U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer gives an outlook for energy companies as they prepare for 2021. Cramer discusses in detail one of the main issue upfront is federal leases.
Cramer explains how the western states will be hit hard by a federal ban with North Dakota getting hit hard. He says that the unique nature of mineral ownership involve private, state, tribal, and federal minerals often within the same section or spacing unit.
Cramer talks about working with president-elect Joe Biden what to expect with a Biden/Kamala presidency. He says that so far many of the announced members of leadership seem to be the same faces from Barack Obama’s presidency.
He also comments on small business owners and what challenges they have seen in 2020. Host Jason Spiess asked Cramer if the industry was at a cross roads with access to leadership and government intervention into the market. Spiess cited API president Mike Sommers’ comments last March animatedly against government-controlled production, and juxtaposed with then-Parsley Energy’s CEO Matt Gallagher’s appearance in CBNC asking for government intervention with the market, only to be sold to Pioneer Natural Resources months later.
Cramer said it is hard to find a free market in today’s world, but America still has the pieces in place to capture capitalism and domestic economic security. He continued saying if the oil and gas industry continues down the direction its heading, there will only be “only four companies” making all the decisions for the globe.
Cramer transitioned to the global market, citing his work with Saudi Arabia over the past year. He said he has been working very hard to ensure there are no more shenanigans with Russia and OPEC.
New leadership in energy, the New Green Deal and Democrat Sheldon Whitehouse are also interview topics.
U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer: This is Kevin Kramer representing proudly, the state of North Dakota in the United States Senate, talking to Jason Spiess, who’s, like, the best energy interviewer in the world. Is that too much?
Jason Spiess: That is not too much. In fact, we might even have to turn that into a promo or something. You know, I, you know, I, someone was just asking me the other day, somebody in politics, because they noticed that I’ve had a little bit of a decrease of, uh, some-some politicians on in the past couple years, and we’ve focused more on a lot of the business owners and kind of that supply chain, if you will, because—
U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer: Yeah, interesting people, yeah.
Jason Spiess: Well, you know, it’s just there, it’s just, you know, how the market goes. You got to go where the market is, and somebody asked me, and I said, you know, I’d have to put Senator Kramer up there. And they looked at me kind of bizarre and they go, “Why?” And I said, “Well, for number one, he’s always accessible,” and I said, “If you look at the last, you know, four, three, four years, it’s been like a rare albino elk sighting for a lot of people. You know, they’ve-they’ve been, they’ve been going and hiding.” And, you know, some people are having a hard time, you know, with when the energy started crashing and then also when COVID came out.
