• May 2009

    It seems like it has been a short year, so this is my last chance to visit with you as President of CCGS. I have enjoyed working with each of you and participating in the many accomplishments of the Society this year. I am going to miss the monthly reminders from Marian Wiedmann of the […]

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  • April 2009

    Our worst nightmare has come true. President Obama and the Democratic Congress have proposed tax increases on the American Oil & Gas Industry that could very possibly spell the end for us who are in the independent exploration business. The President along with the liberal oil industry haters have finally gotten the clout that could […]

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  • March 2009

    I did not know whether to expect gloom and doom or guarded optimism at NAPE this year due to the sudden change in conditions for our industry. I was not able to attend, but have been told that it was still crowded with a lot of booths, but there was not as many folks looking […]

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  • February 2009

    Good bye to 2008 and thank God it is over. A year that saw unprecedented prosperity for our industry ended with the sharpest decline in value of our products since 1985. All these reserves developed at high exploration, drilling and completion costs have suddenly become marginally profitable yet we must continue producing them. Many of […]

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  • January 2009

    DRILL HERE-DRILL NOW-PAY LESSThe outcome of the recent elections has left us again faced with Executive and Legislative Branches of the Federal Government controlled by the enemies of our industry. Despite our tremendous dependence on energy supplies from foreign countries, many of whom are not our friends, the new administration is sure to make strong […]

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  • Part VIII – Suemaur Exploration and Production – Challenges of the 90’s and the New Millennium

    With the acquisition of the Harkins’ exploration assets and the partnering with the exploration staff under the management of Bill Maxwell, Bill Miller and I were ready to jump into the 90’s. We would no longer be restricted to exploring above geo pressure, and we would again be looking for major reserves using what we […]

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  • Part VII – Survival in the Eighties

    Our style and expertise in putting drilling deals together and finding oil peaked in the early eighties. Instead of studying up on the new technology like other professionals were required to do, we diversified. Much to our dismay the city had just passed a bond issue for a convention center and as we looked down […]

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  • Part VI – Becoming a Drilling Contractor – The Three for One Deal

    One June evening in 1974, while I was relaxing in my back yard pool, I was called to the phone to speak to Leo McCloskey, a petroleum engineering partner with Frank Morrison, a geologist, in Mormac Operating Company. He wanted to discuss an opportunity to become involved with drilling rigs. Rigs were really getting scarce […]

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  • Part V – The Roaring Seventies

    Exploration in the seventies started out much the same as we experienced in the late sixties. Oil and gas commodities were still cheap, proration continued and Congress was trying its best to eliminate what they considered loopholes in the tax laws that provided for write off of intangible drilling costs and the depletion allowance. Local […]

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  • Part IV – Becoming an Oil Man

    In my previous essays on the subject of becoming a petroleum geologist, I left out a very important group of individuals who played such a critical part in the careers of so many of us and especially mine — OUR MENTORS. Starting with my professors in graduate school at Texas A & M and continuing […]

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