#023: Niobrara Shale News with Wayne Shuffield

The Oil & Gas Digital Marketing Podcast

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I share the real reason we’re only on episode 23. It gets pretty personal, and — hopefully — powerful.

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Niobrara Shale News with Wayne Shuffield Interview Transcript

James Hahn II: Joining the Tribe on the podcast today is Wayne Sheffield. He is the Vice President of Corporate Development for Earth Energy Reserves, Inc.

Over the past 30 years he’s been a successful motivational speaker entrepreneur, administrator, professor and investor. As an entrepreneur, he has been involved as founder and officer in three previous companies. He has taught as an adjunct professor for four universities and has worked with a range of clients, everywhere from small mom-and-pop businesses to Fortune 500 companies.

His earlier experience as a teen roustaboout, because I was just listening to some hockey talk, roustaboout, for Bill Caesen Oilwell Services Inc., and later as a pumper and employee for D&J Pumper and Well Services. It’s brought him full circle with the petroleum industry. Mr. Sheffield, thank you very much for joining us on the podcast today.

Wayne Shuffield: Thank you, it’s very nice to join you.

James Hahn II: We were talking before we got on about some of the things that y’all are up to in Colorado. I don’t believe that we’ve had a chance to dig into Colorado’s oil and gas scene just yet. So what’s going on up there in Colorado?

Wayne Shuffield: Well, it’s an exciting area of growth in the oil and gas industry. The ability of technology to get into shale opened up the the DJ basin in a bigger way than it has in the past.

The Niobrara Shale bed is about 6,000 feet under the surface. It stretches all the way up in the Northeastern part of the Colorado, and even on into Wyoming, Kansas, all through the area. There’s about four or five different pay zones in the DJ basin. We kind of planned it out and pitched our tent. We put down some roots in getting Earth Energy up in the DJ Basin.

James Hahn II: How long have y’all been around?

Wayne Shuffield: Well, the company itself started back in ’08 as a natural gas company with some work out in Northern Louisiana. Mostly unconventional drilling with methane. In the process we were dropping so fast that we couldn’t make a living, so we decided let’s look into some oil avenues.

The DJ basin seemed to be to place most likely for us as our headquarters at that time was in the Colorado area. We are now moved up to Estes Park, Colorado as our headquarters. We moved into the DJ basin in about 2010-2011 when we started doing our due diligence and taking up some leases throughout that area. We’ve really started plowing in about the last 18 months or so.

James Hahn II: You mentioned falling prices, and we now have a falling price environment around oil. Being a smaller independent, are you more able to be nimble and shield yourself against risk that way?

Wayne Shuffield: Well, yes. With the falling oil prices, obviously that impacts the entire industry. We don’t have any debt and have been picking up some leases. We have depth rights in all the different zones for the leases that we have. So the falling oil prices aren’t really hurting us as much as they might some other smaller independent companies that are there. Particularly because we’re building up our reserves, as a reserve company.

As little capital as we need to have production to keep the company running and to build up our PUDs around proven and probables, around all of those wells, then we’re still in good shape. In fact, it’s helping us a little bit. With the drilling prices, lease prices, and well servicing prices coming down a little bit for us.

James Hahn II: Are people a little more surprised when you knock on the door and you’re ready to give them a good lease given the environment? How much has it changed with your day-to-day interaction with mineral owners?

Wayne Shuffield: Well, it’s changed a little bit.

(remaining transcript forthcoming…in the meantime, click play!)

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