Oil Rules

Eight billion dollars of the stimulus package has been reserved to help home owners make their homes more energy efficient. Currently, home owners receive a 10% tax credit for winterizing their homes. With the new stimulus package, they will receive a 30% tax credit for doing things that make their homes more energy efficient.

In addition, the stimulus package includes $300M in rebates for people who purchase Energy Star appliances, such as energy-efficient dishwashers and refrigerators.

These are great proposals, but Americans will have to be willing to spend more upfront in order to reap the benefits of energy efficiency. With the economy still on cruise control, will people be willing to shell out an extra $100 for a new fridge, even with the stimulus benefits in mind? As I wrote in my February column in Oil and Gas Investor, energy conservation is a mindset, and it is one that will take time for Americans to adopt.

Lindsay Goodier, Online Editor, OilandGasInvestor.com

Here is everything you need to know for the upcoming webinar I will be moderating on March 10, “Driving Innovation and Efficiency in the Digital Oil Field.”:

The energy industry has proven to shine in both up- and down-cycles, harvesting net worth during price booms and improving efficiency and fiscal policy during downturns. The opportunity presents itself again today, as E&P companies and their service-company partners search for and implement tools, techniques and policy that will result in yet-more-improved margins today and tomorrow. These innovation leaders will discuss technology that produces to the bottom line, with productivity gains and cost reductions, in the webinar “Driving Innovation and Efficiency in the Digital Oil Field,” Tuesday, March 10, 10 a.m CDT. Register here: https://video.webcasts.com/events/pmny001/viewer/index.jsp?eventid=29806

What You will Learn:
- Methods of gaining efficiencies through improvements in digital implementation.
- New web-based innovation techniques to address the human resource problem.

Featured Speakers:
John Gibson
President and chief executive officer of Paradigm E&P

Named one of Upstream CIO’s 10 Most Influential IT People in the Oil Patch and considered a visionary and thought leader, Gibson has more than 25 years of experience leading organizations in the global energy industry and is a well-respected and sought-after industry advocate and spokesperson.

Prior to joining Paradigm in April 2005, Gibson served as president of Halliburton Energy Services, where he managed all of the company’s energy-related operations. Before serving as president, Gibson was CEO of Halliburton’s Landmark Graphics Corp. With 10 years of experience in exploration and production geophysics and data management, Gibson held positions at Gulf Oil and Chevron. Gibson earned a B.S. degree in geology from Auburn University and an M.S. degree in geology from the University of Houston.

Dwayne Spradlin
President and Chief Executive Officer, InnoCentive, Inc.

Before joining InnoCentive, Spradlin served as President at business information company Hoover’s Inc. and President and Chief Operating Officer of Starcite, Inc., an online meeting and events planning business. Spradlin served as Senior Vice President of Corporate and Business Development for Verticalnet Inc., the world’s largest portfolio of online industry marketplaces. Earlier, Spradlin was a Director in the E-Business and Emerging Technology practice at PriceWaterhouseCoopers. He holds a BA in Applied Mathematics and an MBA from the University of Chicago.

Randy Clark
President and chief executive officer, Energistics

Randy Clark is the President and CEO of Energistics. He has more than 25 years of experience in the oil and gas industry in a variety of different roles and positions with industry companies, including 10 years with Baker Hughes in Houston. Prior to joining the organization, Randy was Senior Vice President of cc-hubwoo/Trade-Ranger, the world’s largest electronic marketplace for indirect goods, whose members include many of the major oil and gas operating companies such as Shell, Total, Statoil and ConocoPhillips. Additionally, Randy has been active in many global e-business standards development efforts, such as ebXML, UN/CEFACT, CEN/ISSS, and is immediate past-chair of the Petroleum Industry Data eXchange (PIDX), the e-commerce subcommittee of the American Petroleum Institute. Randy holds Bachelor of Science and MBA degrees from Texas universities.

If you have read my blog at all, you know that I like writing about T. Boone Pickens. Being from Oklahoma, I am a bit of a T. Boone Pickens groupie, one could say. He is the epitomy of a chameleon in the oil industry. He has adapted to the times of the industry, especially in the last year with his wind energy campaign.

I saw the comic below today and I just had to include it in a blog:

While many in the oil industry would speculate that Mr. Pickens has “sold out” to wind, I question if he would have it any other way. According to his autobiography, “The First Billion Is The Hardest,” Pickens does everything whole-hearted. I have a feeling that if he has seen this comic, he’s had a good chuckle over being called a “nut job.”

For other this comic and other comics related to the energy industry, visit the National Association of Shell Marketers’ site.

Lindsay Goodier, Online Editor, OilandGasInvestor.com

The last couple months at Hart have been spent pursuing a new adventure in the web world: Webinars. Since webinars have become my new “baby,” I have spoken on the phone and via e-mail to many of our loyal readers, and new Hart customers, about the details of a typical webinar.

First off, if you would like to see a full schedule of upcoming Oil and Gas Investor webinars and our archived, on-demand webinars, visit the maroon ad on the right side of the home page of OilandGasInvestor.com. Our next webinar is March 5, The View From The Corner Suite: Leslie Haines Talks With Bruce Vincent. This particular webinar is free. What a fantastic way to glean knowledge from Swift Energy’s Vincent!

On to the frequently asked questions.
1. What is a webinar?
A webinar is essentially an online seminar. It is an educational meeting conducted through your web browser. Oil and Gas Investor webinars typically included 2-4 experts on a certain topic (e.g. the Haynesville, Buying E&P Assets From Bankruptcy. The experts provide PowerPoint slides which you can download and print. You can hear the audio from their conversation through your computer.

2. What if I can’t attend the webinar at the scheduled time?
No worries! All of our webinars are archived. You can view/listen to the webinar any time at your convenience in the next 12 months. After registering, you will receive a confirmation link. That link will house the original broadcast and the archived broadcast of the webinar.

3. How long is a webinar?
Our webinars at OilandGasInvestor.com are approximately one hour.

4. Will I have a chance to ask the speakers questions?
Yes, if you participate in the live webinar, you can email in your questions during the broadcast. Not all of the questions are answered, but we try to answer the most thematically popular questions.

If you have any questions about our webinars, please feel free to call me at 713-894-3803 or email me at lgoodier@hartenergy.com.
Lindsay Goodier, Online Editor, OilandGasInvestor.com

During a conference call on Jan. 21, Deutsche Bank Chief Energy Economist Adam Siemenski shared the Deutsche Bank global economics team’s predictions for 2009 and beyond. OilandGasInvestor.com premium subscribers can view the entire interview here.

“While we’re going to have a severe recession, it’s not the end of the world. We will recover, but it might not be until 2010,” Sieminski said.

Sieminski reviewed “alphabet economics” : a V-shape, which is a speedy recovery (e.g. 2001), a U-shape, which is a mild recession with a long, drawn-out recovery (e.g. 1990), a W-shape, which is a severe recession with a long, drawn-out recession (e.g. 1981), and a L-shape, which is a Depression (e.g. 1929). Siemenski’s economic alphabet prediction for our current economic status? He puts 45% of his predictions on the W-shape.
“The economy is decelerating, we’re getting more refining capacity, the dollar is strengthened.

Another interesting comment Sieminski made during the call: “Some of you may have heard a comment my colleague Paul Sankey made the other day. He said the problem with the oil market now is there’s not enough speculators. There’s not enough money in the hedge funds to go out and become involved in the oil markets.”

Now you know how fast (or slowly) I run. I completed my first full marathon this past weekend: Chevron’s Houston Marathon.

While I don’t even remember the entire route because I was “in the zone,” I must say, this is a great city. My personal favorite part of the run was arriving downtown, running through the streets where some great independent oil and gas companies are based, and seeing the finish line at the George R. Brown Convention Center from about half a mile away. Seeing that finish line is all it took to give me that extra burst of energy to make it to the end!

While the George R. Brown was filled with sweaty runners with marathon medals around their necks and champion glasses in hand on Sunday, I couldn’t help but think about the next event I will be attending at the George R. Brown: NAPE on Feb. 5-6. NAPE is in its 17th year and is the premiere gathering for oil and gas professionals. Hart will be in attendance as always, and we willing be unveiling our newest web site, the Unconvetional Gas Center online.

Lindsay Goodier, Online Editor, OilandGasInvestor.com

Today the IPAA responded to the Omnibus Public Lands Management Act of 2009, which passed through Senate on Sunday. The measure — a collection of about 160 bills — would confer the government’s highest level of protection on land ranging from California’s Sierra Nevada mountain range to Oregon’s Mount Hood, Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado and parts of the Jefferson National Forest in Virginia. Land in Idaho’s Owyhee canyons, Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore in Michigan and Zion National Park in Utah also would be designated as wilderness.

In addition, the bill would designate the childhood home of former President Bill Clinton in Hope, Ark., as a national historic site and expand protections for dozens of national parks, rivers and water resources.

By a 66-12 vote, with only 59 needed to limit debate, lawmakers on Sunday agreed to clear away hurdles despite partisan disputes that had threatened pledges by leaders to work cooperatively as the new Obama administration takes office. Supporters hope the House will follow suit.

“We are disappointed in the Senate’s decision to pass S. 22, the Omnibus Public Lands Management Act of 2009…The multiple-use of federal lands is the backbone of federal land management in the West, and the areas identified in S. 22 are already effectively protected. Congress should find ways to encourage, not discourage, the production of America’s resources on these areas,” said Barry Russell, president and CEO of the Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA) in the statement.

At a time when recession and job losses are the biggest concern in the nation, the decision to pass a land-protection act is coming at an interesting time. I am not partial to drilling in beautiful places like Mount Hood, whose glorious peaks took my breath away in 2005, or the Rocky Mountain National Park, where I hiked and camped with my sister and friends in 2007. But it does seem to me that at least a fraction of the land that is to be protected could be used to discover resources at a time when the economy is hurting.

Our land is beautiful and should be kept as pristine as possible. But it seems that the biggest concern in these times should be developing more environmentally-friendly ways to develop our resources, not putting an end to development altogether.

60 Minutes had a nice report last night looking into what fueled the high oil prices of 2008. Of course demand was at a high, but how much did speculation have to do with the prices?

According to the report, even J.P. Morgan’s chief global investment officer thought speculation was a driving cause behind the price spike. An e-mail went out to their clients saying “an enormous amount of speculation” ran up the price” and “140 dollars in July was ridiculous.”

The report on the web site looks into the ins and outs of why the U.S. went through such an oil price crisis last summer and includes a video.

Lindsay Goodier, Online Editor, OilandGasInvestor.com

The oil roller coaster ride of 2008 is over, and at least so far, things are looking a little steadier in the markets. As OPEC talks about more production cuts, prices have risen to $50/barrel. Several Asian oil buyers claimed to have received notices from the national oil companies of Kuwait and Iran, telling them to expect fewer deliveries this month, according to Reuters.

While OPEC announced production cuts two separate times in November and December, the November cut has yet to take full fruition. OPEC said it would cut production by 1.5 million barrels a day in November, but production fell by only about 950,000 barrels a day, according to estimates from research firm Platts. While OPEC’s production cuts will have an immediate impact on raising oil prices, it will not be as dramatic as the oil price peak of summer 2008.

Lindsay Goodier, Online Editor, OilandGasInvestor.com

I just flew in from Las Vegas* last night and was thankful once again for Southwest Airlines, which has not charged a fee for check-in luggage during 2008 due to its set-rate oil prices. But that got me wondering … since gas prices have plummeted, how are other airlines still charging for check-in luggage?

Simple answer: The economy. It seems like you can blame almost everything negative in late 2008 on the economy … or here in Houston, on Ike and the economy.

Airlines are struggling, like most businesses, so most of them are still charging on average $15 for the first checked bag and $25 for the second checked bag. And you’d better believe that holiday passengers are not happy about this, especially if their luggage is lost and they are still charged the fee, like this Air Canada passenger.

So while road travelers still rejoice at low gas prices, frequent fliers (except for Southwest junkies like myself) are still grumbling about the baggage fees. And it doesn’t look like those fees are going to be cut anytime soon! So Happy New Year to all, and let’s stay positive no matter what the economy looks like!

*No, I wasn’t hitting the slots in Vegas — I was visiting relatives who live in Arizona!

Lindsay Goodier, Online Editor, OilandGasInvestor.com