PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE Standing Strong in the In-Between Times One of iconic comedian Jerry Seinfeld’s best-known jokes — aside from some variation of What’s the deal with airline peanuts? — is probably, “In a recent survey, people said their greatest fear is public speaking. Number two is death. Death is number two?! That means at a funeral, statistically, more people would rather be in the casket than giving the eulogy.” I thought about this a lot at our recently wrapped Annual Meeting for two reasons. The first is obvious as a parade of experts, elected officials and industry representatives all stood in front of a packed house and shared their unique insights. The second reason is less obvious but no less pertinent. In his book “SeinLanguage,” he writes that the best times in life are those “in-between times.” To illustrate this point, he writes, “It’s the feeling you have when you get offered a job, but before you actually have to do any of the work.” That’s an underrated feeling for sure, but the in-between times are also a period of uncertainty. Or, put another way, an inflection point where our trajectory will undeniably change, but we don’t know exactly how. The reason I thought about this is because I cannot escape the feeling that our industry, our state and our country are in an in-between time. How could it not be? Let’s tackle these one at a time. The Uinta Basin is an oil and gas play that gains more and more notoriety, curiosity and interest across the industry and across the world the more people learn about it. We absolutely have abundant resources ready to be tapped, yet there are plenty of growing pains in terms of infrastructure and scale still to overcome. Utah’s governor is generally supportive of our industry, and he’s set an ambitious goal of increasing the development of ALL of Utah’s natural resources through an initiative called “Operation Gigawatt.” He wants to see a doubling of energy production in the next 10 years, expansion in our transmission infrastructure and development of geothermal and nuclear energy. These are generational ambitions, and what we know for sure is that the realistic way to achieve a doubling of power production in a decade is through natural gas. While the ambition is clear, the roadmap of HOW we get there remains very unclear. The uncertainty of change is perhaps most notable and felt most profoundly at this moment at the federal level. A year ago, we lamented the Biden Administration’s open hostility to our industry, where actions spoke even louder than words as lease sales on federal lands were canceled (or just plain never held), pipeline projects were canceled, offshore areas were deemed totally off-limits, and consumer choice on things like stoves and cars were usurped from the consumers and instead decreed from the top. We now have a president who champions our industry vociferously and repeatedly virtually every single chance he gets. He espouses a platform of “energy dominance,” and with Chris Wright leading the Department of Energy, who you will recall was our keynote speaker at our Annual Meeting last year, we can expect to see American energy fully unleashed for the benefit of not just all Americans but the world. While this shift in tone is certainly welcome and a bit disorienting after the previous four years, challenges remain in enacting this agenda of energy dominance. Oil and natural gas are commodities traded on a global market, meaning that elements of our destiny are not entirely in our hands, no matter how enthusiastically our president cheerleads for us. There are persistent capacity issues in the refining space, a need for permitting reform and the complicating factor of tariffs. How the industry accommodates and addresses these issues and supply and demand dynamics will be interesting, to say the least. We all share the excitement of the prospect of American energy dominance, but we shouldn’t underestimate the very real challenges that still exist. What I remain steadfast in, and something that never experiences an in-between time for me, is the grit, resolve and creativity of our members. We are, and always have been, an industry of problem-solvers. Despite the recalcitrance of the Biden Administration, America’s oil and natural gas industry achieved record-breaking production. Wherever we go from here — in terms of the industry, our state and our country — I know our members will adapt, evolve and thrive. No one knows how long an in-between time will last. I certainly don’t. This issue is a snapshot of where we are right now. You’ll see award winners, insights and photos from the Annual Meeting; profiles of our members and companies; and a lot more. I’m proud to represent you, and no matter what lies ahead, that is something that will not change. Enjoy the issue. By Rikki Hrenko-Browning President, UPA 6 UPDATE
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