind it. The other class that I teach is industrial automation, which is more getting the sensors and all the metering pieces of equipment to communicate to a computer.”

According to course syllabi, the 260-hour oil and gas technician course “includes three subsections: Career Fundamentals, Oil and Gas Basic, and Oil and Gas Technician. The 600-hour industrial automation program “was designed to meet the needs of the automation and control industry. The curriculum provides a fundamental understanding of electrical theory and application as it relates to controls. Valves, switches, relays, sensors and automation procedures and practices common to industry automation.”

“We are trying to get them as much knowledge as we can,” Hazelwood said. “Especially in the oil field, because it is so competitive.”

Combining her passion for engineering with her work experience, Hazelwood says she is looking forward to her new position.

“When you are a teacher, you are producing better humans,” she said. “Being there for students, how you show up on a day-to-day basis, that matters. You’re only a teacher if you have students. Your success needs to be about their success.”

Natural Gas Prices and Energy Market in Uintah Basin By: Staff Reports In a Nutshell...

Natural Gas prices stayed higher than the same periods for 2017 during the summer months while inventories were lower. The most notable indicator are the number of drilling rigs. In 2016 at this time there were 11 rigs in operation. We now have 6 rigs in the Basin, as of October 2018, according to Baker Hughes, a G.E. Company, at www.bhge.com.

Changes of Note...

First, let’s look at basic economics, supply and demand. High supply generally means prices drop. For example, sand is cheap but gold is expensive. High demand generally means prices go up. For example, if everyone wants a “Hatchimal” for Christmas a $20 toy

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starts selling for $100. Nobody wants a “Pet Rock” so, you can buy one for a couple dollars.

Natural Gas inventories are at lower levels each reported month than they were in 2016 (lower supply). This kept prices higher each reported month in 2017 than they were in 2016. Higher prices mean that exploration and production are more willing to produce. They make more money. So, leaving the summer months, which usually sees a slowdown, we are actually seeing solid increases in applications to drill, spudded wells and eventually there will be a related increase in completed wells.

What to watch...

According to the EIA, (U.S. Energy Information Administration) at eia.gov, we are still seeing a price channel (upper and lower price restrictions) in the crude oil market. Prices per barrel seem to be locked between $51 in 2017 and $52 in 2018. For a short period in September 2016, oil prices rose to around $52 and hovered there a while before drop-

ping back down into the channel. Most analysts are estimating the average break-even price point for production at $42. So, when the price gets up around $50 producers release more oil to make more money and greater supply drives the price down. When the price gets close to $46, they slow the flow because they don’t make as much money.

Reduced supply causes the price to increase.

Here’s the catch. Those companies still have expenses to meet, people to pay, etc. If the price drops below $46 and stays there for a while, instead of going hungry, they will sell more oil and drive the price down further which means less drilling here in the Basin. If the price goes above $50 and stays there a while, drilling will pick up because those companies will want to sell more at that higher price.

Keeping in mind, all of that is driven by the nation’s economy in general. If the economy is slow, business doesn’t need as much petroleum. If the nation’s economy really takes off, so will the demand for energy.

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The Bonanza Power Plant that is located south of Naples about 25 miles. That plant is powered by coal, which comes from the Deserado Mine near Rangely, Colorado.

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No death notice for coal, yet By: Richard Shaw and Derek Hopper While coal may not seem too important to those who are now under the pressure of low prices for natural gas and oil in the Uintah Basin, it plays a more integral part in the economy of the area than many realize.

The effect of a downturned coal industry has hit the counties of Carbon and Emery county hard. And the fact that oil is not traveling near as much by truck through Indian Canyon to load outs in Carbon, which had provided new jobs for the area, has just added to the frustration of a county that once boasted 42 coal mines. Today only two mines are operating in Carbon County, with another operating in Emery County. The biggest coal mine in the state, SUFCO, is in Sevier County, just over the Emery County border.

The world is still using a lot of coal, largely for power generation.

The United States has dropped its segment of coal usage for generat-

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ing power a great deal, but the rest of the world is still clamoring for the hard black resource for its industries. With even Utah, which at one time was provided over 80 percent of its power by coal, now declining in coal power production over the last few years, foreign markets are becoming ever increasingly important.

But many of the same forces that have combined their legions against using coal for power generation in this country (as well as against oil and gas development) are also now looking to prevent the coal produced in the United States from going overseas for use there.

Those groups have been pushing for closing off ports that can ship coal out of the country while at the same time pushing for conversion to green energy for homeland power. While natural gas has been taking up some of the slack as coal plants shut down, which bodes well for production in the Basin, most who oppose coal also are holding their nose looking for natural gas to only be a “bridge� to solar, wind and other types of green power.

In 2016 eyebrows were raised in many places in the country when the Utah State Legislature adopted a very large appropriation so that

Carbon, Emery, Sevier, and Sanpete Counties could invest in a new bulk port loading facility in Oakland, California. That bill (SB 236) was sponsored by Senator Stuart Adams (R District 22) and Representative Mike McKell (R District 66) and it made available $53 million for investment in a deepwater port in Oakland, California, for commodities to be shipped from Utah to overseas connections.

Some called the bill a “shell game” or a “money laundering scheme” set up by the state legislature. Even supporters say the bill, which passed 52-17 in the House on March 10. 2016 and was sent to the Governors office for signature, was “unorthodox.”

The original proposal on this project was made to the Permanent Community Impact Board a little less than a year ago. The CIB uses money from royalties that are returned from the federal government for aid to help communities impacted by extraction industries. The CIB had already put away some reserve money to build a rail line from Carbon County to Duchesne and Uintah Counties to transport crude oil to load outs in the Carbon area. When the estimate to build that line went into the billions of dollars and that project was halted, the money was just sitting there. The involved counties came upon the fact the port was looking for investors and asked the CIB for money.

The CIB approved the money but then there were questions whether it was lawful for the agency to do so. The CIB and the counties asked for an opinion from the Utah Attorney General’s office but that opinion was never issued. With concerns mounting about directly using federal money for such a project and opposition to the project coming from environmental groups who would be grasping at any straw to stop it, in conversation with legislators, SB 246 was drawn up.

Mineral lease money is set aside for both the CIB and other

funds, such as funds to special service districts in counties, along with a few other small entities. The CIB money is used to help with sewer systems, roads, water development and other things in any county. The process set up through SB 246 for the money for the port will work like this. The CIB already has the $53 million set aside, but instead of sending it directly to the project, the legislature appropriated funds that will be put in the Utah Department of Transportation’s coffers. UDOT will then put that money in an Enterprise Fund that was set up by the bill. That money was split over two years (2016 and 2017) consisting of $26 million the first year and $27 million the second year. When return on investment comes back to the state based on the business the port does, that money will be paid back to the Enterprise Fund, which will then be used by the CIB to grant or lend money to counties for infrastructure and other projects. It is also good to remember that the port that the counties will be investing in is based on commodities of all kinds, not just coal. Alfalfa cubes, potash, phosphates, and other bulk products can also be shipped through to the deepwater port.

Locally, while many in the Uintah Basin may not know it, they depend on the power of coal more than they realize. While some municipalities are served by Rocky Mountain Power, which is constantly changing their system to include more green power and gas-powered generation, much of the Basin’s power comes from the Bonanza Power Plant that is located south of Naples about 25 miles. That plant is powered by coal, which comes from the Deserado Mine near Rangely, Colorado. The plant uses between 240 and 270 tons of coal per hour when producing nearly 500 megawatts of power, which is what its full capacity is. This amounts to about 120 pounds of coal per second. The plant burns around 5,000 tons of coal a day. The coal is transported from the mine by train to Bonan-

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za.

While the mining jobs are not located in Utah, the power plant is manned by around 100 local workers who reside in the Basin. The Deserado Mine has around 150 workers and the rail line that transports the coal has a couple of dozen employees. Transmission lines are also a part of the mix, because they must be maintained as they are hooked up to the power to the grid. There are between 10 and 20 employees that help with that maintenance as well. While salaries vary from the coal mine to the plant, the average workers make in the vicinity of $60,000 to $70,000 per year, which is a support to the local economy.

The plant is owned by Deseret Generation, a cooperative that includes Bridger Valley Electric, Dixie Escalante, Flowell Electric, Garkane Energy, Moon Lake Electric and Mt. Wheeler Power. The company also sells surplus power to other users, and the system affects five states. The cooperative also owns about a quarter interest in the Hunter Power Plant in Castle Dale. But the Bonanza Plant is its primary generating source.

Challenges to the plant’s operation have been voiced since it opened in 1985. It is one of the newer coal-fired plants in Utah.

Most of the complaints by groups are based on air pollution problems the opposition views as a threat not only to the northeastern Utah/northern Colorado area, but also to the climate. Last fall an agreement between environmental groups and Deseret Generation was announced. Under the terms of the settlement, Deseret Power will install additional pollution control equipment at the Bonanza unit, and according to company sources, it will result in a significant reduction in nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions. The cost of this environmental upgrade will be passed on in rate increases to Deseret’s members. The agreement also calls for an eventual lifetime

limit on the total quantity of coal to be consumed in the plant if it is not fully upgraded by the year 2030. Alternatively, the unit may see a longer period of service but at reduced operating levels beyond 2030, which was its projected retirement date.

Coal-fired power plants have generally been expected to have a life of about 50 years, but some have survived much longer than that. The Carbon Power Plant, owned by PacifiCorp and located in Price Canyon just north of Helper, closed in 2015 after 62 years of operation on its first unit and 58 years on its second. The plant was a small generator of power, but was important in the grid that Utah Power and Light put together during the post-war boom. The lost generation capacity from the closed plant has mostly been replaced by gas-powered plants that have been constructed along the Wasatch Front.

But while opposition to the operation of coal power plants continues there is one fact that remains that is indisputable. Power grids must have base power systems to be able to provide power when customers and users need it. At the present time, neither solar nor wind can provide that. Nuclear power is one option, but the cost of building nuclear plants is very expensive and the cost of operation is also high. Thus power from these plants is much more expensive, which is of concern to users. Natural gas plants, another base, have been opening and providing more power, but the conversion of gas power to electricity is not as efficient as coal. Hydro plants can also provide base power, but when drought strikes and water flows are turned down that can affect their production. The fact is coal is still the lowest cost, best energy source to produce electricity as a base.

That may not be true for the future with new technologies being advanced for producing power every year. To paraphrase Mark Twain’s famous statement, “The reports of coal’s death have been greatly

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exaggerated.�

A recently completed bulk port facility in Oakland, California has made it possible for commodities such as coal to be shipped from Utah to overseas connections.

Submitted Photo

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Advanced Towing and Automotive Photo Derek Hopper

By: Derek Hopper dhopper@ubmedia.biz

Mark Showalter had a decision to make a little more than a year ago. He could stay with Downtown Dodge which was owned at the time by his mother, Marianne Showalter, and in the process of being sold to new owners or find a new opportunity here in the Basin. He chose the latter and purchased Advanced Towing and Automotive in the summer of 2017, a company previously owned by Phil and Sherry Washburn who started the business in the late eighties.

“I have always been interested in messing with cars and trucks. I spend almost every weekend tinkering in my garage, so purchasing the business was a great opportunity for me to do something I enjoy,” Mark said.

Mark comes from a long line of auto enthusiast. Showalter Ford is owned by his father, Gary Showalter and is in its fourth generation of ownership by the Showalter family.

Showalter left the basin shortly after graduating from Uintah High School to attend college. Returning in 2009 when he went to work for his mother at Downtown Dodge, where he stayed until the summer of 2017 when he acquired Advanced Towing and Automotive.

“I love the car business. As a kid, I was always fascinated with wreckers

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and would ride along on the runs whenever I could” Showalter said “I’ve been involved in nearly every aspect of the auto business. Spending time in the parts department and sales.”

Showalter even spent time mowing lawns at the Ford store in Vernal. In fact, he was recognized by the Vernal Chamber of Commerce, receiving a beautification award.

Advanced Towing and Automotive offers a little bit of everything. They provide towing services from light duty to heavy towing and recovery. The business also provides auto and heavy truck repair as well as service for fleet vehicles and industrial trucks. They can even track the repair services for you. In addition, they also offer roadside service, welding and fabrication, upfits and DOT inspections.

“Truth is, we’ll do almost anything to make a buck, as long as it isn’t illegal or immoral,” Showalter said. “If we have the tools to do the job, we’ll do it.”

Advanced Towing and Automotive has five employees, Mark Showalter (Owner), Gabe Houghton (Shop/Operations Manager), Larry Heaton (Mechanic), Bill Anderson (Towing and Service Up-fits) and Tiffany Hall (Secretary).

“There is nothing worse than not caring about your customers when you are in business, that is our primary focus, our customers,” concluded Showalter.

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Gas/Oil production aids schools through SITLA revenues By: Richard Shaw and Derek Hopper The School Institutional Trust Lands Administration (SITLA) is a mystery to many people. In fact, before only a few years ago most had not even heard of the agency. But with changes in Federal land use policies and restrictions coming down the pike on Federal land use almost yearly, SITLA lands in the state of Utah become ever more important in the energy industry.

State trust lands have been around since Utah became a state in 1896. At that time Congress granted parcels of land to Utah and created permanent endowments to support public and higher education in Utah. Trust land parcels were allocated by apportioning the state into townships, each six by six miles, and dividing each township into 36 square-mile sections. Utah was given sections 2, 16, 32 and 36 in each township to support state institutions, includ-

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ing public schools, hospitals, teaching colleges, and universities. So while other state agencies are involved, consequently 96 percent of the money generated from these lands goes to public schools.

The division of the lands across the state by government has resulted in a checkerboard of land ownership, which is sometimes confusing to people.

Presently, SITLA manages Utah’s 3.4 million acres of trust land generating revenue through oil, gas, and mineral leases, rent, and royalties; real estate development and sales; and surface estate sales, leases, and easements. The School and Institutional Trust Funds Office invests the endowments and annual interest and dividends are distributed to each beneficiary. Revenue generated from school trust lands is transferred into the Permanent School Fund, growing the endowment for public schools. Since 1994, SITLA has generated $1.4 billion in revenue to help grow the Permanent School Fund from $50 million 20 years ago to more than $2 billion today.

Because these lands are held in trust, they differ greatly from public lands, and are more like private lands. Only about six percent of the state’s acreage is set aside as trust lands to generate revenue for the beneficiaries.

The money that comes from the Trust Lands Administration allows schools to have funds to do things that they are not able to pay for out of the regular public school budgets. How that money is spent is determined by a system of School Community Councils that are set up in each school. These councils consist of parents, the principal, and at least one school employee. There may be more members of the council, but that is the minimum required by state law. However, the numbers of parents on the council must exceed the number of school employees by at least two.

Once established for the year school councils prepare a School Improvement Plan and choose academic needs and goals from that plan, so a focus is formed as to where the trust land money is spent.

The councils determine themselves what they need and then they present the plans to the local school board for approval. Once approved the money will come to the individual schools.

The amount of money that is appropriated to schools has increased considerably over the past decade and a half. It was shortly before that increase began that the state came up with the concept of the School Community Councils to determine how the money should be spent. Prior to that time, the money went into a type of general fund that was divided up but it did not go to specific schools.

“Hiring teachers and aides to reduce class sizes, and investing in classroom technology are often priorities for many schools,” said Tim Donaldson, Director of the School Children’s Trust at the Utah State Board of Education. “However, all academic programs, from reading and math tutoring to language and college prep courses, can be funded with school trust funds.”

At $2.08 billion, the Permanent State School Fund is the state’s largest land grant trust fund. Interest and dividends are distributed directly to schools statewide each year through the School LAND Trust Program.

The money is appropriated somewhat like the Weighted Pupil Unit (WPU) that is used by the state for general funds in that the amount of money a school gets is determined by the number of students it has. The average per-pupil distribution for the current school year is $113 dollars per student. With the average statewide distributions for this school year 2018-19 set at $62,000 for elementary schools, $97,000 for the average junior high/middle school and $126,000 for the average high school.

This November, voters will be asked to consider Nonbinding Initiative One which was endorsed by the state legislature. If passed by

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voters, the amendment will add a ten cent per gallon gasoline tax to generate additional funds for schools and roadways within the state.

Overall, besides the 3.4 million surface and subsurface acres SITLA manages, it also manages an additional 1.1 million acres of mineral estate for its beneficiaries.

Cutline: State Institutional Trust Lands Administration (SITLA) lands, represented in light blue, are sections two, 16, 23 and 26 of many townships of federal land within the state of Utah. SITLA was created and given those lands in the Enabling Act, which also created the state of Utah. In some areas, SITLA lands have been consolidated into large blocks.

UOWS Experiences Significant Growth Most Successful Year Ever Submitted By: Ute Tribal Enterprises, LLC

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Fort Duchesne, Utah – Ute Oilfield Water Services (UOWS) ends its fiscal year stronger than ever through progressive developments focused on safety, dependability, and high-quality.

“This has been a tremendous year ever for UOWS” said Valentina Sireech, Ute Tribal Enterprises (UTE) CEO. “Our entire UOWS staff and team have been integral components in fostering purpose-driven, innovative developments to maximize our company.”

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the Tribe, its members, families, and addressed the employment needs of other Indian Residents of the Uintah and Ouray Reservation.”

- Paperless Ticketing – To increase environmentally sound practice and productivity.

- New Scope of Services - Pumping Services and Lease Operator added to diversify services.

- Training Program - Developed and implemented for community members interested in developing skills to further their career as a CDL driver.

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“We anticipate to continue our upward momentum as we gear up to tackle the new fiscal year,” said Henry Howell, UOWS Manager.

The Ute Tribal Enterprises (UTE) executive team is currently in the planning stages of adding new services and additional fleet to UOWS. About Ute Oilfield Water Services

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Established in 1999, Ute Oilfield Water Services (U.O.W.S.) has been providing water hauling services in the Uintah Basin’s oil and

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