The PetroNerds Podcast

Recorded on May 4, 2022

Episode 47 is a special treat for PetroNerds podcast listeners wanting to know more about Colorado, regulations on oil and gas, the need for politicians to actually act, and the Denver Julesburg Basin.  Trisha Curtis is joined by guest Heidi Gill, CEO of Denver based Urban Solutions.  Urban Solutions is primarily a soundwall and mitigation company for oil and gas activity, but as Heidi explains, it is also a compliance company and is working on software and nuisance impacts and mitigation in other businesses from renewables to crypto. 

Trisha opens with commentary on the Federal Reserve's 50 basis point rate hike and the current 30 year fixed mortgage rate of 5.6 percent.  WTI is $107.68, Brent $110.07, Henry Hub $8.38, Dutch TTF $32.  Trisha and Heidi talk about the state of the Colorado oil and gas industry, regulations in Colorado oil and gas, the defeat of Proposition 112, the push of SB 181, changes in the COGCC (Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission), and oil and gas activity in the DJ Basin. 

They talk about the need for clarity on regulations and the need for permit approvals for investors to get excited about the DJ.  They talk about Colorado Governor Jared Polis' positioning on oil and gas, how SB 181 was not put in place to foster oil and gas development, and how the COGCC make up was changed.  Heidi makes note of Occidental's wells in the town of Firestone being approved by Firestone but denied by the state of Colorado.  Heidi says that the "The state has not been processing permits consistently."  

Trisha and Heidi discuss the need for clarity in Colorado on oil and gas permitting so that businesses like Heidi's have an incentive to stay in Colorado. They also talk about the stringent emission standards in Colorado for oil and gas production and touch on a number of other topics, including NIMBYism (Not in My Back Yard) and the inability to permit renewables as well as oil and gas.  This is a DJ focussed podcast with applications across the US and across businesses, including renewables.

Recorded on April 22, 2022

Inflation on the brain? Thinking about the US economy? Housing? Employment? Episode 46 of the PetroNerds podcast is the long-promised episode on everything from inflation, recession, to housing, and the US economy. This is part 2 of a two part series where Gabby Richmond of the Denver Petroleum Club performs another PetroNerds fliparoo and interviews Trisha Curtis on the state of the US economy, inflation, and the Federal Reserve.

Trisha and Gabby discuss the Strategic Petroleum Reserve release and the impact on oil prices, high oil prices and high everything prices, inflation, oil demand, and the health of the US consumer. They get into inflation expectations, wage price spirals, and factors that drive oil demand. Trisha is more concerned with natural gas prices and electricity price increases and inflation than $100 oil. "We are going to have a recession. It is going to happen."

Trisha is asked about the Federal Reserve's response or lack of response to inflation and 50 basis point rate hikes. Trisha and Gabby get into unemployment and the labor force and higher wages and prices getting passed along to the consumer. And the podcast closes on US oil production and activity and the recent earnings calls of Halliburton and Liberty Oilfield Services. Despite inflation and supply chain concerns, Trisha says "don't bet against the industry."

Recorded Date: April 22, 2022

In episode 45 of the PetroNerds podcast, Trisha Curtis, CEO of PetroNerds and host of the PetroNerds podcast, is joined by the Denver Petroleum Club's Gabby Richmond. Gabby is well versed on the oil and gas market and topics of China and is an Australian native. In this special PetroNerds podcast, Trisha and Gabby do a little "fliparoo" and Gabby takes the opportunity to interview and ask Trisha questions on the market.

This podcast is incredibly timely and topical and focuses on China and China's energy policies and economy. It was recorded on Tuesday evening April 26th, 2022, before Russia cut off natural gas supplies to Poland and Bulgaria. This podcast gets into the weeds on China's energy security policies and plans, coal use and trajectory, China's "Dual Circulation" economic strategy, Chinese natural gas imports, and China's "zero Covid" policy and implementation. This is part one of the conversation with Gabby Richmond. Next week is all about the US economy, inflation, and the Fed.

Recorded on April 4, 2022

Episode 44 is the second part of an incredible double-header with Renee Pirrong of Tellurian. In this episode, Trisha Curtis and Renee Pirrong continue their conversation on the global LNG market and get into the weeds on China's natural gas dynamics and the increasing volumes of LNG flowing to China.

They also discuss the three major LNG hubs in Europe, the import capacity, and the nuances of floating vessels. There is a dense discussion on China with regards to the war in Ukraine, China and Russia ties, energy security, and the rise of renewable and coal-fired capacity generation in tandem. This is a high, but energy-dense PetroNerds podcast you are not going to want to miss.

Recorded on April 4, 2022

Episode 43 of the PetroNerds podcast is part one of an incredible double header on all things US natural gas, global LNG markets, the European energy crisis, and the impact of regulations on ESG and investor pressure.  Trisha Curtis is joined by her guest Renee Pirrong, Strategy Director at Tellurian.  Tellurian is active in the upstream space in the Haynesville and will soon be exporting LNG (Liquified Natural Gas).  Before recording WTI was $101.80, Brent $106.36, Henry Hub $5.80, and TTF Dutch from CME $36 MMBtu. 

Trisha starts off the podcast with a global overview and backdrop of what is happening in the world, including the Biden Administration and IEA's planned release of Strategic Petroleum Reserves from the SPR.  In this episode Trisha and Renee get into US natural gas production volumes, US LNG export volumes, LNG export capacity, and the Biden Administration's plans to increase LNG exports to Europe this year and significantly more through 2030. 

Trisha gets into the production base potential and the meaningful impact of market signalling by regulators and the need to build infrastructure and pipelines to accelerate production growth in the US and exports abroad.  They discuss the impacts of ESG investing and money going into renewables vs. oil, natural gas, and coal.  They also begin discussing the energy crisis in Europe and Asia.

Recorded on March 1, 2022

In episode 42 of the PetroNerds podcast Trisha Curtis is joined by Matt Gallagher, former CEO of Parsley Energy and current CEO of Greenlake Energy Ventures.  This is a lively and timely discussion by two oil and gas nerds who clearly need more than an hour to discuss the entire global oil market, energy policy in the US and abroad, ESG, the US oil market, and impacts of war in Ukraine on geopolitics and on energy prices.  Prior to recording, oil prices for the US crude benchmark, West Texas Intermediate, spiked to well over $105 and barrel, from $97 just hours before. 

Trisha and Matt discuss the Biden Administration's energy policies and war against oil and gas, Matt's look back on the proration talks he had with Texas Railroad Commission when oil prices were collapsing in 2020, and Matt's electric Mustang.  They get into service companies and pricing and the need for service companies to be profitable along with producers.  They spend time talking about the over emphasis of the "E" in ESG and also talk about leadership in the oil and gas space and the certainty most executives have on the northbound trajectory of oil prices. 

Trisha harps on recession risk and talks about the risks of allowing Iran, Russia, China, and North Korea to get closer.  And they close the conversation by talking about sustainably sourced and humanely sourced barrels of crude oil from the US and Canada.  This is an awesome episode and one you most definitely want to share with everyone you know!

In episode 41 of the PetroNerds podcast, Trisha Curtis takes the first 15 or so minutes to recap what is happening with the crisis in Ukraine and the invasion by Russia which began on the 23rd of February. Trisha is joined by her guest, Justin Kringstad of the North Dakota Pipeline Authority, to talk about the state of the Bakken, the Williston Basin, and North Dakota at $95 oil.

The Williston Basin rig count has remained extremely low despite elevated oil prices and Trisha and Justin discuss the nature of the operators and the reasons why activity has not returned to the basin. Trisha and Justin get into prices and what this means for inventory. They talk about "remaining inventory" and "core" and "tiers" and why inventory may not be an issue, the fact that it is locked up by public operators is. Continental Resources is running eight rigs in the Williston Basin but talked more about the Powder River and the Delaware in their earnings call.

Trisha and Justin also discuss the huge volumes of natural gas being produced in the Williston Basin, despite less drilling, and the fact that more infrastructure and midstream development for natural gas will need to be built in the coming years. This a timely podcast front loaded with a major market update and followed by a critical discussion of the nuances of the Williston Basin.

In episode 40 of the PetroNerds podcast, Trisha Curtis discusses European energy policy and the European energy crises with expert and professor Thierry Bros.  This is a dense, high BTU content podcast. 

Thierry is a professor at Sciences Po Paris and recently published an op-ed titled "Dreaming isn't going to solve the energy crisis."  Trisha and Thierry talk about this recent article and an early February document from the European Commission on including natural gas and nuclear in their plans to decarbonize.  They get into high energy prices in Europe, the heavy reliance on Russia for so much of Europe's natural gas, and the steadily declining production and supply of natural gas from the UK and Europe. 

They talk about energy policy and monetary policy and what Thierry calls "magic math" being done by many politicians and regulators.  And they discuss France's push to call natural gas "fossil gas."  This is a refreshing conversation from someone within Europe that understands Energy policy and climate change and is willing to call a spade a spade.

In episode 39 of the PetroNerds podcast, Trisha Curtis sits down with Ryan Keys, CEO of Triple Crown Resources. Triple Crown is a private operator in the southern Midland Basin with 44,000 acres.

Ryan offers a very candid view of what it is like to be a private operator in the basin and the serious cost pressures facing operators. Inflation and rising costs and the lack of labor and skilled labor are beginning to bite operational efficiency.

Trisha and Ryan talk about the oil market, oil prices, hedging, inflation, and a myriad of other topics. They also talk about Triple Crown’s position in the basin and the uniqueness in being in an off-the-cuff play that fewer folks are interested in, characteristic of many private operators across the US today. This is a fantastic and informative conversation and a must-listen-to episode of the PetroNerds podcast.

In episode 38 of the PetroNerds podcast, Trisha Curtis has the pleasure of sitting down and talking all things Permian Basin with Aaron Hunter of ConocoPhillips. Aaron is the Vice President of the Midland Basin for ConocoPhillips.

Trisha and Aaron get into three main topics starting with Permian nerdiness and the state of play in the Midland and the Delaware, the resiliency of the Midland over the course of 2020 and 2021, changes within the Permian Basin, and the rise of private operators. They discuss the acquisitions of Concho Resources and Shell's Permian assets.

And they get into ESG, emissions - Scope 1, 2, and 3, ConocoPhillips' Paris Climate Accord plans, their triple mandate, and their recent earnings calls and stockholder meeting. They discuss this in the context of investor pressure and the rise of ESG, and address that this has been emphasized while ConocoPhillips has amassed a significant Permian position in the past two years. This is a timely and not to miss episode encapsulating many recent topics on the PetroNerds podcast and bringing it full circle with a major public operator, and soon to be the largest operator, in the Permian Basin.