American Oil and Gas Reporter - May 2019 - 111

ConventionCoverage: Texas Alliance of Energy Producers
the competition, having the right product
in the right place and the right time is
where we are, just like real estate or
other products.
"If you are a weak player who doesn't
focus on the right management practices,
just because you have captured some oil
and gas doesn't mean you are going to
be successful," Hersh advised.
A Simple Message
One other critical component of the
collective oil and gas industry's future
success, posited the Alliance's breakfast
keynoter, is its social license.
The days when the oil and gas industry
could operate out of the public's sight
and mind are over, said Texas Railroad
Commissioner Ryan Sitton. While the
"just leave me alone" philosophy may
have worked 20 years ago, "It doesn't
work today," he insisted. "With the development of social media, anyone can
put a video with any opinion on the Internet. A million people can see it and no
one questions the validity of the person
making it."
To illustrate that, he described his experience during the petrochemical storage
tank fire in mid-March in Houston. Sitton
said when he saw local officials unable
to allay public concern, he arranged to
visit the Intercontinental Terminals Co.
facility along the Houston Ship Channel.
There, he said, he ascertained the incident
commander had matters well under control, and both U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Texas Commission
on Environmental Quality air monitors
confirmed the burning gasoline blend
stock was not toxic.
So, Sitton said, he called a press conference to assure the public that, while it
looked bad, the plume of black smoke
was not dangerous. However, right after
his clip, Sitton said, the television station
interviewed a so-called "tox doc," who
disputed his claims. The next day, when
the EPA reassured the public there was
nothing to worry about, the tox doc-who
had no petroleum industry expertise-was
allowed to again contradict the experts.
"The simple message from all that
was, there is a big black cloud and people
were scared," Sitton related. "And while
the TCEQ, EPA, RRC and the company
itself were saying, 'It's not toxic,' the
simple message was, 'Be afraid.' That
was the message that resonated throughout
Houston.
"We have a challenge in front of us,"

Pausing with the Texas Alliance's breakfast keynote speaker, Texas Railroad Commissioner
Ryan Sitton (center), at the association's 2019 annual convention in Las Colinas, Tx., are
Alliance Chairman Jim Beck (left) and Chairman-Emeritus Townes Pressler.

Sitton told the Alliance. "We live in a
world where we are inundated with stuff.
We are programmed to accept very simple
tidbits. How do we combat this short attention span? What are the simple messages that promote what we are doing?"
His answer is that the industry produces
affordable, reliable energy for the good
of the country. "That is what people
want," Sitton declared. "They want affordable, reliable energy, and there is no
better way to do it than oil and gas."
And while oil and gas producers do
benefit from providing the world with
affordable, reliable energy, "I would argue
it is the family where the parents are
both teachers and commute from a suburb

to downtown Dallas that benefit most,"
Sitton argued. "To them, the difference
between $2.00 a gallon gasoline and
$3.00 a gallon is the difference in taking
a family vacation or not.
"To people who work all sorts of
hourly jobs, affordable, reliable energy
has a huge impact on their lives. Those
are the people we serve," he contended.
Energy abundance, Sitton insisted, is
not only a conservative, pro-oil-and-gas
agenda. "The things we do benefit those
in our society who are working the hardest
to make a dollar," he stated. "Those are
the people we should have on our minds.
That is the message we should carry with
us all the time."
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Torchlight, Maverick Finish Orogrande Drilling
PLANO, TX.-Torchlight Energy Resources Inc. and its operating partner,
Maverick Operating, have completed the
drilling phase of all three wells in their
Orogrande Basin drilling plans set out
late in 2018. The companies confirmed
several new potential Wolfcamp pay
zones, and most importantly, confirmed
a deep structure in the Akota formation
on the Maverick A24 No. 1 well.
The project's data gathering included
11 types of logs and more than 100
sidewall cores from the three wells
drilled, Torchlight says. The company
adds that through the assistance of new
hire Mike Zebrowski, it uncovered
newly processed 2-D seismic, gravity
information and magnetics which will
assist in establishing the extent of the

structure identified in the Maverick A24
No. 1 well.
"This is an exciting time for our
company," applauds Greg McCabe, chairman of the board of Torchlight Energy.
"The Atoka not only has excellent porosity, it also put oil on the pits during
drilling. Torchlight again has confirmed
evidence of a hydrocarbon system in
the Orogrande Basin."
"We have reached the time to take all
we have learned and present it to larger
E&P's which will translate the Orogrande
play from a science project into development.
We look forward to announcing developments as they occur, and would like to
thank the team at Maverick Operating for a
job well done," says John Brda, Torchligh
Energy's chief executive officer.
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MAY 2019 111

American Oil and Gas Reporter - May 2019

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