American Oil and Gas Reporter - July 2023 - 32
Industry Perspectives:
Private Companies Drive Growth
IRVING, TX.-It may be largely a
matter of environmental, social and
governance ratings skewing stock market
investing, or it could be mainly
about producers restricting growth to
extend drilling inventories. Whatever
the cause, private oil and natural gas
companies are driving an unusually
large proportion of U.S. drilling and
completions activity, noted some speakers
at the Petroleum Alliance of Oklahoma's
2023 Annual Meeting.
Presenters considering why private
producers seemed to punch above their
weight included PetroNerds President
and Chief Executive Officer Trisha Curtis,
as well as Piper Sandler Managing
Director Austin Harbour, who offered
their remarks on the second day of the
Alliance conference, held June 7-10 at
the Las Colinas Resort in Irving.
Meanwhile, the day's first speaker,
Harold Hamm, shared firsthand insight
into the difference between running a
large public exploration, drilling and
production company and a private one.
Hamm's introduction of the subject- " For
you public guys, we are
sorry " -prompted a ripple of laughter
throughout the audience. As the executive
chairman of Continental Resources
contrasted the experience of helping
run a public company-which Continental
was from spring 2007 through
late 2022-with a private one, he clearly
conveyed he preferred the latter.
Hamm touched on the topic as part
of a broader discussion with Alliance
outgoing Chairman Blu Hulsey, who
serves as Continental's senior vice president
of health, safety, environment,
government and regulatory affairs. In
the months since the company's transition
finalized, Hulsey posed, how had going
private expanded Continental's options?
Hamm replied that he and Continental
President and CEO Doug Lawler sud32
THE AMERICAN OIL & GAS REPORTER
denly gained 20% more time to focus
on helping the company find and produce
petroleum instead of immersing
themselves in obligations such as quarterly
reports. That figure also appeared
in the estimated companywide breakeven
commodity price, he said. " We have
had the same auditing company since
we went public, and our auditors recently
adjusted it, " Hamm reported. " They
are knocking off 20%. "
Of course, he allowed, the company
still shoulders some reporting requirements,
but they are only a fraction of
Continental's erstwhile obligations to
the Securities and Exchange Commission.
" There is a lot more freedom, "
Hamm affirmed. " We do not have the
SEC breathing down our necks on
everything, and we mostly do not have
any investors calling. "
Most of Continental's former stockholders
were pleased with their investment's
return, Hamm reported. " They
are thrilled, and I am happy about that, "
he said. " An investor who went in with
us at our initial public offering at $14
in 2007 made more than 1,000%, which
is not bad. "
ESG Albatross
Curtis, who in addition to her analytical
work also hosts the PetroNerds
podcast, cited recent statements from
ExxonMobil to explain why many public
companies were restraining their field
activity. " Exxon has said that investor
pressure on ESG has kept oil and gas
companies in America from investing, "
she noted. " That tees you up-especially
if you are private-to drill through this
and capture all these gains. "
Private companies' activity has been
on the rise, she observed " The private
companies were off to the races when
prices were coming up and even during
the pandemic, " Curtis recounted. " This
is what happens in a market where you
put all this (ESG) pressure on publics. "
Curtis noted that while U.S. activity
still lagged pre-pandemic levels, production
had nearly recovered. " It is impressive
to be near 13 million barrels a
day without adding as many wells, "
she commented. " Something in the system
is working. "
However, she continued, ESG considerations
were a major reason public
companies were dragging their feet.
" They have not added those wells back, "
Curtis relates. " There were times with
prices much higher than the $70 a barrel
we see today, and (public companies)
missed out. "
An examination of recent U.S. rig
count charts offers further contrasts,
she noted. " The public companies are
cored-up, with nice acreage positions.
They have done well, and their wells
are great, " Curtis assessed. " But private
companies also have done very well,
and when there are high oil-and especially
high natural gas-prices, it
pushes private companies to go out and
derisk acreage. "
Although some were skeptical of
frontier areas, she continued, private
companies accepted the risk. " These
companies really pushed the envelope
. . . because prices were good, " Curtis
said. " What the privates have done is
an amazing story. "
Curtis also made a case that ESG
evaluations did not accurately reflect
companies' stewardship. In the time
since Russia invaded Ukraine, she pointed
out, China had imported large volumes
of Russian crude, coal and grain
and expanded its exports of solar panels
and batteries to Europe. " Chinese solar
panel exports to Europe increased more
than 100% during the course of the
war in Ukraine, " she reported. " If any
country has won this war, it is China. "
American Oil and Gas Reporter - July 2023
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Oil and Gas Reporter - July 2023
Contents
American Oil and Gas Reporter - July 2023 - Intro
American Oil and Gas Reporter - July 2023 - Cover1
American Oil and Gas Reporter - July 2023 - Cover2
American Oil and Gas Reporter - July 2023 - Contents
American Oil and Gas Reporter - July 2023 - 4
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