Sam Cook, Author at OILMAN Magazine

2018 July-August Features

Creating a Fullstream Company: How BHGE Offers Value for E&P

For the past year, the energy world has eagerly followed a historic event in the oil and gas industry involving the first coalescence of all three oil and gas sectors (upstream, midstream and downstream) under one services industry roof. On July 3, 2017, GE Oil and Gas combined with Baker Hughes, a GE company, to create a new entity: BHGE.… Read More

2018 May-June Features

As Federal Oil Regulation Gets Tricky, State-Level Regulators Still Work Best

There’s often a misconception that regulation is a purely federal affair. However, the heart of regulation is local. State governments, not the federal government, have significant and primary oversight over the oil and gas operations that occur within each state. There are a few exceptions, of course. There are cases where the federal regulators do attempt to enforce regulatory control… Read More

2018 March-April Features Technology Upstream

Subsea Technology

Artificial Intelligence and Robotics Pushing Boundaries in Offshore O&G To say times were different when the first Gulf oil well went into service is a bit of an understatement. The year was 1938, and the Superior-Pure State No. 1 well was the first of its kind—if not extremely risky. One mile offshore, the Creole, Louisiana well used very little metal… Read More

2018 January-February Features

2018 Oil & Gas Market Outlook

Few industries are as accustomed to change as oil and gas. From the rapid emergence of new technologies to dramatic ups and downs in the market, the fluid nature of the industry always offers up good discussion material as the year comes to a close. Each year is also tug of war between both good and bad that develops for… Read More

2017 November-December Features

For O&G, Environmental Concerns Are Market Concerns

From March 14, 1910, to September 10, 1911, millions of gallons of oil gushed out of a pressurized well in Kern-County, California. Known as the “Lakeview Gusher,” over the course of 18 months approximately 9 million gallons of oil poured out of the Midway-Sunset Oil Field in what is still the largest oil spill in U.S. history. Over the next… Read More

2017 September-October Features

Technology and Politics Mix in the Downstream

There’s a popular phrase in American public affairs: “All politics is local.” Although the quip is more closely aligned to former U.S. House Speaker Tip O’Neill, its origins are far more unclear than a simple history textbook reference. Applied more liberally, it’s an idiom that can hold true for any industry heavily immersed in both technological advances and political jockeying,… Read More

2017 July-August Features

Shale Plays Rejuvenating Yet Discordant Tune for American Oil and Gas

The oil industry has always had a stunning fascination with numbers. To the casual observer, it may at times seem that the oil and gas industry’s love of numbers supersedes all else. When most newsworthy topics about the industry find their way to print, there’s invariably a number somewhere leading the story, inexorably answering the key questions: “how much?” or… Read More

2017-May-June Features

Amid FERC Commissioner Shakeup

Oil and Gas Companies Seek to Give Regulatory Body More Control Over Timeline Enforcement On March 14, 2017, Dominion Energy President Diane Leopold went before the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Resources to deliver a message on several energy projects, including the highly-politicized Atlantic Coast Pipeline, or ACP. Leopold’s statements highlighted the noticeably lengthy process that oil and gas… Read More