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Oilman Magazine July/August 2022

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THE MAGAZINE FOR LEADERS IN AMERICAN ENERGYJuly / August 2022OilmanMagazine.comRandy Nichols, Founder & CEO, Cinco Energy Management GroupEnd-to-End SaaS ERP Solutions

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Oilman Magazine / July-August 2022 / OilmanMagazine.com1IN THIS ISSUELetter from the Publisher PAGE 2OILMAN Contributors PAGE 2OILMAN Online PAGE 3Industry Data PAGE 3DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY How Are Digital Technologies Helping Reduce Emissions in Oil and Gas? PAGE 4INNOVATION Every “Aha” Moment Requires Genuine Follow-Through to Achieve Success PAGE 6OFFSHORE Fishing for a Purpose: Retting Offshore Platforms to Transform the Planet and the Economy PAGE 8 SAFETY Booming Business – A Burden on Safety? PAGE 12Oilman Cartoon PAGE 13AI-APPS Petrochemical Automation Evolves with Smart Eyes in the Field PAGE 16SaaS SOLUTIONS Powering the Digital Oil Field with Integrated SaaS Field Data Gathering PAGE 20ENVIRONMENT Environmental Strategies That Work PAGE 30AUTOMATION Volatile Markets, Labor Shortages, ESG – Oh My! Level Up Your Business Automation Game or Die PAGE 32NATIONAL ENERGY TALK Strategic Alignment Provides Corporate Solutions PAGE 36SECURITY Energy Security Fears and The Hidden Complexities of Drilling Rigs PAGE 38ENTREPRENEURSHIP A Red-Hot Welder Becomes A Champion Forged In Fire PAGE 40EXCERPT An Introduction To The Pulitzer Prize Nominated Book “Clean” Energy Exploitations PAGE 44TRANSPORTATION & LOGISTICS All Roads Lead to Energy PAGE 48FEATURE Cinco Energy’s Randy Nichols Builds A Family Dynasty PAGE 24

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Oilman Magazine / July-August 2022 / OilmanMagazine.com2JULY — AUGUST 2022PUBLISHER Emmanuel SullivanEDITOR-IN-CHIEF Rebecca PontonMANAGING EDITOR Sarah SkinnerASSISTANT EDITOR Nick VaccaroCOPY EDITOR Shannon WestCREATIVE DIRECTOR Kim FischerCONTRIBUTING EDITORS Jason Spiess Mark StansberryADVERTISING SALES Diana George Connie LaughlinSUBSCRIBE To subscribe to Oilman Magazine, please visit our website, www.oilmanmagazine.com/subscribe. MAILING ADDRESS U.S. Energy Media P.O. Box 42511 Houston, TX 77242 Phone: (800) 562-2340 e-mail: editor@usenergymedia.comCOPYRIGHT The contents of this publication are copyright 2022 by U.S. Energy Media, LLC, with all rights restricted. Any reproduction or use of content without written consent of U.S. Energy Media, LLC is strictly prohibited.All information in this publication is gathered from sources considered to be reliable, but the accuracy of the information cannot be guaranteed. Oilman Magazine reserves the right to edit all contributed articles. Editorial content does not necessarily reect the opinions of the publisher. Any advice given in editorial content or advertisements should be considered information only. Cover photo courtesy of Cinco Energy Management Group.LETTER FROM THE PUBLISHERCONTRIBUTORS — BiographiesEmmanuel Sullivan, PublisherGasoline is up at the pump, as everyone is aware, from the daily commuter to the truck driver lling up with diesel. Despite the blame message the Biden administration has hounded the media with, the price of gas has increased steadily before the Ukrainian-Russian war started on February 24, 2022. In February 2021, the national average for gasoline was $2.50, in August $2.88, in December $3.03 and, as of this writing, $4.84. To remedy the sudden gas hike, Biden asked OPEC to produce more oil and initiated formal discussions to ease oil sanctions with Venezuela and Iran, all in an effort to import more foreign oil. In addition, he authorized millions of gallons of oil released from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Both requests could have been averted had the administration abandoned the attack on the domestic oil and gas industry. Remember, on the campaign trail, Biden said in several discussions that he would end fossil fuel production. He did that Day One with several executive orders: First, shutting down the Keystone XL pipeline, then ending oil leases on federal land and offshore, and implementing regulatory restraints. The rhetoric the media and Wall Street hear from the Biden administration is to promote renewables over fossil fuel energy and to decrease investments in the American oil and gas industry. At the moment, in our energy evolution, renewable and alternative energy need fossil fuel to develop the growing industry. Both industries need to work together; however, the most important takeaway is oil and gas production is an inexpensive, reliable energy source. Why alter a vital industry that is functioning and provides energy security?Mark A. StansberryMark A. Stansberry, Chairman of The GTD Group, is an award-winning author, columnist, lm and music producer, radio talk show host and 2009 Western Oklahoma Hall of Fame inductee. Stansberry has written ve energy-related books. He has been active in the oil and gas industry for over 44 years, having served as CEO/President of Moore-Stansberry, Inc., and The Oklahoma Royalty Company. He has served as Chairman of the Board of Regents of the Regional University System of Oklahoma, Chairman 2016-2017 of the Gaylord-Pickens Museum/Oklahoma Hall of Fame Board of Directors, Lifetime Trustee of Oklahoma Christian University, and Board Emeritus of the Oklahoma Governor’s International Team. He has served on several public and private boards. He is currently on the advisory board of IngenuitE, Inc. Jason SpiessJason Spiess is an award winning journalist, talk show host, publisher and executive producer. Spiess has worked in both the radio and print industry for over 20 years. All but three years of his professional experience, Spiess was involved in the overall operations of the business as a principal partner. Spiess is a North Dakota native, Fargo North Alumni and graduate of North Dakota State University. Spiess moved to the oil patch in 2012 living and operating a food truck in the parking lot of Macís Hardware. In addition, Spiess hosted a daily energy lifestyle radio show from the Rolling Stove food truck. The show was one-of-a-kind in the Bakken oil elds with diverse guest ranging from U.S. Senator Mike Enzi (WY) to the traveling roadside merchant selling ags to the local high school football coach talking about this week’s big game.

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Oilman Magazine / July-August 2022 / OilmanMagazine.com3DIGITAL INDUSTRY DATAConnect with OILMAN anytime at OILMANMAGAZINE.com and on social media#OilmanNEWSStay updated between issues with weekly reports delivered online at OilmanMagazine.comSOCIAL STREAMSources: Global Energy Monitor, Global Data, Visual Capitalist; RextagLeading Oil Pipeline Developers by Length of Pipelines Proposed and in Construction Worldwide as of 2020 (in kilometers)Forecast Expenditure of Midstream Projects Worldwide Between 2021 and 2025, by Segment* (in billion U.S. dollars)Companies with the Largest Crude Oil Pipeline Networks in North America as of February 2022, by Length (in miles)

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Oilman Magazine / July-August 2022 / OilmanMagazine.com4DIGITAL TECHNOLOGYHow Are Digital Technologies Helping Reduce Emissions in Oil and Gas? By Emily NewtonAs people around the world become increasingly concerned with sustain-ability, it’s vital that decision-makers in the oil and gas industry apply practical techniques to reduce emissions. Here are some ways digital technologies could help them. Improved Methane Monitoring Can Reduce EmissionsResearchers continually look for better options for spotting methane emis-sions caused by leaks. They know that if people become aware of leaks sooner, the heightened awareness would help cut overall emissions.Some newer solutions to reduce emis-sions by identifying leaks rely on laser spectroscopy, along with drones and small piloted planes that y close to the potential sources of methane leaks. Other forward-thinking entrepreneurs have different approaches. Greg Rieker is a professor of mechanical engineer-ing at the University of Colorado Boul-der and the chief technology ofcer of LongPath Technologies. His solution is a frequency comb laser. “We’ve used this system to pinpoint a leak to about a 5-square-meter area,” he says. “It’s a question of, when leaks start, seeing them and sizing them properly so we can alert an operator [that] there’s a problem. There are 20,000 wells out there. This is a Colo-rado-grown solution, using Colorado technology.” The system can continu-ously scan an area for weeks or months at a time, then provide a tally of meth-ane emissions.Commercial systems are also available to reduce emissions, such as the one recently adopted by Marathon Oil, which pledged to achieve a 60 percent drop in methane emissions by 2025, and an 80 percent reduction by 2030. It Photo courtesy of Patrick Hendry, Unsplash.

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Oilman Magazine / July-August 2022 / OilmanMagazine.com5DIGITAL TECHNOLOGYhas 18 infrared cameras to assist with methane imaging. The chosen technol-ogy is an industrial Internet of Things (IoT) platform that provides colorized video clips of gas plumes that would otherwise be invisible. “We believe that the technology, combined with our SCADA data, provides a more fulsome view of our operations and allows us to better un-derstand and mitigate environmental impacts,” says Dana Wood, Marathon Oil’s environmental supervisor. Smart Sensors Increase Oil and Gas Equipment VisibilityThere is a connection between safety and efciency in the oil and gas sector and the quality and reliability of equip-ment used. That link also extends to emissions. A 2021 report from the U.S. Energy Information Agency (EIA) noted that replacing old equipment can curb emissions because older equipment typically has more leaks. The report recommended replacing components early and switching from gas parts, to electried parts, if pos-sible, because they leak less gas while operating. One way to get a clearer idea of when to replace components is to use smart sensors that monitor performance at the individual part and system level. Besides helping companies get a handle on emissions, that technology could cut operating costs. Statistics in-dicate going with a predictive mainte-nance approach could save companies up to 40 percent, compared to using the reactive maintenance model. In addition to minimizing money spent on unplanned repairs, this technology could curb catastrophic outages that halt operations. Mika Tienhaara is the CEO of Rocsole, a company specializing in digital solu-tions for the oil and gas industry. He explained why such advancements are so vital, saying, “Burning of fossil fuels aside, fugitive emissions and venting due to malfunctioning equipment, leak-ages, and no or limited knowledge (lack of data) forms the largest emission source from upstream activities.”“Depending on the exact type of source, emissions from these are in the range of 40 to 50 percent and, due to lack of data and digitized workows, there is a bigger risk of running into failure. As such, it is in this area that digital solutions are needed to see sig-nicant emissions reductions.”He then discusses what kind of issues site operators might encounter, saying, ”Examples of malfunctioning process equipment include multiphase separa-tors, which have a risk of running into failure due to the lack of insights. Mul-tiphase separators can, in many mature operations, have to deal with sand production, which can lead to erosion, corrosion and leakages. Having proper data is the starting point in avoiding these failures.”Articial Intelligence Supports Process OptimizationOil and gas industry professionals have a daunting but necessary task when it comes to getting a handle on emissions. That’s because the ef-forts should ideally encompass the Scope 1 direct emissions, as well as the indirect Scope 2 and 3 emissions. Together, these make up 41 percent of greenhouse gas emissions globally. An increasing number of decision-makers are implementing articial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to enhance their processes that cause excessive emissions. In one case, that approach enabled an oil and gas operator to nd ways to cut 500 million tons of Scope 1 and Scope 2 CO2 equivalent emissions, which constituted 30 percent of the company’s total emissions. A closer look revealed which efforts had the biggest inuence on that 30 percent reduction. More specically, improving opera-tional and energy efciency accounted for 15 percent of the total, and a ve percent reduction came through meth-ods to curb aring, fugitive and vent-ing emissions. However, an impressive 60 percent of the total emissions reduction occurred due to switching to lower-carbon power and heat equip-ment and sources. The AI technology used also helped leaders at the com-pany verify which process tradeoffs caused the biggest potential payoffs, which made it easier to set expecta-tions before making changes. In another example, a Texas operator with 200 wells applied AI to minimize operating costs. That, in turn, posi-tively affected emissions. Letting AI analyze the data highlighted an over-pumping problem in two-thirds of the company’s rod-lift wells. The company responded by using AI to automate setpoint management, which caused a 13 percent drop in greenhouse gas emissions. This case study shows there’s no single solution to reduce emissions that brings universal success. Leaders must take the time to understand where the room for improvement exists. Then, they can apply the appropriate digital technology, whether AI or otherwise, to improve the likelihood of getting the desired results.How Will You Apply Digital Technologies for Emissions Reduction?The need to cut emissions across soci-ety as a whole will remain constant, es-pecially with so much more emphasis recently placed on sustainability by the world’s leaders of business and poli-tics. Digital technologies are not magic solutions that address everything ailing a company contributing too much to global emissions. However, as these examples show, such options are well worth consideration, especially once decision-makers are ready to act in meaningful ways. Emily Newton is the editor-in-chief of Rev-olutionized, an online magazine discussing the latest industry innova-tions and trends.

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Oilman Magazine / July-August 2022 / OilmanMagazine.com6INNOVATIONEvery “Aha” Moment Requires Genuine Follow-Through to Achieve Success For R3’s solution to recovering synthetic drilling uid, this meant a combination of expertise, innovation, patience and persistence.By Patrick RooneyOur “aha” moment came at 2 a.m., after another long day and night of research-ing in a lab in Tennessee. Two Canadi-ans, along with members of the Astec Industries, worked to complete repeated variations on a system to perfect that processing of drill muds, yet again. This time it would be different, however, as a crystal-clear uid began to appear. At rst glance, the uid appeared to be water but, upon further investigation, it had an “oil feel” to it. We grabbed a nearby empty can of cola, ipped it upside down, poured the uid on the bottom and lit it. Pure oil! After many more months of research, testing and development, our investment ultimately led to the solution that we be-lieve can signicantly reduce the waste produced in the oil and gas industry. Today, we are proud to offer services using our proprietary Vacuum Assisted Pure Oil Recovery Technology. R3 Environmental SystemsAt R3 Environmental Systems, we are rst and foremost scientists. Whether it’s removing hydrocarbons from contami-nated soil or treating traditional waste oils, we are driven by nding the right solution – even if it doesn’t yet exist. Such was the case with our approach to apply-ing vacuum distillation to drilling mud in the oil and gas sector.We already understood the environ-mentally sensitive nature of oil and gas exploration, and that high-performance drilling uids are not only expensive, but also wasteful. In fact, over $7 billion was spent on drilling uid in 2019, with all but six percent coming back as waste or “cuttings.” We also knew that environmental regula-tions require proper treatment of these cuttings to reduce residual hydrocarbons to acceptable levels before safe disposal and, essentially, that was the most widely used process at the time: treatment and disposal. At R3, we felt there had to be a better way. What if drill mud cuttings could be treated and then reused? Was there a more efcient and responsible (both environ-mentally and nancially) way to recover the drilling mud waste for subsequent use in future drilling events? Could the recovered oil be brought back into the exploration cycle?Thanks to the backing of our parent organization, the Municipal Group of Companies, our team was able to work with our friends at Astec to pursue this innovative approach. The ProcessThe rst stage of our recovery process requires heating the material under a low vacuum to evaporate the oil and water fractions, which are subsequently col-lected, condensed and separated into hydrocarbon and water products. The use of a low vacuum within the distilla-tion unit (VDU) signicantly lowers the temperatures required to evaporate the hydrocarbons associated with the drilling uid. This reduction in boiling point tem-peratures reduces energy consumption and guarantees that the operational tem-perature never reaches levels that would result in thermal cracking or degradation of the drilling uid. Because of this, the recovered uid maintains its integrity.As a result, the high-quality drilling uid* recovered when using the technology means the recovered uid can be used as R3’s high-quality recovered drilling uid (“SecondSource”) can be used as a direct substitute for virgin drilling uid. Photos courtesy of R3 Environmental Systems.

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Oilman Magazine / July-August 2022 / OilmanMagazine.com7INNOVATIONa direct substitute for virgin drilling uid in the formulation of new drilling mud products. Recovering and reusing the base drilling uid instead of using new drilling uid is an opportunity for the industry to reduce greenhouse gas emis-sions while maintaining quality standards. Oil and gas companies can thereby signicantly reduce the amount of virgin drilling uid they need to purchase, transport and eventually dispose of. Once the drilling uid has been recov-ered, the residual solids will still contain the high molecular weight hydrocar-bons that came from the reservoir oil. Traditionally, these residual solids or sludges have been sent for landll dis-posal or to a low temperature thermal desorption unit where the hydrocar-bons are destroyed. Neither of these traditional options allowed for the utilization of the hydrocarbons within the solids. In R3’s recovery process, the residual hydrocarbons and solids can be pro-cessed to generate an alternative fuel that can be utilized as an industrial fuel source, in this case fuel pellets. This is achieved by fusing together the residual hydrocarbons and several proprietary binders into a solid mass, which is then extruded in predetermined sizes and shapes. Each fuel pellet is tailor-made to t the needs of the end user by adjusting the heating value, moisture content, ash content and pellet dimen-sions. The energy content of the pro-duced pellets is very similar to that of a traditional wood pellet.Another distinctive feature of R3’s recovery technology is its portability. The entire unit was designed as a series of “modules” that can be transported by traditional methods to remote ex-ploration sites anywhere in the world. Using our new technology at remote sites can greatly reduce the quantity of virgin drilling uid required and the production of waste that will need to be removed from the site at the end of the exploration program. Once the project comes to an end, the recovered drilling uid can be removed from the site and reused during another exploration proj-ect. Additionally, the recovered water can be reused onsite, with the fuel pel-lets used in onsite boilers and heaters.The TakeawayRealizing the overall benet of our process, that Vacuum Assisted Pure Oil Recovery can help reduce the carbon footprint and other environmental impacts of oil and gas exploration and production, the next step was to share our “aha!” moment with the industry. As such, we are honored to have received the 2022 Spotlight on New Technology Award at the recent Offshore Technology Conference. This recognition not only acknowledges the hard work and dedication of our in-novative team, but also helps promote our primary motivation: To embrace the challenges of utilizing new technol-ogy to make a difference in creating a greener future.*The quality of the recovered drilling uid has been independently evaluated by a third-party engineering rm and the Chemical Abstract Service, a divi-sion of the American Chemical Society, both of which found the uid to be equivalent to the virgin drilling uid. As a result of this evaluation, the recov-ered drilling uid, which we market as SecondSource drilling uid, has been assigned the same CAS number as the original base drilling uid. Patrick Rooney, an expe-rienced project manager and leader in manu-facturing, has had the chance to be a part of the success story of Municipal Group of Companies for over two decades. Alongside Jerry Scott, one of the two inventors of the R3 Environmental Systems’ Vacuum Assisted Pure Oil Recovery technology, he thrives when cracking the most difcult of prob-lems and making the world better for it. Rooney is the director of manu-facturing at the Municipal Group of Companies, a recognized leader in heavy civil construction, waste man-agement, logistics and mining support services, within Eastern Canada, the Caribbean, the U.S. and beyond. Designed in a series of "modules," R3's VAR unit is highly portable to oil exploration sites anywhere in the world.

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Oilman Magazine / July-August 2022 / OilmanMagazine.com8OFFSHOREFishing for a Purpose: Refitting Offshore Platforms to Transform the Planet and the EconomyRetired GOM Oil Platforms Offer Potential Homes for Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS), Seawater Mineral Mining, Seaweed/Macroalgae for Energy-Feedstock and Other Sustainable Options By Kent Satterlee, IIIThe U.S. oil industry is retiring about 175 offshore production platforms each year, far outstripping the count of new rigs. Most of those retiring plat-forms have been in place for decades, during which a complex and interde-pendent collection of marine life has attached itself to and around each rig. Complete removal of any retired rig destroys habitats for all types of plant, sh and microbial life. Preserving the platforms for those reasons alone pro-vides critical ecosystem benets to the Gulf of Mexico.But the goal of retaining and repurpos-ing abandoned rigs extends far beyond a feel-good scenario of calypso crabs crooning “Under the Sea.” These exist-ing structures can be harnessed for uses such as: Mining seaborne met-als like cobalt and lithium; capturing wind and waves for renewable energy; offshore aquaculture (the U.S. currently is only able to provide 15 percent of its seafood consumption domestically); carbon capture and storage (CCS); and biofuel feedstock cultivation. It is easy to see that the benets of these and other options are both economically at-tractive and critically important to meet our energy and food needs domestically without adding to the trade decit. The Gulf of Mexico’s relatively calm sea state (with the exception of storms and hurricanes) provides the U.S. with hundreds of square miles of options for the above uses. At the same time, existing platforms in that space offer a way to launch these efforts without massive capital outlays for basic in-frastructure while saving hundreds of millions of dollars in dismantling costs. A 2016 U.S. GAO study estimated $38 billion in future decommissioning costs for the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) region. Repurposing these platforms would al-low some of this to be applied to more useful purposes and would also relieve the question of where to dispose of all that iron.What Repurposing Looks LikeTo convert a rig to a reef, such as in the Federal Government’s Rigs to Reefs (RTR) program, the resulting platform has a lower vertical relief than the original, and has no physical connec-tion to the upper water column. On the other hand, converting them for use in CCS or wind/wave-based energy gen-eration would retain virtually all of the structure’s height as well as its surface area below the water.RTR is administered by the Depart-ment of the Interior’s Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforce-ment (BSEE) with help from the Gulf states with a complementary RTR op-tion. In this voluntary program, oil and Photo courtesy of namning – www.123RF.com

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Oilman Magazine / July-August 2022 / OilmanMagazine.com9OFFSHOREgas operators make decommissioning decisions based on variables such as economics, water depth, distances to approved reef sites and more.Metals MiningReducing imports of protein sources and of minerals used in batteries and EVs are both issues of national securi-ty. As stated, the U.S. currently imports 85 percent of its seafood and 76 per-cent of its cobalt, the latter a key metal in lithium-ion batteries. The cobalt gure is provided by the Department of Energy (DOE). More than half of global cobalt production comes from politically unstable countries. Also, 80 percent of the nation’s lithium battery imports come from China.Seawater contains about 70 times more cobalt than is available on land and a like amount of lithium. Through passive adsorption technologies and a symbiotic system using existing off-shore platforms, cobalt can be harvest-ed sustainably and economically.A study by Cornell University showed that retrotting just 76 retired plat-forms in the Gulf could extract an estimated 27.3 percent of the nation’s cobalt requirements as of 2017.GORI has teamed with Cornell to apply for funding to sample seawater at two GOM platform sites to learn if the water contains sufcient quanti-ties of lithium and cobalt to support adsorption harvesting.Aquaculture HarvestingFigures from the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) show that worldwide aquaculture has grown an average eight percent per year over the last 20 years while in the U.S. it has averaged only one percent growth in that time. FAO also predicts continu-ing growth in seafood consumption. This would make it imperative that the U.S. signicantly expand its seafood production – something that can be done more sustainably offshore than in coastal or land-based systems.Continued on next page...

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Oilman Magazine / July-August 2022 / OilmanMagazine.com10OFFSHOREStudies have shown that both stand-ing and repurposed platforms provide suitable habitat for demersal (bottom-residing) species such as red snapper. Because previous studies focused only on those specic species, further research is required, but early results look promising. GORI has partnered with Blue Silo Aquaculture to gather more information by studying these platforms to determine if any can be used to culture nsh, shellsh and macroalgae, the latter for either food or biofuel feedstock.Summertime can be a challenge for GOM-based aquaculture, as frequent hurricanes disrupt commerce and damage infrastructure. But these platforms are built to withstand these storms, and have done so for decades. When repurposed, the platform is able to use its wave-busting muscle to support synergistic activities, and the sh net pens can be submerged to avoid the waves.In 2021, using grant money from the Gulf States Marine Fisheries Com-mission (GSMFC), GORI performed a feasibility study for offshore aqua-culture at two platforms located off the south Texas coast near Padre Island. Looking at wave/current data, geo-spatial baseline data and econom-ic analysis, GORI found aquaculture to be economically feasible in those locations.The ultimate goal is sustainability, meaning to produce more goods and services from the ocean with a smaller environmental footprint than is re-quired on land or in coastal waters.CCS SitesBecause retired platforms sit atop large, now-empty production zones, this entire infrastructure makes them ideal CCS sites. Their longtime production history provides exten-sive reservoir data from which CCS engineers can learn about the zones’ size and capacity, conguration and geology, all of which will speed the evaluation process.Some updates will be required to switch to CCS handling, including metallurgies, valves and other me-chanical components. While outer linings could certainly be reused, inner liners would require testing for corrosion resistance, pressure toler-ance and joint integrity.GORI is currently working with two offshore oil and gas operators, with a total of six retired platforms, to permit those units for alternate use. This effort will include a study as-sessing the feasibility of utilizing the platforms and their depleted oil and gas reservoirs for CCS.Seaweed Hits the RoadUsing macroalgae (seaweed) for renewable fuel provides a number of advantages over land-based crops. It requires no fertilizer, pesticides or water extracted from dwindling onland aquifers. Seaweed can be fer-mented with little to no pretreatment. All those things add to its economic feasibility. On the environmental side, its CO2 emissions during combus-tion compared to CO2 uptake during growth are favorable.The DOE believes this plant could produce up to 10 percent of the na-tion’s transportation fuels. GORI has completed a preliminary design for a platform-based offshore seaweed farming system.More to ComeAll this is actually just a start. Other uses could include education and eco-tourism, wind and wave power generation, using that power to bust H2O into green hydrogen and more. Reusing these platforms saves mil-lions in construction costs for what-ever entity adopts them, smoothing the way to economic feasibility.Kent Satterlee, III, is executive director of the Gulf Offshore Research Institute (GORI). The Mission of GORI is to provide access to offshore oil and gas platforms in the Gulf of Mexico for conduct-ing marine monitoring, energy and environmental research, science education and training (MMEER-SET). The MMEERSET station(s) will enable real-time data and communication toward the goal of enhancing the Gulf of Mexico ecosystem and its benets to the coastal region.GORI is working to repurpose offshore platforms for energy and marine-related purposes such as CCS, ocean energy and hydrogen, offshore multi-trophic aquaculture, and harvesting of rare earth miner-als. For more information, visit www.gulfoffshoreresearch.com.

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Oilman Magazine / July-August 2022 / OilmanMagazine.com12SAFETYBooming Business – A Burden on Safety? By Irene Zueco Demand can be unpredictable. Produc-tion frenzies are frequently a result of external factors, and safety departments are forced to keep up.Consider Amazon, which experienced a 220 percent prot increase during the pandemic, thanks to an uptick in online retail, sparking mass hiring. On the other hand, during that time, oil price hit an all-time low. Two years later, we’re seeing some of the highest prices ever wit-nessed in oil and gas history. Booming business may be good for the bottom line, but while the sales depart-ment celebrates, safety can suffer.The truth is, sudden spikes in demand and productivity can be a headache for safety professionals. For example, Amazon faced a slew of accusations in the media of poor working conditions exacerbated by the pandemic demand.In the current oil price boom, it’s impor-tant not to let safety slip. So, what are the risks and how can technology help mitigate them? The Struggle to Engage New Staff And ContractorsOften, increased demand means hiring new workers – fast. That can be a prob-lem when your industry is no stranger to skills shortages. In fact, a major offshore oil and gas workers’ survey revealed four in ve workers would consider looking for a job in a different industry. Think that’s bad? Heard of the Great Resignation yet? When skills shortages are high, and de-mand is even higher, companies turn to temporary workers and/or contractors. In fact, between January and October 2020, Amazon hired 100,000 temporary workers and over 500,000 contractors. That was in addition to 420,000 new workers to cope with the demand during the pandemic – no small number of new recruits to train. As is well known, contractors are subjected to greater risk than regular staff. They are less familiar with rules, regulations and general layout on-site. Add to that getting comfortable with your safety reporting software. If they don’t know how to use it, chances are, they won’t. Gartner reports 60 percent of employees experience frustration with new software.The result: Lack of engagement and heightened risk means increased pres-sure on safety personnel. And, often, the existing safety team is expected to do more with the same level of resources.Increased Pressure on Safety PersonnelInuxes of new, sometimes temporary workers and their increased safety risk undoubtedly adds to the safety team’s plate with more people to train, track and engage. At some point, it becomes unsustainable. When something needs to change, it cannot be safety performance. Clearly, companies in volatile sectors such as oil and gas need to stay on top of safety, regardless of demand uc-tuations. For that to happen, we must utilize the time of safety professionals wisely.Is the solution hiring more safety staff? Perhaps, but it’s a challenge to nd and fund the right people. Fifty-ve percent of respondents to the Safety+Health 2022 Job Outlook observed a shortage of qualied OSH professionals and, with the 2021 median pay of a health and safety engineer at $99,040 a year, hiring is an expensive, albeit often necessary, remedy. In many cases, a more cost-effective option is to invest in technology that enables existing safety personnel to do more. Familiar Technology Makes Lives Easier Historically, the oil and gas sector has benetted from safety technology. In fact, Verdantix identied that high risk industries (made up of oil and gas, chemical manufacturing and mining) Photo courtesy of Adobe Stock.

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Oilman Magazine / July-August 2022 / OilmanMagazine.com13SAFETYwould be responsible for 47 percent, or $1.18 billion, of the total global spend-ing on EHS software by 2026. With this level of investment, it’s impor-tant to maximize value. So, as one way to free up resources, what must safety software be capable of to alleviate some of that booming business pressure? 1. Simplify reporting with IT integrationNotably, the oil and gas industry has succeeded in reducing the number of injuries and fatalities over the years. However, it remains a high-risk industry heavily dependent on workforce engage-ment, in part due to the remote nature of offshore work.In an industry with such high-risk activi-ties and equipment, identifying hazards and near-misses is critical in avoiding major incidents from taking place.However, near-misses and observa-tions frequently go unreported, if workers struggle to use complex forms or must log into an external, unfamiliar web service. What does this mean? Some close calls will not be investigated, with the poten-tial to become incidents in the future. According to the Heinrich Pyramid, for every 300 near-misses there is one seri-ous incident.User-friendly safety software empow-ers workers to take part. Even more so when it’s on a familiar platform like Microsoft 365. Accessible forms on the apps employees use every day, like Teams, can encourage reporting and a Oilman Cartoon By Steve BurnettContinued on next page...

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Oilman Magazine / July-August 2022 / OilmanMagazine.com14SAFETYsense of ownership all round.Advantages include:• Improved employee engagement • Less time spent training new users• Utilizing IT investment in Micro-soft 365 Safety becomes everyone’s responsi-bility, lightening the burden on safety staff and promoting a positive culture across the organization. 2. Automate time-consuming repetitive tasksWhen resources are spread thin-ner than usual, prioritization is key. Ideally, for safety professionals, this means less time on admin, and more time on the things that matter. A study found that 40 percent of workers spent at least a quarter of their work week on repetitive tasks that could be easily automated. Email, data collection and data entry were found to be the biggest time-wasters – things not unfamiliar to the average safety team!In fact, oil and gas services rm ASCO reported spending 80 percent less time on monthly safety report-ing, thanks to using Pro-Sapien and Power BI. Additionally, 66 percent of those surveyed agreed that task automation could reduce human error.Indeed, safety software can limit hu-man error and reduce time spent on admin through:• Automation of approval processes• Timely task assignment• Automated notications and reminders • Clearer document management• Easier data analysis and KPI trackingThe result? A lot less time in spread-sheets, for one! By leveraging automation, safety pro-fessionals have more time to spend on productive work such as investiga-tions, risk assessments and engaging with employees. 3. Get insights from safety analyticsTreating symptoms rather than causes is time consuming and ineffective. Hiring sprees can result in more inci-dents. In fact, workers that have been on the job for less than a month have three times the risk of a lost-time injury than those in the job for over a year. Quickly identifying trends and their underlying causes could expose gaps in training or inadequate safety processes in place posing challenges to the new starts.Unfortunately, translating raw safety data into actionable insights is not simple. It is for this reason that business intelligence (BI) has become cen-tral to safety performance. A survey conducted by independent analyst Verdantix revealed that 60 percent of EHS respondents were looking to expand their use of analytics. BI tools like Microsoft Power BI simplify safety analytics for the busi-ness user, turning large datasets into insightful reports that safety profes-sionals can easily read. Power BI’s evolution in recent years has been key in making BI accessible to those without an IT background. Although this doesn’t make every safety manager a BI expert, it does mean that safety departments can go into a report and amend it for their own purposes without the time-con-suming need for an intermediary. A report by Aberdeen Group showed that companies using EHS analytics were proven to have 25 percent lower injury frequency rate and 63 percent lower near-miss rate per 100 employ-ees. Therefore, improving your use of analytics could have a huge positive effect in safety, not just short-term, but for years to come.Through Highs and Lows, the Need for Safety RemainsAs time has shown, the world econ-omy will constantly ebb and ow. Regardless, it is the responsibility of organizations to control the increase in safety risk brought about by meet-ing increased demand. That means properly equipping the safety team and workers to drive an inclusive safety culture from top to bottom. Only then is safety personnel empow-ered to push change.Safety software on Microsoft 365 is just one tool that can be leveraged for this purpose. However, its benets extend beyond the immediate require-ment created by demand. It’s true that its accessibility facilitates adoption across temporary workers and con-tractors when they are required, but its time-saving abilities continue to sup-port the safety team to stay efcient and productive come boom – or bust. Globally, EHS budgets rose in the last year due to the broadening of EHS responsibilities brought about by the pandemic and a greater focus on ESG and employee wellbeing. Particularly for safety professionals in oil and gas, this climate may be the perfect time to build a solid case for investment.Ultimately, safety should remain top of mind through the highs and the lows. The oil and gas industry has demonstrated time and again that technology plays a huge part in pro-tecting its workers. This time, will it be the safety department celebrating? Build your business case for EHS soft-ware. Read our top tips here.Irene Zueco is a marketing and com-munications executive at Pro-Sapien, provid-ers of EHS software on Microsoft 365. She is responsible for producing informative content that helps guide EHS professionals through the complex EHS software marketplace.

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CMYCMMYCYCMYKai1651091107271_EarlyBirdFP_usenergymedia.pdf 1 4/27/2022 3:25:19 PM

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Oilman Magazine / July-August 2022 / OilmanMagazine.com16AI-APPSPetrochemical Automation Evolves with Smart Eyes in the Field By Riwaj SapkotaOil and gas production facilities are faced with a growing number of chal-lenges today related to supply chain shortages, lack of skilled labor, and concerns around environmental com-pliance and sustainability. To combat this, facilities are moving toward solu-tions that enhance operational efcien-cies by using new technologies for re-mote site monitoring, enabling greater awareness of different conditions onsite, while at the same time reducing costs. A key new development in this trend is to deploy cameras at the edge that use Articial Intelligence (AI) to analyze and collect insights from the eld of sight.The mainstreaming of AI technolo-gies have spurred the transition toward further automation and digitization of oil eld operations. With these ad-vancements, the oversight of regula-tory compliance, environmental safety issues and other operational efcien-cies can be conducted remotely and automatically. Coupled with advances in video analytics and camera technol-ogy, the industry is moving away from the more traditional manpower-inten-sive approach at sites.Existing technologies that have been used by energy organizations to monitor the presence of ares on oil derricks, levels of tank liquids, or the detection of gas leaks, have histori-cally been singularly focused solu-tions. When AI analytics are coupled with new smart cameras, even a single camera at the edge of an oil eld can perform multiple functions simultane-ously. The secret sauce is to let cam-eras run multiple of these different breeds of apps that are trained by data scientists to perform specic func-tions. The applications can simply be called AI-apps. AI-apps that run directly on the camera provide a cost-effective, yet exible, alternative to traditional monitoring technologies. Unlike other existing solutions, AI-apps offer a high degree of automation allowing real-time alerts on potential issues and speeding up response to the issues, thereby helping reduce the frequency and expense of EPA and OSHA nes. The cameras with AI-apps also dramatically reduce video storage and bandwidth costs, as they are able to make intelligent autonomous decisions at the camera level about what video footage is relevant to save on-site or transmit to a central location. Eliminate Environmental Violations and FinesOil and gas operations are under increasing pressure to be even more environmentally conscious and comply with an evolving slate of regulatory requirements. Operational mishaps can result not only in environmental detri-ments, but also in massive nes from the EPA. As such, automated moni-toring can help to remain compliant with regulations by ensuring clean aring, detecting high tank levels and gas leaks early, and reliably controlling remote onshore and offshore facilities. So, how does it work? A smart cam-era equipped with smoke and are detection will pan the facility, identify venting or smoking in gas ares when there is one, and notify the responsible team of the abnormality. The automa-tion reduces the response time, which is mission critical for operators, as they can’t take chances on letting abnor-malities in aring go undetected. Gas leak events are notoriously hard to observe with the human eye. Further-more, liquid gas can leak in a variety of ways, including forming a puddle, dripping or spraying. In such situa-tions, smart thermal cameras equipped with AI analytics can reliably detect anomalies and send instant alerts to responsible teams. With this, opera-tion teams can then expedite the clean up or remedy the malfunction that is causing the leak. AI-enabled smart camera application detects correct usage of personal protective equipment (PPE) to reduce danger and eliminate costly nes. Photos courtesy of Azena.Continued on next page...

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Oilman Magazine / July-August 2022 / OilmanMagazine.com18AI-APPSSmart cameras can automatically identify the average color and burn quality of a are in real time.Not visible to the human eye are liquid levels in tank batteries, which require use of liquid sensors to detect the levels. In this use case, AI-driven thermal imaging technology is a viable and low-maintenance supplement to the conventional monitoring sensors. Once installed, the thermal cameras can detect changing liquid levels. When installed at right settings, the same camera can also offer an additional use case in the form of leak detection. Enhance Operational Safety and Security The role of a modern operator is very challenging as it requires managing and juggling a large number of responsi-bilities. The foremost priority is, of course, operational safety and security, especially in cases of remote monitor-ing where operators may not be di-rectly onsite. Operators are concerned with mitigating hazards and ensuring that employees are protected. Monitor-ing safety compliance with the human eye alone is not only inefcient, but also results in error. This is where AI-enabled analytics can step in and detect non-compliant behavior that degrades the overall security of the site and can result in OSHA nes. One key example is the requirement for personal protective equipment (PPE) detection. By law, facilities are required to ensure that workers are properly suited in PPE. AI-enabled analytics can detect correct usage of hard hats, goggles, vests and ash resistant gear, and subsequently alert staff to take action in events of non-compliance. Similarly, fall detection can identify an abnormal movement that can result in injury and prompt personnel to respond quickly. Aside from employee safety, smart cameras equipped with AI-enabled analytics can also detect optical leaks, such as methane and gas, without the need to stop operations. By monitor-ing tank levels, operators can prevent overow of water, oil and other liquid tanks – even remotely. This also reduc-es the labor and risk of manual moni-toring and avoids costly operational downtime by ensuring supply and that sensors are functioning normally. Control Access and Manage Facilities Remotely Managing facility access is important to ensure operations are not disrupted and that the premises are secure from any remote location. Smart camera technology can monitor visitors to identify intruders and can pinpoint unauthorized open doors. Certain applications are dedicated to recog-nizing license plates, streamlining the vehicles entering and exiting the site, and ensuring that cars at the facility are authorized to be there. Facility managers can also assess the functionality of their equipment. Us-ing AI-enabled analytics, predictive monitoring can help identify when machinery is not running properly and replace it before it stops working, or detect early signs of failure for tank and water levels. By reducing opera-tional downtime, the facility avoids protability losses caused by unfore-seen closures. Update Existing Surveillance Infrastructure One of the fundamental challenges for operators is upgrading the existing infrastructure to support technologies. In several sites, installing new smart cameras can disrupt operations lead-ing to massive nancial loss. One way to overcome this hurdle is to retrot traditional IP cameras with small gate-way devices that can run AI-apps. The applications from open platforms can then be downloaded onto the gateway device to support several use cases. The good news is that smart cameras and open platforms that offer AI-apps that provide integration opportuni-ties into existing management plat-forms are already in use. The evolving AI-driven ecosystem provides a high degree of exibility in deploying these devices as an alternative to traditional onsite monitoring technologies. As AI technology continues to progress, the digitalization and automation of oil operations will only advance. In his role as strategic program manager, Riwaj Sapkota focuses on business and prod-uct development of Azena’s oil and gas remote moni-toring suite to help multinational upstream companies improve opera-tional reliability and environmental performance with the help of AI video analytics. He has a decade of experience in IoT, connectivity and data science, enabling customers from various industries to capital-ize on the digital transformation. Before joining Azena, Sapkota co-founded dstack.ai, a Germany-based AI start-up. Prior to that, he held various roles in product and business development at technol-ogy companies. Sapkota holds a master’s in electrical engineering and an MBA in Innovation and Busi-ness Creation. He can be reached at riwaj.sapkota@mail.azena.com.

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Oilman Magazine / July-August 2022 / OilmanMagazine.com20SaaS SOLUTIONSPowering the Digital Oil Field with Integrated SaaS Field Data Gathering By Hari DuttLease operators, pumpers, gaugers – these eld staff go by many names depending on what part of the country they work in. When it comes to power-ing the digital oil eld, eld staff are where the road meets the rubber, touch-ing so many vital workows that impact an energy company’s performance. Field operations are where allocated volumes become revenue, wells are tuned to opti-mal production, and troubleshooting of equipment is prioritized on a daily basis to minimize downtime. Field staff also play an important role in HSE, regulatory compliance and ESG. No matter what business process they support, eld staff share a common need to hop in a truck for daily well routes, capture a variety of data types, and share that information with stakeholders in the back ofce. Despite digital oil eld advances that have brought a step change in efciency to drilling and completions, production operations have largely adhered to traditional methods of eld data capture. At best, eld staff might collect and distribute operational data in a spreadsheet and, at worst, hand record eld data on a grease sheet. In either case, the timeline from capturing the information, validating it, and delivering it to the right people can take weeks, time that creates uncertainty around critical business performance drivers, including production targets versus actuals, revenue, expense accrual and regulatory compliance.Reducing Field Data Capture FrictionIn a modern, connected, and data driven world, the energy industry needs a paradigm shift in eld operations data management that connects the eld to the back ofce to drive dozens of mission critical workows, from lease assessments and allocations to production optimization, facilities maintenance, health-safety-environment (HSE) and asset retirement. Solving the problem must start with empowering eld staff with better technology to digitally gather eld data inside tools that allow them to work smarter not harder. Indeed, user acceptance and the friction that cumbersome eld data capture technologies create are two reasons why the eld has been slow in adopting mobile and cloud-based solutions.In order to efciently feedback ofce workows, like production accounting with up-to-date, calibrated, and validated allocations, the energy back ofce needs more than robust eld data gathering that arms eld staff with a user-friendly mobile app. Data silos persist across the digital oil eld with a scattered landscape of disconnected eld operations data, allocation networks, SCADA systems, hydrocarbon accounting and ERP. Driv-Photo courtesy of iStock.com/shotbydave.

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Oilman Magazine / July-August 2022 / OilmanMagazine.com21SaaS SOLUTIONSing oil and gas business performance and advancing operational efciencies requires not just connecting the eld to the back ofce accounting systems, but connecting production volumes and rev-enue to division orders and lease admin-istration for faster, more reliable interest owner payments that require fewer prior period adjustments.To optimize and accelerate production accounting or any of the other work-ows eld staff support, operators need to upgrade their eld data gathering technology as well as deploy solutions that can fully integrate with their back ofce systems through application pro-gramming interfaces (API).W Energy Software, a pioneer in cloud native SaaS solutions, designed a uni-ed, energy-focused ERP platform that encompasses core upstream oil and gas business functions, including well life cycle management, land, nancials and production operations. Its JOYN Production and Field Services solution provides eld staff a fully integrated Field Data Gathering solution that ensures the best use of their time while transmitting vital information back to an organization’s back ofce.Giving Field Staff Back More of Their DayLegacy eld operations solutions force eld staff to haul cumbersome informa-tion technology along their daily routes, such as laptops and company-issued devices that require data to be collated in a spreadsheet and manually uploaded in a Wi-Fi hotspot at designated locations. With JOYN, eld staff bring their own device (BYOD) by easily installing the mobile app on personal smartphones and tablets, providing eld data gather-ing capabilities even in the most remote regions of the Permian Basin. JOYN technology also ensures eld operations’ data accuracy through robust validation of every data point, signicantly reduc-ing data entry errors or “fat ngering” of incorrect data.Importantly, the app stores eld data in a local database on the mobile device, which allows eld staff to continue working in an ofine mode with JOYN providing uninterrupted step-by-step details on active workows, and en-abling data to be captured and validated without a connection to the cloud. Connectivity to W Energy Software’s cloud-based eld operations platform is seamlessly managed by the app as eld operations data is held and released when a cell tower is in range. Lease as-sessments, run tickets, water hauls and other eld events are instantly synchro-nized for cloud-based reporting, dash-boards and analytics. Available for Android and iOS devices, the JOYN mobile OneApp eliminates the “last mile” digital delay associated with traditional eld data capture. It pro-vides intuitive data entry for eld staff as well as real-time trend intelligence on equipment and daily routes.JOYN reduces a typical workday for a lease operator, pumper, gauger or eld tech by up to 25 percent by eliminating data wrangling and manual data entry and completely digitizing critical daily eld operations workows, such as trip planning and data entry. What used to be an eight-hour route becomes a six-hour job, freeing up valuable time for eld staff.JOYN optimizes eld staff scheduling, saving time and creating measurable business benets for eld staff and or-ganizations with less friction compared to legacy eld data capture. A typical well site with 50 lease operators can save over 29,000 operator hours per year equipped with JOYN’s next generation eld data gathering and mobile app. W Energy Software customers who lever-age JOYN eld data gathering, includ-ing supermajors and leading producers in U.S. basins, reallocate these hours to capture more operationally critical data and to other high-value activities. This includes preventative maintenance data like compressor maintenance and plunger inspections.Oil Field Management by ExceptionUnlike legacy eld data capture solu-tions, JOYN also empowers oil and gas teams to manage their assets by excep-tion by automatically scheduling and pri-oritizing eld staff. It delivers a daily site visit plan to any phone, tablet or mobile device based on operational priorities. The Daily Site Plan maps out the eld visit route with site names, alerts and alert types. Equipment readings that fall outside of acceptable levels automatically trigger alerts that bring the right eld staff into the decision loop when needed, such as down wells and high tank levels. Ad-ditional alerts can be easily congured based on SCADA data or other inputs.As a result, JOYN ensures that high-pri-ority sites will receive the attention they Figure 1: JOYN run ticket screen and tank gauge entry attributes and associated calculations with option to linearly interpolate ending oil and water and back calculate tank gauges (users can also use the device’s camera to attach an image of the run ticket). Continued on next page...

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Oilman Magazine / July-August 2022 / OilmanMagazine.com22SaaS SOLUTIONSdeserve. With operational priorities updated and delivered directly to eld staff mobile devices, JOYN eliminates the risk of oversights or missed signals.The Power of Cloud IntegrationsThrough APIs and a battled-tested systems integration process, JOYN can be integrated with any back of-ce information system – commercial and proprietary data sources – in less than one month. For example, JOYN can pull master data and allocation networks directly into the cloud-based eld operations platform as well as push data to systems via API or to back ofce users over the web, accelerating the ow of eld operations data across an organization.Calculations are performed in the cloud, enabling even the most complex alloca-tions to be run in minutes versus hours with an on-premise server, providing greater scalability, reliability and data visibility for all stakeholders. These allocated volumes can then be made readily available to operations teams, en-abling enhanced “pump by exception” outcomes that are delivered back to the lease operator on their mobile device.At a glance, users can visualize produc-tion volumes for any product and the disposition on the allocation network at every node. With a continuous and vali-dated stream of eld data, JOYN cre-ates new opportunities for governance and data consumption. The technology provides self-service access to reliable production data with granular security control over what each user can see. Production analysts can easily edit networks and create new ones as neces-sary, while users with limited needs can be given restricted, read only access.One Solution to a Set of ProblemsWith its JOYN eld operations plat-form, W Energy Software has intro-duced one solution to a set of prob-lems that empowers today’s workforce with the modern technology needed to navigate daily eld data gathering complexity, support multiple business workows, and seamlessly integrate reliable eld data with the energy back ofce. Flexibility sets JOYN apart from legacy eld data capture or narrow eld operations apps. JOYN’s congurable data entry, validation, reporting, inte-gration and workow engine empower customers to adapt the technology to any oil and gas business process.For instance, the actual layout of a site is congurable, allowing eld staff to walk through a battery and congure JOYN to match the order of the assets at the site. Such exibility provides eld staff with more efcient routes while giving organizations greater control to enforce standards and procedural compliance.JOYN’s eld data gathering, and workow engine are also relied on by supermajors and leading oil and gas companies to support EPA green-house gas (GHG) reporting and reduce ESG liability by guiding eld workers through standardized procedures for remediating fugitive gas emissions. The congurable technology bolsters an op-erator’s environmental and compliance reporting such as auditory-visual-olfac-tory (AVO) reports, tank inspections, MIA report, SPCC, WV well inspec-tions reports and many more scenarios.On the front lines of eld data gather-ing that supports vital oil and gas busi-ness processes, eld staff will continue to power the digital oil eld into the future. Field staff are crucial to organi-zational performance, from hitting pro-duction targets and meeting ESG goals. By empowering them with technology and fostering a data-driven culture, oil and gas teams will reap tangible results, uplift margins, and accelerate business performance by bridging the eld and the back ofce.Hari Dutt is the direc-tor of project manage-ment at Seven Lakes Technologies (a W Energy Software com-pany). He has more than 16 years of experience spent across multiple functions, including engineering, operations management, enterprise sales, nancial analysis, account management and product manage-ment. Within the JOYN ecosystem, Dutt focuses on driving value for customers, primarily working on the technology’s strategic product road-map, ensuring that it is appropriately prioritized, and executing overall product strategy. Figure 2: Field staff receive instant alerts on equipment issues on the JOYN mobile OneApp.

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FEATURE24Oilman Magazine / July-August 2022 / OilmanMagazine.comWith the current state of the energy industry, a no-holds-barred strategy of diversica-tion and adaptation is at the forefront of any good business plan. While political regulation and public demand for something better loom, any business serving the energy sector must take stock and devise a course of action that can satisfy the onset of new regulations and respond to the public’s demands.No one knows this bet-ter than Randy Nichols, founder and CEO, of Cinco Land Management Group. His insight is not based on mistakes or lessons learned, but instead on a keen understanding of market demands and respond-ing to the needs of his clients. The challenge that change brings serves as an additional catalyst.“I love the opportunity to adapt with the team I have in place,” says Nichols.The Early Years: From Air to LandNichols possesses an exciting background that led to his start in the energy sector. Along with a degree in zoology earned at the University of Texas, Nichols served in the United States Air Force as a pilot reaching the rank of captain. While residing in California, he began interviewing with various Fortune 500 companies for entry level management positions. He immedi-ately discovered an obstacle in his search to initiate his career.“As an aircraft commander and ofcer in the military, my maturity level was much higher. My inter-views seemed more like I was being rushed for their fraternity than for my future career.” Nichols’ father-in-law was in the oil and gas business and suggested he interview for a position as a landman and introduced him to a few company landmen. After interviewing with 20 oil and gas companies, Nichols accepted a position with Tenneco Oil Company. “I found my interviews with landmen, whether ofcers of the company or middle managers, to be courteous and straight-forward even though I had no experience,” says Nichols. “I have found this to be true to this day.”He would eventually rise to the level of senior landman with Tenneco, a role that provided a solid foundation in land management and operations. Highly mo-tivated and with robust training, Nichols later continued his career with Pend Oreille Oil & Gas for nearly a decade, working on prospects across the U.S. and offshore. He joined local and national land associations to build his network and served as a committee chairperson and ofcer. However, he had bigger plans and a specic goal in mind; self-employment was always the end game.“I had a really good foundation when I started Cinco in April of 1990,” says Nichols. “I knew what I wanted to do, but I did not know how to start or run a successful business. To learn Cinco Energy’s Randy Nichols Builds A Family DynastyBy Nick Vaccaro

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FEATUREOilman Magazine / July-August 2022 / OilmanMagazine.com25the ins and outs of running a business, I sought out friends that were business owners to seek their advice on how to run Cinco.”A Dynasty RisesFocusing on the career path he had already set out upon, Nichols steered Cinco in the direction of providing a robust portfolio of land and asset man-agement services, along with consulting and GIS services for oil and gas proper-ties found onshore in North America. Cinco’s coverage line would evolve and further increase its bundle of services to include representation of domestic E&P companies, private equity rms, and an impressive portfolio of international clients emerging from ve continents. Cinco’s acquisition services span North America with proven results. The com-pany’s assorted land functions support clients from start to nish. This includes planning and establishing a new acreage stronghold while also directing attention to maintaining and increasing opera-tions. The rm’s concentration focuses on both surface and subsurface expertise in mineral prospects, such as coal, sand and lignite, in addition to oil and gas.As a full-service entity, Cinco can manage land and title matters of any magnitude. The company advises legal, nancial and corporate teams tasked with complex transactions and business strategy. Cinco’s focus serves as a supply of intelligence and interpretation in mul-tiple transactions and upstream business ventures. The company’s unique style includes taking a partnering approach to advise its clients the lifecycle of the deal at hand. Cinco operates as a dominating force within all areas of business. Its land management services division ensures accuracy. As a result, the company remains readily available to meet its cli-ents’ needs during the decision-making process. Cinco offers a robust support system that can be fully outsourced as needed, which allows the rm to re-spond to complex land inquiries with expert insight and in a timely manner.Randy at Cinco’s HQ grand opening celebration with guests.Continued on next page...

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26Oilman Magazine / July-August 2022 / OilmanMagazine.comFEATUREL to R: Randy and Sueanne Nichols with Hallie Vanderhider and Bill Stubbs at Cinco Energy Holiday Party.Randy and Sueanne Nichols at AAPL Annual Meeting.“However we do it, I’m all for cleaning up the planet.”

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Oilman Magazine / July-August 2022 / OilmanMagazine.com27FEATURECinco’s attention applied to visualizing property rights comes from its history as one of the pioneers in GIS technology. This provides a more detailed analysis of data which simplies decision mak-ing. The company features both digital and printed maps which can be gener-ated with or without existing data.That Cinco expertise that the industry has come to recognize and rely upon is not limited to just a book of services. It includes the people made available through the Cinco stafng outlet. Its involvement is two-fold with an increase in industry expertise. The company is armed with experts in their eld and can pass that knowledge on to any client or rm that displays a need.“We provide an all-in-house suite of land management services,” says Nich-ols. “Our service lines include mineral and lease acquisition, title due diligence, land management, renewables, GIS and data services, and professional stafng.”Nichols prides himself on recognizing trends and direction. As a result, Cinco entered the renewables industry long before solar made such a decisive im-pact. In 2006, Cinco Renewable Energy Services was established as a division of Cinco Energy Management Group. The company has worked with geothermal projects, wind, battery storage, and is currently involved with the acquisition of CO2 storage sites across the U.S.The division’s renewable business port-folio includes scouting, lease acquisition, permitting and project management. Its reach includes supporting the initial start of a renewable energy project, and has spanned over 30 states on the domestic home front.The Secret WeaponA simple assessment of Cinco’s longev-ity and relevance as a signicant player easily solidies the success of Nichols and his team. Cinco has weathered the difculties in an industry that sparks as much controversy as it does importance. Nichols credits the strategy that has been devised and the professionals he surrounds himself with daily.While strategy and staff are paramount, Nichols has ensured Cinco’s success with the valuable family element. His daughter, L. Camille Nichols, holds an MBA from Rice University and runs the business as president of the company.“You have to have a plan in business,” says Nichols. “Camille is fantastic at strategy, and she is extremely analyti-cal. She brings an accomplished career, which she started elsewhere, to Cinco.”Nichols insists the ability to work in unison with his daughter is a critical factor in a successful outcome. They possess individual talents and feed off each other when strategically approach-ing projects and developing a course for the future.“Camille has great leadership abil-ity,” says Nichols. “Our employees are incredible people, and they work here because of her.”As a business owner and father, the fu-ture of his company and his daughter’s career top his list of primary concerns. Nichols relishes the security that comes with family loyalty. It brings him signi-cant comfort to know his daughter has the company’s best interest close to her heart.Nichols indicates that a good business owner remains concerned about his employees and their families, and there is an added level of concern and respon-sibility that accompanies the benet of family being involved in the business.“You have a heightened sense of re-sponsibility when the family is part of the day-to-day, but I wouldn’t change it,” says Nichols. “My greatest joy is watch-ing Camille work and interact with our employees and clients.”Resiliency is KeyRemaining at the helm of a company for 32 years is a long and successful career by any measure; however, Nichols continues to be motivated and inspired to go to work every day.With no plans to retire immediately, he is looking to the future and concentrating on preparing Cinco for its onset.“COVID-19 changed how business is conducted. I am directing my attention Randy with daughter Camille Nichols at AIPN Conference in London.Continued on next page...

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28Oilman Magazine / July-August 2022 / OilmanMagazine.comFEATUREon helping Camille and the rest of the team through the COVID anomaly. My goal is to get the right people in place to support her strengths.”Nichols spoke of the importance of meeting client needs. He believes the post-COVID workplace will remain quite different from that prior. He thinks this will include limiting staff and, as a result, a potential increase in Cinco’s business lies ahead.“We can offer services to those cus-tomers who choose to outsource instead of bringing people back to the ofce.”Proving that a good plan has no bound-aries, Nichols recognizes that future op-portunities are not exclusive to domes-tic markets. He added that they are not solely in the fossil fuel industry either. The possibilities and opportunities in sustainability and renewable projects have increasingly grown.“We will be managing properties remotely with more and more interna-tional representation here in the United States. These projects lean more to the renewables and sustainability sector.”Nichols is quick to reiterate that Cinco will always have a foothold in the oil and gas industry. His experience in his craft lends him the foresight and knowledge to predict that fossil fuels will remain vital to civilization. Devel-oped countries like the United States can build out infrastructure like charg-ing stations for electric vehicles, but undeveloped countries cannot; they will remain dependent upon fossil fuels.With all forms of energy playing their part in the coexistence of energy sources, Nichols sees multiple platforms of opportunity that Cinco can accom-modate now under his and his daugh-ter’s reign, and at the next level when she steers the proverbial ship solo. Both now and later, Nichols calls for an in-novative and responsible approach to be taken in all facets of energy production.“However we do it, I’m all for cleaning up the planet.”Randy with daughter Camille Nichols at NYSE.Randy with wife Sueanne, daughter Camille, granddaughter and son in law Nick Laettner.Nick Vaccaro is a freelance writer and photographer. In addition to providing technical writing services, he is an HSE consultant in the oil and gas industry with eight years of experience. Vaccaro also contributes to SHALE Oil and Gas Business Magazine, Louisiana Sportsman Magazine, and follows and photographs American Kennel Club eld and herding trials. He has a BA in photojournalism from Loyola University and resides in the New Orleans area. Vaccaro can be reached at 985-966-0957 or navaccaro@outlook.com.

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Oilman Magazine / July-August 2022 / OilmanMagazine.com30ENVIRONMENTEnvironmental Strategies That Work By Matthew Iak Earlier this year, when the current administration instituted a ban on imported Russian oil, a erce debate resurfaced with respect to America’s do-mestic energy policies. As traditional oil and gas players advocate for increasing exploration and production to ensure the peace of mind and benets that come with stronger reliance on domes-tic energy, the U.S. nds itself under renewed pressure to reverse course on long-term plans for renewable energy. This, in turn, is putting added pressure on energy companies to demonstrate both a willingness and meaningful effort toward developing environmental and sustainability strategies that work.Yet does the debate and supporting evidence surrounding these positions really come down to choosing one ex-treme over the other? Evidence suggests the answer may not be a black or white issue, but rather a shade of gray where both sides share common ground. Ener-gy companies largely want to participate in the investment of renewables and environmental/sustainability strategies, as do their investors. But mutually ben-ecial solutions that achieve real results rarely receive as much attention as the more extreme positions. Despite the rancor, it’s our belief that traditional and renewable energy policies that positively impact environmental and sustainability efforts can coexist in a partnership that still advances America’s global geopoliti-cal leverage.What follows are recommendations for initiatives, projects and goals to adopt environmental strategies that will work in concert with a more balanced approach.ESG Beyond Mere Window-DressingAs an oil and gas rm and a legacy E&P player, we’ve set a high bar for achieving goals related to our environmental stew-ardship, social responsibility and corpo-rate governance (ESG) initiatives. For our rm, this isn’t just window dressing but rather a responsibility. Our goal is to invest in valuable projects while simulta-neously prioritizing the reduction of our environmental footprint. A year ago, we earned the coveted ISO 14001:2015 cer-tication for our environmental manage-ment system, becoming among the rst direct energy investment companies to do so. Taking it a step further, we chose to follow the ISO 26000:2010 guide-lines, an international standard of social responsibility guidelines that align with the United Nations’ Sustainable Devel-opment Goals. These guidelines support not only environmental protection, but also provide clean and ethically sourced energy to those in need.Thanks to some successful environ-mental strategies, we can share specic examples and advocacy positions that Photo courtesy of USEDC.

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Oilman Magazine / July-August 2022 / OilmanMagazine.com31ENVIRONMENTdemonstrate the progress of our ESG efforts to date: Reduction of Reactive FlaringA 2020 midstream infrastructure project in the Eagle Ford Shale play involved a $607,000 pipeline project, where we employed a proactive approach to minimize our carbon footprint and inherently benet our stakeholders. Often, the economics of laying pipelines doesn’t justify the value gained from selling the gas, resulting in aring. With the Texas Railroad Commission increas-ing pressure on upstream companies to reduce aring, we saw this project as an opportunity to get ahead of the curve by eliminating it. As of June 1, 2022, we have eliminated all Eagle Ford routine aring, equating to ~4,500 tons of CO2 emissions per year. Our 2022 goals are to investigate and potentially implement emission tracking hardware and respon-sibly sourced gas (RSG) certicates, each in compliance with SASB standards.Cutting Freshwater UsageIn 2020, we incorporated completion technologies, which cut our projected freshwater usage by almost 1,500,000 barrels and removed over 70,000 gal-lons of anticipated diesel fuel usage. This fuel reduction lowered carbon emissions by ~800 tons across two ag-ship projects: Our Sola Vaca Norte A 6-well pad and University Lands 43 20 3-well pad.By achieving a balance between E&P and environmental strategies that work, we believe it’s important to aim high. Our rm has experienced measurable results related to our efforts, but aspires to even greater accomplishments. Currently, we are working through a feasibility study that includes a com-prehensive carbon strategy, the total elimination of aring, and the pos-sibility of participating in high-prole programs such as the EPA’s voluntary Methane Challenge Program. Although we’re not able to produce results of the same magnitude as our global oil energy counterparts in demonstrating an overall impact on environmental sustainability, this hasn’t dampened our enthusiasm for doing our part. We strongly believe that when you want to make a difference, the best place to begin is with yourself.Matthew Iak is the executive vice-president of U.S. Energy Devel-opment Corporation (USEDC) and a mem-ber of the company’s board of direc-tors. Since 2005, Iak has overseen a capital raise of $1.65 billion. He can be reached at miak@usedc.com.

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Oilman Magazine / July-August 2022 / OilmanMagazine.com32AUTOMATIONVolatile Markets, Labor Shortages, ESG – Oh My! Level Up Your Business Automation Game or Die PakEnergy - America’s end-to-end independent, upstream, midstream business automation leader By Brent J. RhymesAs Dorothy said to Toto, “We’re not in Kansas anymore.” Actually, today’s markets don’t look much like Oklahoma – or Texas either. The current adminis-tration is pleading for more production, while at the same time implementing new regulations and barriers to do so. The vibe they’re giving the industry is that we’re important to them today but, in the long run, not so much. Capital is tougher to come by thanks to ESG compliance and reporting. When you can get a project funded, try nding the workers or materials to complete it. (Are they making drilling pipe out of gold these days?)While no one has “the answer” for these challenging times, fully automat-ing your business operations is going to be a big part of succeeding in this new world order. Most likely, you have auto-mated parts of your business today (oil and gas accounting, for example). However, most independent oil and gas companies have not…• Automated business processes be-tween their siloed software that man-ages their land, production, account-ing and oil eld documents.• Automated business processes between their owners, investors and vendors. Do you manually process division order letters today? Do you staff an owner relations’ helpdesk? • Integrated the information between their land, production and accounting systems to provide a complete picture of their business operations.By taking your “automation game” to the next level, you can keep your labor costs low, make faster and more in-formed investment decisions, and deal with the onslaught of ESG and regula-tory compliance monitoring and report-ing. In other words, you can not only survive as an independent oil and gas rm in 2022, but also succeed.Market VolatilityAcquire? Develop? Divest? Market volatility is applying mounting pressure and raising the stakes on oil and gas property decisions. COVID-19, uncer-tainty caused by government policies, and the Russian/Ukrainian war all have caused reluctance among investors now less willing to provide capital. Our federal government’s inuence only confuses the market, demanding a boost in short-term production to relieve ination, while at the same time, long-term production looms on death row to achieve a net-zero carbon emission goal. The current administration’s call for increased production while putting the squeeze on government leases and canceling pipeline projects has only fueled further inconsistency, paralyzing long-term investment decision-making. So how can business automation help? By providing real-time visibility and correlating production and nancial data on producing properties, ensuring their protability by keeping within set performance parameters. Automation also can provide a route to identifying issues early before their effects compound and lead to high costs to rectify. Quicker discovery leads to a faster response time, thereby conserving expenditures. Automation additionally increases protability through a method of early detection.

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Oilman Magazine / July-August 2022 / OilmanMagazine.com33AUTOMATIONLabor ShortagesWhile strangely ironic, increased production has been met with a shortage in labor. Turnover rates have skyrocketed while energy producers attempt to poach employees from rival companies by hiking wages. The labor pool appears to be shrinking while many in the industry have chosen to avoid another up and down cycle and search for a more stable line of work. Economic and market uncertainty has undoubtedly been the catalyst in this thought process. Perception and public opinion have also plagued the talent pool. With a primary focus on renew-able energy and the fossil fuel industry considered a dirty little secret, higher learning institutions are seeing a decline in demand for oil and gas majors as they are deemed politically incorrect.Automation provides a viable solution to the labor shortage concerns. It pro-vides a route of producing more with a smaller-sized workforce, and the ability to encode an oil and gas rm’s tribal knowledge in automated workows and “run books.” This makes dealing with turnover a much more manage-able event.Automation also allows companies to manage a business with a leaner staff. This lessens the number of layoffs dur-ing the busts and the hiring frenzies dur-ing the booms. When recruiting is necessary, tech-savvy oil and gas companies reside at the forefront of interest.Environmental, Social and GovernanceWidely known as ESG, environmen-tal, social and governance serve as a signicant factor of coexistence in the oil and gas industry. While commonly enforced by the government through more regulatory reporting require-ments, banks are also increasingly implementing ESG through capital restrictions. Some banks have even halted lending to oil and gas compa-nies. As a result, rms are turning to equity funding.ESG is here to stay. Bank of America Chairman and CEO Brian Moynihan took no pause in threatening compa-nies to get in line. When asked if he believed the war in Ukraine and CO-VID-19 had set efforts to expand ESG back, he responded, “No. The reality is that operating companies have made commitments along multiple dimen-sions. You can’t just say, ‘Oh, it’s incon-venient right now.’”Moynihan added, “I don’t see there’s a way you can walk away from it because your customers won’t let you. Your em-ployees won’t let you, and your share-holders shouldn’t, won’t let you. And, by the way, society won’t let you.”Oil and gas rms can largely automate the generation of ESG reports, limit-ing the impact of reporting on the productivity of their staff. Responding to ESG’s longevity, automated systems can automatically gather the data re-quired for ESG reporting. For instance, production and aring can be moni-tored to alert and report when these operations venture out of compliance with ESG regulations.Automation’s Current Role in Oil and GasAutomation is not necessarily a new frontier within the oil and gas industry. For the past 30 years, it has contributed to various business branches, most commonly accounting, eld production capture, and internal processes like AFE generation. Current automation, how-ever, is disconnected and nonintegrated.ADVERTISE WITH US!Are you looking to expand your reach in the oil and gas marketplace? Do you have a product or service that would benefit the industry? If so, we would like to speak with you! We have a creative team that can design your ad! Call us (800) 562-2340 Ex. 1 OilmanMagazine.com/advertise Advertising@OilmanMagazine.comContinued on next page...

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Oilman Magazine / July-August 2022 / OilmanMagazine.com34AUTOMATIONOil and gas rms cannot automate processes that span different software systems, such as production manage-ment, accounting and accounts pay-able processing. Firms lack the ability to gather and report on the valuable metrics that are being produced by their siloed business automation systems. Some rms engage in “brute force” by hiring software consultants to tie their systems together and create an in-house data warehouse.Bespoke integrations and warehouses are expensive and quite challenging to maintain. One new release from a vendor can break the entire system. Only the larger rms possess the nancial ability to afford such proj-ects. In the end, however, more of these projects fail rather than succeed. Software vendors should instead serve as the provider of these types of solu-tions.Extracting Successful OutcomesCross-system automation provides the answer to instituting successful results when calling upon modern oil and gas automation. Software systems should be integrated to automate business processes across multiple platforms. This includes land management, production management, oil and gas accounting, and even document man-agement systems. An intuitive reporting and business intelligence component enables versa-tility. Software systems should deposit critical data and metrics into a typical data lake that can then be analyzed using business intelligence software to create real-time reports and dash-boards for your business.This approach can take an oil and gas company struggling to nd its way in wary markets and shore it up against increasingly harsh external factors. As a matter of survival, only those who successfully level up their business automation game will thrive during times of great volatility, turn a prot, and remain relevant leaders in the oil and gas industry well into the future.Brent J. Rhymes is the chief executive ofcer of PakEnergy, where he has served since 2017. Prior to PakEnergy, he was the executive vice president of sales and marketing for Synacor, and before that, he served as the CEO of Zimbra (sold to Synacor), CEO of iWave Software (sold to EMC), was the co-founder and vice president of FileKeeper (sold to Yosemite Technologies), and CEO of Software Realization (sold to NetIQ Corporation). Rhymes started his career as a software developer, consultant and manager with stints at Microsoft, IBM, Exxon and NASA’s Johnson Space Center (IBM contract). He brings more than 31 years of software executive leadership to the team. Rhymes received his BS in computer science from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and his MBA from the University of St. Thomas in Texas. He currently lives in Abilene and owns Rancho de Rhymes, LLC, a small-scale cow/calf cattle ranch located in West Texas.

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Oilman Magazine / July-August 2022 / OilmanMagazine.com36NATIONAL ENERGY TALK Strategic Alignment Provides Corporate Solutions By Mark A. StansberryPhil Rice, CEO, Dallas, Texas, and Ashley Nichols, COO, Oklahoma City, lead Align Energy Solutions. The com-pany provides strategic alignment for corporate solutions and results. Align helps companies attract amazing talent and outstanding clients through holistic alignment at the convergence of talent, client and industry. “Talent: Develop authentic engagement with your team. Client: Create lasting connections with your clients. Industry: Lead your indus-try through ethical resonance.” Align is a multigenerational and multidisci-plinary team of expert guides quali-ed in holistic alignment, committed to seeing a company through this tide change, and into the new era. Energy companies with great products and services are sometimes losing market share and talent ad-vantage because of ongoing changes. My personal expe-rience in the cor-porate world is that many times there are disconnects between management and boards, along with staff. There needs to be a process of discovery to make sure that all of the talent and expertise are aligned properly for best results, so that strategic optimization is achieved 1440 (minutes in the day). Rice and Nichols explain Align’s process on my recent podcast of National Energy Talk. Rice states, “Align is a company that helps companies be good through holistic solutions and we approach that from a talent strategy space, as well as a client strategy space. But [what] we really want to dig into, when we’re talking about problem solv-ing in either of those spaces, whether it’s client or talent based, we want to begin with a holistic understanding of a company. So, we begin with what we call a discovery process, and that process is scaled to the needs of the company. And, again, the core of it is to identify who the company is, what their origin story is, how they started, why they started, their value systems, their desired impact, and how they’re actually bringing impact.”“Then we move from this initial phase of discovery through a presentation of that discovery that we call our align-ment manifesto, which is essentially an overview: This is what we discovered, this is where we feel like what you guys are saying as a company, this is where we feel you are really aligned (both internally and externally). Then, here are some areas of opportunities for alignment. So, when we’re talking about alignment, we’re talking about (inter-nally) your story, your purpose, your values, your impact. Exter-nally, we’re talking about cultural reso-nance around things like sustainability, diversity, inclusion, social good, place making and mental health.” Nichols addresses the needs in the marketplace. “A lot of consulting agen-cies say, ‘Let’s attack one thing. Let’s look at your marketing process. Let’s look at HR or your company culture.’ What happens is we tweak one thing and often can cause an issue in a lot of other areas, if everything isn’t aligned, hence the name.” “So, one of the things we do is really look holistically. The company has an opportunity and they can look at all of the pieces and say, ‘We want to really focus on this one area right now, but we really nd the area of greatest need and start from there. There are plenty of opportunities to stay involved. Some offerings around ongoing support and continuing to serve in that way. But, really, our goal is when we’ve wrapped up the original project, someone in the company is championing that total alignment or marketing project. We like to bring those things to a point where each system or process can continue running really on its own, that it’s scal-able and sustainable going forward.”“With that, in the same way, as Phil started out by saying, the world has changed from ten years ago to now, it’s changed. In ve to ten years, it’s going to continue to change. Part of the alignment process is recognizing that just like an organization is a living, moving thing, so is alignment. You have to be able to be nimble, to be exible, to pivot, as the needs of your clients in the industry change, as well.” To learn more about their services and processes, visit Align’s website: www.alignenergysolutions.com. To hear Phil Rice and Ashley Nichols’ podcast episode on National Energy Talk, go to www.markstansberry.com. Mark A. Stansberry

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Oilman Magazine / July-August 2022 / OilmanMagazine.com38SECURITYEnergy Security Fears and The Hidden Complexities of Drilling Rigs By Mark WatsonAs oil and gas demand surges, idle drill-ing rigs are increasingly being brought back into service. There is no doubt that this has been inuenced by post pan-demic demand, the Ukraine conict, and resulting commitments by world leaders to nd an alternative to Russian imports, but there are – and have long been – other considerations to factor in.Recently, global rig utilization has been on the increase. As of the week of May, 16, 2022, West Africa oil rig utilization stood at around 81 percent, up from 62 percent in May 2021, putting it along-side the Gulf of Mexico’s current rate of 82 percent. Esgian recently reported that in the offshore rig market there has been a 12 percent increase in rig con-tracts signed and a 53 percent increase in backlog added in Q1 2022 compared to Q1 2022. Across the entire Africa region, rig utilization is also growing. According to the latest Baker Hughes International Rig Count data, six new units were intro-duced, as demand picks back up again following the pandemic, and now fear over energy security in Europe adds a new factor.In our recent conversations with oil and gas operators, it is very apparent that a surge in demand for drilling rigs will force the market to look toward drill-ing rigs that have been idle and require a process of reactivation, whether cold stacked or a newbuild that has never left the construction yard.Typically, when a rig is reactivated, the complex equipment that has been idle needs to be “switched on” and tested rigorously to ensure it can still perform individually and as a system before being mobilized. The process of reactivation includes equipment overhaul, and some-times repair and recertication. It is not a quick process considering the many dif-ferent components and sub-components that need to be checked and tested on a rig. The rigs that drill the deepest wells in the deepest oceans can be challenging to reactivate, given the level of automation and electronics installed, compared to a conventional style land or shallow water jack-up rig. A successful rig reactivation process involves detailed planning, multiple project teams working together, and an agile supply chain. As is the case with any reactivation, assessment of the equip-ment state needs to be carried out; not all rig equipment is left in perfect work-ing order from the last time it was used. Rigs can lay idle for months and years; whereas, some equipment is put into preservation. Post-reactivation, unplanned non-pro-ductive time, due to equipment failure, has the potential to create further expense and delay, sometimes into the millions. Thus, getting reactivation right does pay dividends, but it’s not always easy. One of the issues is the loss of knowl-edge in the industry due to the past two market downturns. This isn’t limited only to onshore technical expertise; the avail-ability of suitably experienced and skilled crews to man the rigs is a real issue and will only grow as rig utilization rises. The subsequent challenge is also ensuring crews are familiar with and competent to operate the complex systems installed in a safe and compliant manner. But herein lies another problem: time.There is a building backlog of rig con-tracts due to pent-up demand and now, with the fear over energy security in Eu-rope, it wouldn’t be unthinkable that rig utilization will continue to build – despite that fact that, only a short time ago, the market was scrapping rigs that still had many years left in them.There will no doubt be a need for more rigs to come out of the shipyards and to get back to work as operators look at their well stock and reassess their direc-Photo courtesy of curraheeshutter, Getty Images.

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Oilman Magazine / July-August 2022 / OilmanMagazine.com39SECURITYtion. In the midst of plug and abandon-ment (P&A) campaigns, talk of new well construction is being discussed in the boardrooms; however, the availability of rigs with the right specication will cer-tainly cause a challenge for the market.Scrapping has meant that availability of older offshore units has fallen, and they tended to be the best for P&A campaigns. If you are an operator now and you intend to P&A wells and drill new wells, you may end up with a higher specication rig than you need or con-tract multiple rigs. See the problem?The time it takes to reactivate a rig, nd a crew, and be operationally ready does take some months. Under the pressure and uncertainty of energy security, time could be precious.It is becoming increasingly common for rigs to be taken to multiple new operat-ing locations. An example is our work at ModuSpec, during the reactivation of a rig in Norway to operate in the United Kingdom, and then go to South Africa and then Mauritania.Redeploying rigs across regions can create a compliance headache, if unfa-miliar with the variations in legislation or the specics of a country’s regulatory requirements. While the rig may meet the legislation for one area of operation, it may not necessarily be true for others. There is also the question of whether the crew will be willing to go with the rig to multiple locations or seek alternative work closer to home.These complexities can be foreseen and ironed out. Having an independent party like ModuSpec to provide sound techni-cal advice provides the benet of our many years of technical expertise getting drilling rigs ready for operations. Bearing in mind time and budget pressures, en-gaging us can go a long way to mitigate these “unscripted” challenges, so that they do not lead to costly complications.In the drive toward cleaner energy, many groups are seeing oil and gas in a nega-tive stance. The reality is that the sector has been the lifeblood of the world’s energy for such a long time that turn-ing to alternative sources will not be an instant or smooth process. The volatility of the energy supply, especially with the current conict in Ukraine, creates an additional layer of complexity. By understanding the reactivation chal-lenges at play, and how to safely bring rigs back into operation, it is possible to ensure supply is not further compro-mised in today’s ever-changing landscape. Mark Watson is the operations manager for ModuSpec – Europe and Africa. He has 14+ years’ experience of the upstream oil and gas industry, specically supporting the intake and assurance process of drilling rigs to commence operations safely and within compliance. SUBSCRIBE TODAY!Get the Oil & Gas news and data you need in a magazine you’ll be proud to read. To subscribe, complete a quick form online:OilmanMagazine.com/subscribe Editor@OilmanMagazine.com (800) 562-2340 Ex. 5

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Oilman Magazine / July-August 2022 / OilmanMagazine.com40ENTREPRENEURSHIPPhotos courtesy of The Crude Life.A Red-Hot Welder Becomes A Champion Forged In Fire By Jason SpiessCody Adolphson started living the “crude life” right after high school when he started welding for Westcon at the Marathon Renery in Mandan, North Dakota. “When I was 18, I jumped in a welding truck, and went to work,” Adolphson says. “I started with Westcon, a local company, and traveled around with them for a while. Built the renery in Dickinson, worked up in Watford here and there, and then ended up coming back to the renery.”A second generation welder, Adolph-son has been welding since he was 10 years old and, despite entering into knife making, sees it in his future for the rest of his life. “I’ve done welding for the past 11 years and knife making kinda caught my eye; one day, I’d like to go full time. That’s the goal, but I’ll always do some kind of welding in my shop.”Understanding the foundational op-portunities welding can present for an entrepreneur, Adolphson found himself being drawn to the outdoors for the next chapter in life.“Growing up in North Dakota, I’ve al-ways been around hunting and always carried a knife. I’ve always wanted to get into making knives. I am a welder by trade and have been around metal my whole life.”Dipping a toe into the knife-making waters, Adolphson began taking an order here and there while working full time as a pipe welder. It was this part-time forging that opened his eyes to a whole new world of possibilities in the world of bladesmithing. “I’ve made handles with meteorites and mammoth tusks. These are “for-ever knives” and meant to be handed down for generations.” In January 2020, Adolphson became serious about his passion and began learning how to make knives, daggers and swords.“I got hold of a guy who was a two-time champion on the show and took a class with him in Wisconsin. I just fell in love [with knife making]. I made my rst Damascus knife and I was just hooked.”Adolphson’s abilities caught the eyes of the producers at The History Continued on next page...

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Oilman Magazine / July-August 2022 / OilmanMagazine.com42ENTREPRENEURSHIPChannel, too. He recently had an opportunity to compete on Forged in Fire, a competition set to bladesmithing and blacksmithing weapons from specic time periods and cultures. According to IMDB, Forged in Fire tests some of the best bladesmiths in the industry as they attempt to recreate some of history’s most iconic edged weapons. Former Army Ranger Grady Powell hosts the competition series that sees four master bladesmiths in each episode challenged to forge the swords, which are then tested by a panel of judges consisting of J. Neilson, who has been making knives for more than 20 years, hand-to-hand combat specialist Doug Marcaida, and David Baker, an authority on replicating period-accu-rate weaponry.The contestant who survives the elimination rounds and wins the epi-sode’s contest earns $10,000 and the title of Forged in Fire champion.Adolphson survived, was named the winner and took home the $10,000 prize. “I made a Cinquedea sword. It is an Italian Renaissance era sword that a nobleman carried and it [has] a very wide blade at the base. Cinquedea actually means “ve nger blade” [because] the base of the blade is the width of your ve ngers.”The champion-ship sword took 32 hours to complete over four days. The show also allows the nal-ists to return to their “home forge” to forge the nal entry. “I cannot reveal where we were for the show but, for the nale, they were right here in my shop,” Adolphson says. “In the nal round, the smith goes back to their home forge and makes a weapon from history. Then they bring you back and test it.”Adolphson survived two prelimi-nary rounds of knife forging before winning the nals, demonstrating his wide array of blacksmithing talents, concentration and artistic creativity. “The show obviously helped jump-start my knife-making business,” Adolphson says, “and I look forward to forging a new chapter in life.”Jason Spiess is a multi-award-winning journalist, entrepre-neur and content consultant. Spiess has over 30 years of media experi-ence in broadcasting, journalism, reporting and principal owner-ship in media companies. Spiess has also worked as a guest cor-respondent for a number of local and global news organizations from 660 KEYZ-AM Williston to CNBC to the BBC World. Spiess is a full-time father, cancer survivor, environmentalist, author, North Dakota nomad and graduate of North Dakota State University.

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Oilman Magazine / July-August 2022 / OilmanMagazine.com44EXCERPTAn Introduction To The Pulitzer Prize Nominated Book “Clean” Energy Exploitations By Ronald SteinThe cover for “Clean” Energy Exploitation is very provocative: A soldier with an AK47 machine gun overseeing the mining of minerals in one of the developing countries. Can you give us some background to the selection of that photo?The subtitle of “Clean” Energy Ex-ploitations, Helping Citizens Understand the Environmental and Humanity Abuses that Support “Clean” Energy, says it all and the photo illustrates how many African, Asian and South Ameri-can children with yellow, brown and black skinned people are being enslaved and dying in mines and factories in developing countries to extract and process rare earth and exotic minerals required for solar panels, wind turbines, electric vehi-cles and utility-scale storage systems to work in the healthy and wealthy countries. We call these “blood min-erals,” like blood diamonds.Less-developed countries are mining for these materials in countries with virtually non-existent environmental regulations and non-existent labor laws, so wealthy nations can feel good about decarbonizing and mov-ing to an all-electric society. This lack of oversight inicts humanity atrocities and environmental degra-dation beyond comprehension to the local landscape.Knowing that the exotic minerals and metals that are needed to make EV lithium batteries are coming from those developing countries, individuals need to make a personal decision: Is it ethical to buy an EV and support the environmental degradation and humanity atrocities occurring in those countries that are out of our sight?“Clean” Energy Exploitations talks about the environmental degra-dation and crimes against humanity occurring around the world being the result of wealthy countries pursu-ing the Green New Deal concept. Can you elaborate on the United States’ existence and global emissions?The most important fact about today’s environmental move-ment and the desire to achieve net zero emissions, and the clean energy exploitations this book explores, is that the United States of America, the largest economy in the history of mankind, representing four percent of the world’s population (330 mil-lion versus 7.8 billion) could literally shut down, and cease to exist, and the opposite of what you have been told and believe will take place. Between 1980 and 2012, worldwide use of fossil fuels rose by 80 percent. Much of this was down to the rise of China, India and other countries as emerging industrial powers. These nations continue to account for much of the growth in fossil fuel consump-tion. The 2020 Statistical Review of World Energy notes that China had been responsible for a full three-quarters of the growth of energy consumption in the previous year, followed by India and Indonesia. China is also a leading player in the growing demand for oil and coal.Simply put, in the United States, every person, animal or anything that causes emissions to harmfully rise could vanish off the face of the earth, or even die off, and global emissions will still explode in the coming years and decades ahead over the population and economic growth of China, India and Africa.China, India, Indonesia, Japan and Vietnam plan to build more than 600 coal powered units, and African countries are planning to build more than 1,250 new coal and gas-red power plants by 2030.“Clean” Energy Exploitations helps citizens attain a better understanding that just for the opportunity to gen-erate intermittent electricity that is dependent on favorable breezes and sunshine, the wealthier and healthier countries like Germany, Australia, Britain and America continue to ex-ploit the most vulnerable people and environments of the world today to achieve their green goals.How does China t into the world’s energy equation?With China having total domination of the supply chain of the ex-otic minerals and metals for “clean” electricity, every single EV battery, windmill and solar panel is money for Communist China. In addition, the world is paying no attention to the Continued on next page...

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Oilman Magazine / July-August 2022 / OilmanMagazine.com46environmental degradation and hu-manity atrocities occurring in China during the mining for these “green” exotic minerals and metals.None of the world’s largest environ-mental groups or most prominent environmental leaders have con-demned the humanity atrocities and environmental degradation in China associated with the mining of those exotic minerals and metals [which] support the richer country’s green movements that are discussed in detail in the Pulitzer Prize nominated book “Clean” Energy Exploitations.Several countries boycotted the 2022 Winter Olympics in China due to egregious human rights abuses and atrocities in Xinjiang, but with China controlling the minerals and metals to go “green” that utilize the same egregious human rights abuses and atrocities for the mining of those materials to go “green,” no countries are challenging the ethical nature of the ongoing exploitations.According to Cambridge University Emeritus Professor of Technol-ogy Michael Kelly, replacing all the United Kingdom’s 32 million light duty vehicles with next-generation EVs would require huge quantities of materials to manufacture 32 mil-lion EV batteries, such as lithium, cobalt, copper and neodymium. EV enthusiasts have yet to accept the fact that there may not be enough of the “green” exotic minerals and met-als in the world to build billions of EV batteries.In “Clean” Energy Exploitations: Helping Citizens Understand the Environmental and Humanity Abuses that Support “Clean” Energy, the book highlights how Asians and Africans, many of them children from poorer and less healthy coun-tries, are being enslaved and are dying in mines and factories to obtain the exotic minerals and metals required for the green energy technologies for the construction of EV batteries, solar panels and wind turbines.The book states that the time-frame around 1900 changed everything for the world. Can you elaborate?In the 1800s most people never trav-eled 100-200 miles from where they were born. Life expectancy through-out Europe hovered between 20 and 30 years of age. Food shortages and insecurity were leading concerns in the 18th century, especially in Eu-rope, and these were exacerbated by reduced harvests yields. Disease was another leading cause of death, with rats and eas being the common car-riers of disease, specically plagues, during this era.Just a few hundred years ago, be-fore oil, the world was unspoiled and dominated by Mother Nature and the wild animal kingdom. There were fewer humans competing with the animals due to humanity’s lim-ited ability to survive what Mother Nature provided. Before oil, life was hard and dirty, life longevity was short, and there were many weather and disease related deaths. Before 1850, approximately three-quarters of all products used by hu-man beings came from living plants or animals competing for resources on the earth’s surface.After oil, we created various modes of transportation, a medical industry, and electronics and communications systems. Oil reduced infant mortal-ity, extended longevity from 40 years to more than 80, and gave the public the ability to move anywhere in the world via planes, trains, ships, and vehicles, and virtually eliminated deaths from most diseases and forms of weather.In the richer and wealthier countries, the inventions of the automobile and airplane, and the use of petroleum in the early 1900s led us into the Industrial Revolution and winning World Wars I and II. The healthier and wealthier countries of today now have more than 6,000 products manufactured from petroleum de-rivatives that did not exist a few hun-dred years ago. Those products have resulted in the increase in longevity projections and virtually eliminated weather related fatalities.Today, the world’s transportation sys-tems of more than 50,000 merchant ships and more than 50,000 jets runs almost exclusively on rened oil products and that about half of the world’s food production relies on ammonia fertilizer produced from natural gas.Over the last couple of centuries, the fuels and, most importantly, the products made from oil derivatives have been the cause for the prosper-ity of the population growth from one to eight billion. With no known replacement for crude oil in the foreseeable future, environmental, social and governance (ESG) efforts continue their anti-crude oil agenda to tinker with the supply chain of crude oil via restric-tions on exploration, fracking and oil well setbacks, to focus on electricity generation from breezes and sun-shine, but that effort is an oxymoron, as crude oil is seldom ever used for the generation of electricity. Ronald Stein and co-author Todd Royal tell the story that all Americans should embrace.Excerpted by permission from “Clean” Energy Exploitations, Help-ing Citizens Understand the Environ-mental and Humanity Abuses that Support “Clean” Energy (Archway Publishing; June 4, 2021).Ronald Stein is an ambassador for en-ergy and infrastruc-ture, Pulitzer Prize nominated author, policy advisor for The Heartland Institute on Energy, and founder of PTS Advance. EXCERPT

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SUBSCRIBE TODAY!Get the Oil & Gas news and data you need in a magazine you’ll be proud to read. To subscribe, complete a quick form online:OilmanMagazine.com/subscribe Editor@OilmanMagazine.com (800) 562-2340 Ex. 5

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Oilman Magazine / July-August 2022 / OilmanMagazine.com48TRANSPORTATION & LOGISTICSAll Roads Lead to Energy By Rebecca PontonAdvanced Freight Dynamics has built its reputation on excellence in shipping and logistics from the smallest shipments to the most complex projects, with a constant focus on serving its customers’ cargo transportation needs. The company is capable of managing every aspect of any transportation project, regardless of origin, destination or size of the shipment. Its customers rely on it to be their trucking company, freight broker, freight consultant, and soon to be crane and rigging company. Husband and wife team, Steven and Alana Lyons, talk to ENERGIES Magazine about the niche market their company serves on the transportation and logistics side of the energy industry.Rebecca Ponton: Advanced Freight Dynamics specializes in over-dimen-sional freight. Obviously, you saw a need and decided to fulfill it, but what led you to focus on this specialty?Alana Lyons: Our customers led us to this specialty. When we began this busi-ness, we started off offering atbed and step deck services. Our customers ap-preciated and were extremely grateful for nally nding a trucking company that was honest, focused on customer service, dependable, reliable and always outgoing. With these characteristics, our customers requested that we take on more of their projects, which included their heavy haul and oversize shipments. As we began to broaden our horizons, this led to opening doors purely by word of mouth. When customers hear about what we have to offer and the kind of jobs we do, they are receptive to giving us a shot. They quickly realize how the right people have been brought into their life at the right time. Steven Lyons: When we started this company, everything to do with trucking was a challenge –nding the right cus-tomers, drivers, equipment and employ-ees. As time went on, it became easier to gain customers with our reputation of excellent service, and we quickly moved into specialty freight. Once we made our footprint in that market, the chal-lenges started again and we had to adapt quickly to a new market. The challenges of each and every move became greater with the size of the load at the time of movement. We came to realize that we enjoy the challenges that are put in front of us in this market to the point that we buy bigger and bigger trailers every year to endure greater challenges. Strength doesn’t come from what we can do; it comes from overcoming the things we once thought we couldn’t do. From legal atbed loads to 19 axle 240,000 lb. loads, we feel like the sky is the limit with our growth potential. RP: What kind of trucks/vehicles do you use to transport these over-dimensional loads? Have you ever had to custom make a vehicle to transport something?AL: With this abundance of work, we quickly realized we needed to restruc-ture our equipment. The question arose, “How can we haul our customers’ oversize and overweight freight most efciently?” The answer was to create certain congurations with our trucks and trailers, which often led us to custom ordering the majority of our equipment. Now, we have a wide range of multi-axle trucks and trailers. Our largest trailer is a 15-axle trailer and we can turn it into a 20-axle conguration with the truck. With all of these different set ups, we can haul an individual oil tool all the way up to a massive wind component that weights up to 280,000 pounds.SL: When we rst moved into specialty oversized freight, I quickly saw an op-portunity to save our best customer a ton of money on shipping while increasing my prot margin at the same time. We were hauling loads 16’ wide to Oklahoma six to 10 times a week round-trip, which means we were moving two units per truck with a weight of 34,000 lbs. I sat down with our customer and explained how I could haul three units per truck for a huge cost savings for our customer, if he would agree to split the savings by increasing our line haul revenue. I went out and purchased the lightest trucks and trailers to now move two loads of freight, Advanced Freight Dynamics owner Steven Lyons and operations manager Alana Lyons standing by the Faymonville Highway Max 3. Photos courtesy of Tara Flannery Photography, LLC – www.taraannery.com.

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Oilman Magazine / July-August 2022 / OilmanMagazine.com49TRANSPORTATION & LOGISTICSwhich used to take three loads to move, and gained a loyal customer for over 12 years now, as we consistently nd ways to lower his costs of shipping. Now, with heavy haul we have had to adapt and purchase heavier duty trucks and add auxiliary transmissions to them, and purchase the state-of-the-art steerable trailers to be able to haul almost anything put in front of us. RP: What is the most interesting or unusual thing you have transported?AL: We haul very specialized and unique pieces. In my opinion, pressure vessels are fascinating. Watching how the trucks and trailers maneuver with the pressure vessel loaded always puts me in awe of each and every individual in our organization who makes this job happen, from the team on the ground while in transit, all the way to the back-ofce personnel who spent weeks to months preparing for this haul. I greatly appreciate and respect every single one of our employees and contractors. The largest pressure vessel we hauled weighed 240,000 pounds. SL: There are quite a few loads we have transported I feel should be in this category. We hauled a ight simulator for NASA, which wasn’t heavy, but it was tall and wide. I spent over a week running routes that NASA would approve for the transport of their load. We went out and bought a mini deck trailer just to haul this load because of the height – and all of the trees we had to avoid. Then we had our rst load on our 19-axle steer-able trailer that weighed 240,000 lbs. with a gross weight of 370,000 lbs. With the careful planning of our team, this rst super load went perfectly and gained our customers’ condence moving forward in this market. RP: Do you have an example of a situ-ation where someone had over-dimen-sional freight and no way to transport it until you stepped in and provided a solution? Are you able to do things other freight/transport companies can’t?AL: Things that we offer over other companies include always being brutally honest with everyone. When we work on initial strategies for upcoming projects, we work with our customers on potential hazards that may arise with the current engineered design during transport. Cus-tomers often appreciate our consulting service, as it is less expensive for them to address these situations prior to manu-facturing. We have been able to save our customers hundreds of thousands of dollars by offering this service to them. A situation where one of our custom-ers didn’t use our pre-manufacturing consulting service is when they manu-factured several vessel pieces for an ethylene plant up in the Northeast. Even though the pieces were fabricated about 200 miles from the plant, the most efcient route the state would allow the trucks to take had a narrow bridge. Engineering didn’t consider the transportation side of the project when they created the plans. Once our team was given the job, we carefully strat-egized and came up with an idea to cre-ate saddles to shift the vessel sections in order to clear the bridge structures. By creating this, we were able to move all “We can haul an individual oil tool all the way up to a massive wind component that weights up to 280,000 pounds.”Continued on next page...Control module being hauled on the Faymonville Highway Max after loading off a ship.

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Oilman Magazine / July-August 2022 / OilmanMagazine.com50TRANSPORTATION & LOGISTICSthe vessel pieces safely to the nal des-tination while saving our customer over $500,000 in transportation cost.Also, we are one of the select few com-panies in the United States that has spe-cialized trailers, such as the Faymonville Highway Max 3, that can haul certain extremely heavy wind turbine sections. With our Faymonville trailers, we can haul loads more efciently and deliver faster than other operable trailers pulled by the other trucking companies. When wind project coordinators have certain time constraints, they are often eager to have our equipment on the job as our turnaround time is incredibly efcient for them. SL: As Alana stated above, the big-gest job that we had to step in with was because nobody wanted to move the freight for what our customer had in the budget. We quickly stepped in for the de-sign processes, explaining the widths and heights we needed to stay under to avoid police escorts and longer routing due to the bridge restrictions in route. Our customer had over 200 loads to ship on this route. We saved them over $2500 per load with our transportation plan, which helped them stay under their budgeted freight costs for this project. RP: Even though ENERGIES Magazine focuses on renewables, what type of work do you do with oil and gas companies?AL: We serve the onshore and offshore oil and gas industries by hauling the smallest oil tools, blowout preventers, pressure vessels, dryers and skids, all the way to the control buildings. We also offer Emergency Services 24 hours a day for all and any situations.SL: We work with all the major oil companies shipping various oil eld and gas line products. We serve up-stream, midstream and downstream customers for all of their needs. RP: Talk about how Advanced Freight Dynamics is getting into transportation for the wind industry.AL: Over the past few years, we have made a huge push into the wind industry. We primarily focus on hauling the tower sections, nacelles, generators and hubs. We are able to load at any port or rail yard and transport to the specied laydown yard or all the way to the installation site. We are prepared for the new sections that are heavier and larger than the pieces that were fabricated years prior. Also, we are in the process of having our wind team be Wind Industry Transportation Professional Advanced Certication (WITPAC) certied through the Evergreen Safety Council. SL: The trailers we purchase are so versatile that we decided when we have downtime [in other industries], these trailers are perfect to haul for the wind industry. We can transport every com-ponent in the wind industry except the Above: Aerial view of a truck hauling a 24’ wide meter skid on the Faymonville Highway Max trailer. Right: Control module being hauled on the Faymonville Highway Max. This was a live ofoad off of a ship, so it had to stage close by the ship and wait to be ofoaded. Using the Highway Max with the ability to stretch out to 90’ to support this load and be able to make the turns into site was a must.

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Oilman Magazine / July-August 2022 / OilmanMagazine.com51TRANSPORTATION & LOGISTICSblades. We have specially built saddles for our Faymonvilles to haul tower sec-tions or take those off and haul Na-celles, drivetrains or Hubs. RP: Do you do any work with the solar industry (transporting panels or other components)?AL: We haven’t done much work with the solar industry, but we are always ready for new opportunities. RP: What insights can you offer regarding the current supply chain shortage, and also how has the ongoing lack of drivers affected the transportation industry?AL: Regarding the current supply chain issues, where do I begin? Ad-vanced Freight Dynamics is proud to be based in Conroe, Texas. Our State, county and city ofcials have all worked tremendously to get everyone back to work as quickly as possible, and we are all so blessed and thankful for all of them. The past two years have denitely been rough on the entire industry. During the beginning of the 2020 COVID situation, we shut down briey, but our great state allowed us all to get back to work very quickly, which enabled us to keep all of our employees and to continue to grow as a company. Unfortunately, other areas of the country were not this fortunate. CO-VID and politics created huge ripples in all aspects of transportation. Wind projects have been delayed due to overseas manufacturing delays, ship and port delays, and political red tape. The oil and gas industry is picking back up steadily, but then it all goes back to the fact that manufactures can’t produce what is needed, as they may have let employees go during COVID, and now they cannot nd replacements for the open spots. For instance, one of our customers has ve production lines and is only able to use three, as they don’t have the workforce to use all ve lines, even though they have the workload to operate all ve lines 24 hours a day. Within our organization, along with the COVID situation, we have other chal-lenges the trucking industry is faced with. Advanced Freight Dynamics can only hire very experienced and qualied people, which has been challenging as the older truck drivers are retiring, and the younger generations are not in-trigued to learn and follow in the steps of their elder heavy haulers. Continued on next page...

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Oilman Magazine / July-August 2022 / OilmanMagazine.com52TRANSPORTATION & LOGISTICSAnother issue regarding the supply chain that the general public doesn’t un-derstand is the cost of shipping is going up due to many environmental factors. Also, due to the labor shortages at the ports and other facilities, the trucks are not able to load and unload as fast as they used to, which creates downtime charges. The cost of the trucking itself, including the trucks, trailers, every replacement part on a truck, all the way down to the tires, have increased in price to a point that is absolutely unfathomable. Our insurance costs are constantly increasing every year, even for companies such as ours with a great safety rating. Then, due to the current labor situation, drivers are making more money now. All of these growing costs lead to increased transportation costs, which lead back to the customer and all the way down to the general public.SL: The supply chain shortages are making all trucking companies deal with unprecedented issues from the cost of tires to the cost of trucks going up at a rapid pace. We have seen three tire increases in the last four months. Right now, we can’t even get some of the tires we use. It’s hard to lock in any rates with customers as our operat-ing costs as trucking companies go up within a month’s time in today’s world. We used to guarantee our rates up to 90 days, whereas we now tell customers our rates are good for 15 days. The driver shortage is, I believe, the biggest obstacle all trucking compa-nies will be dealing with from this day forward. Because we deal with specialty freight, there is only one percent of all drivers that can pull the trailers we have, which makes nding new drivers as hard as nding a needle in a haystack. We have hired ve drivers this year and not one of them showed back up for work. That’s when we realized they are now taking the hired papers to unem-ployment to extend the benets they receive for not working. We have built our company around a family structure where we all work together to get the job done to the best of our abilities. We get calls from our customers praising how well our guys work together and it brings a smile to our face knowing what our company has accomplished. Now, when we hire new drivers, we actually are looking to see if they can t in with our company as a family; otherwise, they will never make it working for our company. When a customer calls to inquire about using our company for their shipping needs, they can rest assured that the job will be completed as professionally as possible and on time. Our customers know all of our drivers and have their phone numbers on hand, if they ever have any questions that need a quick response out in the eld. It is a huge plus seeing the same faces hauling for our customers, as we don’t have a big turnover rate with drivers. If anyone needs an honest, family-oriented com-pany to help with their logistical needs, Advanced Freight Dynamics is that company. Truck with a six-axle trailer hauling a main air blower turbine for a renery. The blower was brought to Houston from OH to be repaired and then return to OH. The facility was so tight with the turns the Faymonville Multimax steerable trailer had to be used to steer the trailer around all the obstacles inside the plant to avoid damages. Truck hauling a 24’ wide meter skid on the Faymonville Highway Max trailer so this load could be steered out of the facility as the doors were only 26’ wide, not leaving much room for error. The trailer had to be raised multiple times enroute to clear bridges to prevent any damages. It was challenging to steer the trailer through tight areas to the unloading point at the delivery site.GSA Public Buildings Service         GSA Public Buildings Service    

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GSA Public Buildings Service         GSA Public Buildings Service    GSA Public Buildings Service    

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SCHOOL OF UNMANNED TECHNOLOGYSONORAN DESERT INSTITUTESonoran Desert Institute.eduSDI is licensed by the Arizona State Board for Private Postsecondary Education. The Professional Remote Pilot in Command corporate training program is outside of the scope of SDI’s institutional accreditation.Jody Spiveyjody.spivey@sdi.edu or by phone at 706-870-2146DRONE EDUCATION IN THE OIL AND GAS INDUSTRYSonoran Desert Institute’s Certificate in Unmanned Technology - Aerial Systems puts you on the path to an exciting career in operational and technical specialization within the unmanned aircraft systems industry. Take the first step by contacting SDI today.Student enrollment is open now at www.sdi.edu/cutas.Upskill and train for the future with the Professional Remote Pilot In Command program from SDI. This comprehensive hybrid training program is designed to prepare learners to safely and legally operate small unmanned aircraft systems (sUAS) for commercial and public uses.Contact us for a custom pilot training program for your business.FOR STUDENTS FOR BUSINESS480-999-4767 | WWW.SDI.EDU | 1555 W. University Dr., Ste 103 Tempe, AZ 85281www.sdi.edu480-999-4767 1555 W. University Dr., Ste 103 Tempe, AZ 85281