The PetroNerds Podcast

Recorded on March 15, 2024 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlDrxbUnaJg Episode 104 of the PetroNerds podcast is a PetroNerds special focussing on the proposed bill and ban on oil and gas permits in Colorado by 2030, an effective ban on all new oil and gas drilling. Trisha Curtis is joined by guest Chris Brown, VP of Policy and Research at the Common Sense Institute (CSI). Trisha just joined CSI as an Energy Fellow and helped contribute to a very recent and timely report authored by Chris on Senate Bill 24-159 in Colorado. Trisha and Chris talk about the bill, the impact to jobs in Colorado, the severe impact to tax revenue in Colorado, the detrimental impact to the economy, the knock on impacts that cannot easily be captured through modeling, the fact that it will increase not decrease CO2 emissions, and broader policies and costs being paid for by Coloradans and Americans from poor energy policies. While this podcast is focussed on this proposed bill to ban oil and gas drilling and completion permits in Colorado in the name of reducing CO2 emissions, the discussion goes beyond Colorado and is a lesson for all states. Oil production in California declines steadily, thousands of barrels per day each and every month, due to onerous regulations and anti oil and gas policies in California, directly contributing to rising energy costs, brown outs, higher costs of living, higher gasoline and diesel prices, higher electricity prices, and severe energy insecurity. This is the same route and path Colorado is on. Colorado citizens, businesses, business leaders, and those in and outside of the oil and gas industry need to appreciate that the war on oil and gas is a war on energy security and energy reliability and it is not reducing Colorado or global CO2 emissions. Xcel is proposing another rate hike on natural gas despite natural gas prices being well below $2/mcf. Consumers are not reaping the benefits of low domestic US energy prices in their electricity bills because utility companies are passing along the expensive cost of unreliable so called renewables to their consumers. Electricity bills have risen dramatically in the past few years, directly contributing to rising and sticky inflation and higher costs for consumers. Xcel is directly asking for the rate hike to pay for more expensive renewables. Folks need to push back and demand fairer prices and greater consumption of natural gas and reliable energy in the utility pool. Denver Gazette Article: https://denvergazette.com/news/business/stopping-oil-drilling-would-be-an-economic-catastrophe/article_15aefc28-e253-11ee-9520-a3b919c953b7.html Report: https://commonsenseinstituteco.org/impact-of-sb24-159/ Listen on Itunes

Recorded on March 6, 2024 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0f_c_nmZ_mM Episode 103 of the PetroNerds podcast is another heavy hitting PetroNerds special. This is Trisha Curtis’ talk and presentation on US shale production and activity at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies’ Oil Day in Oxford, England on December 1st, 2023. Trisha front loads this episode with everything timely in the oil and gas market and global economy including Colorado’s potential ban on oil and gas drilling by 2030, Xcel’s proposed rate increase on natural gas to fund renewables, China’s economy and political party meetings, OPEC/Saudi’s extended voluntary oil production cut, Red Sea and Houthi ship attacks, and much more. Trisha’s Oil Day presentation walks listeners through US record production of 13.3 mbd and 128 Bcf/day of natural gas explaining the fundamentals of longer laterals, less rigs, less wells, rising output, oil prices, volatility, consolidation and M&A, and much more. Listen on Itunes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xos0wbkPsLU Episode 102 of the PetroNerds podcast is a jam packed deep dive on the geopolitical landscape, China, and US shale. Trisha Curtis takes listeners on a tour around the world, covering the Biden Xi meetings, the escalating war in the Middle East, and the ongoing war in Ukraine. She puts this in context of oil and gas, and broader energy market. This talk and presentation was the keynote speech Trisha gave to the Rocky Mountain GPA conference in Denver, Colorado on November 16. 2023. The title of this talk is Navigating Risk in a Game of Geopolitical Chess. Buckle up folks! This is a good one! Listen on Itunes

Recorded on February 2, 2024 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XN-IvGpMn18 Episode 101 of the PetroNerds podcast is your complete market recap of everything that has taken place in oil and the global economy in the past two weeks. Trisha Curtis dives into the Biden Administration's pause on LNG export permit approvals and what that means for global natural gas markets, oil price volatility, and Jerome Powell's speech and the Fed rate decision. Trisha walks listeners through the rise and fall in oil prices and why the market is not appropriately pricing in geopolitical risk. She talks about the Fed's rate policy, Jerome Powell's speech, and how Fed rates and pricing are impacting oil prices and oil price volatility. Trisha dives into the Biden Administration's LNG export permit approval pause and talks about how political and completely ignorant and unintelligent this move really was. She discusses the Baker Hughes conference that took place this week, the rest of the world betting on natural gas, as well as the Saudi move to lower output capacity investment, BP activist investors wanting more oil not less, and Exxon's pushback to activist investors. This is an absolute show-stopper folks and not the podcast you want to miss! Please reach PetroNerds at petronerds.com and share the PetroNerds podcast with friends and colleagues. Listen on Itunes

Recorded on January 17, 2024 and November 9, 2023 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UF1wa6P2Hc4 Episode 100 of the PetroNerds podcast is your heavy hitting one stop shop for everything you need to know in energy and the economy in 2024. Trisha Curtis, CEO of PetroNerds, front loads this episode with a complete recap of oil prices, China's economy, and the state of geopolitics in 2024. This podcast is the panel discussion Trisha Curtis did with Daniel Seaver, VP of Midstream at Fundare Resources, Chris Atherton, CEO of EnergyNet, and Andrew Haney, President of Nickel Road Operating. This was done at the Denver Earth Resources Library Rockies Expo. This conversation is a deep dive covering everything from oil prices and the macro environment to the state of acquisitions, consolidations, and M&A in oil and gas. These experts cover operating in the Rockies, the outlook for geopolitics, the state of the regulatory environment, deals and valuations, acreage tiers, ESG, recession risk, the Fed, and much more. This is a must listen to and must share episode folks! Listen on Itunes

Recorded on October 16, 2023 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbUeLIwt5zQ Episode 99 of the PetroNerds podcast is your second Rocky Mountain special with upstream operator Anschutz Exploration. Trisha Curtis is joined by guest Joe DeDominic, President of Anschutz Exploration in Denver, Colorado. Anschutz is private E&P primarily focused on the Powder River Basin in Wyoming with experience in Colorado, Utah, and North Dakota. Trisha and Joe cover the market and a range of topics including the evolution of the Powder River, the current state of play, and the Anschutz position and view. Anschutz is a unique private player in that they are fully funded and without debt. This gives them greater operational flexibility and the advantage of time. As a former employee, Manager of Strategy and Analytics/completions tech, Trisha is intimately familiar with Anschutz and the Powder River Basin and worked directly for Joe DeDominic. This is another not to miss episode and a great candid conversation with the President of one of the largest private players in the Rockies. Listen on Itunes

Recorded on October 6, 2023 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLJccNsTIxo Episode 98 of the PetroNerds podcast is a true PetroNerds special. Trisha Curtis is joined by Tad True of True Companies. He is a Casper, Wyoming local and the COO of Bridger Pipeline. Trisha and Tad discuss everything from the oil market and oil prices to covid and negative oil prices. They dive into the Bakken and the Powder River Basin. Tad gives exceptional color and perspective on what it was like to be a private company and midstream player in the Rockies during the extreme pricing dynamics of covid. Tad talks about the Powder River Basin and the Williston Basin from the vantage point of a Wyoming midstream company moving the barrels of upstream producers. This outlook is both unique and candid and sheds light onto the complexities of the Powder River Basin and the driving forces in the Bakken and Williston Basin. This is an absolute must listen to and must share PetroNerds podcast episode folks! Listen on Itunes

Recorded on Nov 8, 2023 and Oct 12, 2023 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMt6YgDcA2U Episode 97 of the PetroNerds podcast is your must listen to economic and energy podcast and round the world geopolitical tour. This is Trisha Curtis' talk and presentation to the Denver Association of Petroleum Landmen on October 12th, 2023. Trisha walks listeners through the war in Gaza and the geopolitical dynamics in the Middle East, Europe, Russia, and China. She talks about China's role in the energy transition and how China competes. She talks about oil prices in the context of this volatility and what is happening in the US and global economy. She concludes by talking about US shale, production, the merger and acquisition environment, and how bullish she is on the potential of the rock. Listen on Itunes

Recorded on October 5, 2023 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTcW2RbfqWY Episode 96 of the PetroNerds podcast is another heavy hitting podcast from PetroNerds with NYU Stern adjunct professor Paul Tice. He has 40 years of Wall Street experience and he talks with Trisha Curtis about the policies and complexities of "ESG" (environmental, social, and governance). This is an incredible discussion and Paul and Trisha Curtis do not hold back. Trisha asks Paul a myriad of questions related to ESG, the energy transition, public companies, and access to capital. At the time of recording on October 5th, 2023, WTI was $82.36, falling from nearly $94/barrel on September 27th, 2023. Trisha asks Paul to walk listeners through ESG compliance by companies, those required and not required, and what it is actually achieving. He talks about the UN promulgated club and ESG requirements which is driving significant moves in the publicly invested space for strict ESG compliance. The UNPRI has strict membership compliance and is organized by the UN and is moving the needle on strict ESG compliance including requirements to implement UN sustainability goals and the Paris Climate Accords. Trisha asks about BlackRock, StateStreet, and Vanguard and the board room debacles in May of 2021 with Exxon, Chevron, and Shell. She also asks and touches on the UN backing of China's so-called "Green Belt and Road" and human rights violations. Paul gets into the fiduciary responsibility problems by applying ESG to funds and portfolios after they have been built and then trying to push these companies to change their behavior. Trisha asks Paul to offer some clarity on the pull back in green investing and the ESG push in the past year that many have heard about….is it real? They get into the subsidies behind wind, solar, and EVs, the auto strikes, and the massive transfer of wealth taking place in the sphere of very poor forms of energy being forced into economies by the government. Paul talks about the problem of ESG investments losing money in the short term and the real problems behind their promise that these ESG compliant companies and investments will make money in the future. Paul talks about how the energy transition and ESG is not driven by economics and reality but by politics. Trisha talks about why it is so important for oil and gas companies to really understand what is taking place in the ESG and investment space and the world and geopolitics so they can push back and properly invest in oil and gas. Trisha asks about the legalities and fiduciary responsibility and ESG and the lack of capital access that ESG push is creating. Paul talks about how important the credit markets are to focus on for ESG and the access to capital. He predicts governments in Europe and entities like the UN will declare a global climate emergency which will then be used to limit capital access to traditional fuel companies including oil and natural gas. Trisha asks how we educate and push back on all of this and stay positive despite the massive forces mounting against all of energy as well as the oil and gas industry. He explains that the industry, and all energy CEOs more broadly, need to speak out more and have more courage to defend the industry and their company and move away from the acceptance of the energy transition. Paul explains that the goal of the ESG movement and the energy transition is to shut down the oil, gas and coal industry in the US and the world. Trisha pushes everyone in the oil and gas industry, from CEOs to pumpers, to be vocal about what they do for a living and care about it and talk about it. Paul Tice says "defend yourself" and start talking frankly about climate. Listen on Itunes

Recorded September 1, 2023 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WI1eyMmu5IM Episode 95 of the PetroNerds podcast is a PetroNerds special with guest Chris Atherton, CEO of EnergyNet. At the time of recording oil prices were $85.96 and a month later oil prices are below that figure after seeing $93 and change and incredible volatility in the span of a week. Trisha Curtis asks Chris Atherton to walk listeners through the pre-Covid and post Covid periods of the industry and share what he has seen and how he views the market. He gets into private equity funds sizes and the evolution of the space and the acquisition environment. They follow by talking about the public side and the role of the generalist investor and the ability to lure the generalist investor back into the space through dividends and share buybacks. Trisha talks about the state of the industry, the role of the generalist investor, and pushes back on share buybacks. She questions the inventory story and asks Chris to get into the impact of consolidation in the E&P space and the impact to the service sector. Trisha comments on how tight spending is within the oil and gas industry and how the industry seems to have left the intelligence space. Trisha and Chris talk about the multiples and valuations of companies and the level of activity after the acquisition phase and discuss tiered acreage. Trisha comments about gas analysts, getting gas wrong, acreage and wells, and the difference from being in the field vs. looking at a map. Trisha gets into investor pressure, ESG, and what the public companies are "allowed" to do. Trisha and Chris talk about the generalist investor and investor pressure and why these companies are traded well or not traded well. Trisha makes the point that the industry needs to push back on these ESG pressures. She says that oil and gas companies need to talk to the street more clearly about their business and the need to access capital and they are not explaining to the public market why people and entities should be investing in oil and gas companies. There is a role for these companies to talk about their business and the market for oil and gas in the long term. She asks Chris to get into the constraints on access to capital and alternative funding. The ability to get money, get insurance, and get basic funding for oil and gas is a problem. Chris gives Aubrey McClendon stories and capital cost comparisons for the oil industry. Chris talks about the reasons funding is drying up on the private side: the view that oil and gas is like tobacco and that the world will be driving EVs and not need oil and gas. He explains that this is an expensive business and needs a lot of capital. Trisha follows up by explaining how important it is for people to understand this business so the market can allocate money to properly invest. Chris talks about that recession that never appears, rising oil demand, oil prices and the shortfall in production. Trisha and Chris talk about the rig count decline, natural gas prices and activity, and the economy. Trisha throws cold water on the idea that we are not in a recession and talks about the covid stimulus lag artificially elevating and elongating oil price height. Trisha and Chris talk finish the podcast with bullish thinking in the oil and gas industry and the health of the economy, regional banks, and access to capital. Trisha asks Chris how the oil industry, from his perspective, feels about recession? Listen on Itunes