The Young and the Restless: Old Hands vs New Blood
If you get enough landmen together for enough time, the conversation will eventually turn to criticism of whatever group isn’t represented. Whether it’s all the new landmen who who don’t dress the party, wear headphones and don’t know ‘nuthin — or the old luddite landmen who never do anything but tell stories about better times. Of course I have an opinion on the matter, just like everyone else, and if you haven’t had the ‘good fortune’ to be a part of one of these conversations then you don’t get out enough. We could make a mile long list of transgressions that ...
Into the Deep: Who is Chesapeake without Aubrey McClendon?
The announcement of Chesapeake Energy (CHK) CEO Aubrey McClendon’s impending retirement has stirred quite a bit of discussion over the past several days. Some lament that CHK will never again be the same. Others cheer that CHK will never be the same. One thing is certain, Chesapeake will never be the same. The Land Machine Chesapeake’s “land machine” is well-known for entering a new play and causing lease bonuses to skyrocket. Competitors hate the tactic, and that’s probably the reason McClendon employed it. If you can flood an area with land agents and raise lease bonuses to price out your ...
Dear Resume: You’re Not Fooling Anybody
I wanted to spend some time today talking about an particular irritation that a (un-named) buddy shared with me. After he mentioned it I realized that I also see it all the time, and those that do it probably think that it is helping them out. I think they do it because they realize the number of years of experience they have is so important in the business of being a landman. At first I thought that it was a very simple thing, and maybe not worthy of a blog post all its own, but on some reflection I think ...
Have You Gone to Work at 2 AM?
If you are currently working in Tyler County, West Virginia you might be heading to work at 2 AM. My friend Angela Perkins recently mentioned on LinkedIn the troubles with space in the records room in the county: A nightmare in Tyler County WV! So far, we have been threatened by those who are “standing in” for others, and then leave 10-15 minutes, exchanging places with those who were home sleeping, or staying in close buildings, sleeping on cots before the court house opens. The bulk of us, drive 1-2 hours to work, only to find that at 2 am, ...
Chesapeake CEO Aubrey McClendon Steps Down
Chesapeake Energy Corporation announced today that CEO, President, and Co-Founder Aubrey McClendon would be retiring effective April 1, 2013. This is amid previous allegations of impropriety that have been under investigation by the board of directors. The allegations involved the fact that McClendon received personal loans from business partners totaling hundred of millions of dollars. The press release stated that the final report of the allegations would be released mid-February, but that they had (to date) found no improper conduct. It’s interesting that they used the words “to date”. Rest assured, I’ll be following up after the report is released. ...
Don’t Sell Your Clients Work!
So there has been some trouble brewing after a company bought a booth at Summer NAPE and advertised that they were brokering the sale of title information in certain shale plays. As you might imagine, that ruffled a few feathers. So some questions started getting thrown around to different operators and attorneys: In what world does a field landman own the title data he compiles on behalf of his client? The answer: In lala-land! So one might wonder how this ‘title broker’ felt he could get around the legal entanglement of selling other companies data without compensating them. He simply ...
