Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season. I am so grateful as mine was filled with family, friends, too much good food, and too little sleep. Which also makes me grateful it is over and 2018 is here! It seems the oil industry is entering this year with cautious optimism. Ray Thompson gave us an excellent outlook last month of oil staying in the $50-$60 range and the price of natural gas strengthening. There also seems to be optimism around all the federal regulations being cut and offshore and arctic areas that were previously protected being open to drilling. However, it seems to me we should be careful what we wish for. Those areas will probably be exploited by the bigger companies, providing more supply to the market and potentially suppressing prices. I recently asked an oil field executive if he would rather deal with some cumbersome regulation or have higher oil and gas prices, he said he would definitely pick higher prices. With US crude and LNG exports ramping up, perhaps it will balance out. At least it should lead to more jobs, which would be a welcome relief in our industry after the past few years.
We are starting off the New Year with a luncheon talk from our own Dale Short. Most of you know Dale as he was our past president of ETGS. Dale retired from EOG in 2015 and he certainly hasn’t put his feet up since. In addition to the countless hours he volunteers for ETGS, he started a consulting business, East Texas Geoseismic, and conducts research on the geology of Sabine Island. He will be sharing his research, “Tectonics of the Sabine Island”, at our luncheon on Wednesday, January 24th, Cascades Country Club 11:30 am. Check out Dale’s complete bio and abstract on our website. PLEASE NOTE: DUE TO A MIXUP WITH THE CASCADES WE HAVE HAD TO MOVE THIS LUNCHEON TO THE 4TH WEDNESDAY. Next month we will be back to the 3rd Wednesday of the month.
Planning is underway for our annual Tech and Prospect Expo, March 26th and 27th. Contact Matthew Bailey, matt@bhlboresight.com, or Barbara Cade, bacade@suddenlinkmail.com, if you are interested in a booth or have any questions.
See you on the 24th.
Best regards,
Anita Paulssen
President, East Texas Geological Society