Episode #20 - THE CRUDE TRUTH with - Jason Modglin

“Texas is primed for a record-breaking 2023 in the Oil and Gas Industry.” That is what Jason Modglin says and many other experts agree.

Jason is the President of the Texas Alliance of Energy Producers and they are helping bring all the good of the oil and gas industry to the public.

In this episode, we talk about Oil and Gas Policy, Economics, and Communications. Thank you Jason for stopping by THE CRUDE TURTH studio.

THE CRUDE TRUTH Ep 20 – Jason Modglin

Rey Trevino [00:00:00] In the great state of Texas. There’s no doubt that there’s an alliance of energy producers, and we fight strong every day to continue to produce oil and gas in the great state here. I’ll talk about that much more on this episode of The Crude Truth.

Rey Trevino [00:01:14] Well. Good afternoon. Good morning. Good evening. Whatever it is that you’re watching or listening to this awesome show, The Crude Truth. Welcome back to another great episode today. Once again, you know, I’ll probably say this all the time.

Rey Trevino [00:01:27] I am excited. I am overjoyed to have the guests that I have on today. Today is a guy that has been paving the way in the oil and gas industry fighting for us for over a decade. My guest today is the president of the Texas Alliance of Energy Producers, Jason Martin. Jason, how are you?

Jason Modglin [00:01:46] I’m good. Thank you very much for having me on and invited me up to Fort Worth.

Rey Trevino [00:01:50] Oh, well, hey, thank you for coming. I know you’ve been partying down there in Austin for the last weekend, so thank you so much for coming up and spreading the good word about the Texas alliance.

Jason Modglin [00:01:59] It’s always nice to have the Texas capital in your rearview mirror. I headed out of there. And so this was a good opportunity to get off here and talk about some of the things that are coming in the session and what we see at the alliance.

Rey Trevino [00:02:14] Well, you know, and that’s why I wanted to bring you on an invite. John was really kind of talk about the alliance and more importantly, also talk about you and all the great things that you’re up to, but also talk about the state session. So first and foremost. Did I say your last name? Right?

Jason Modglin [00:02:28] It’s Modglin. .

Rey Trevino [00:02:30] Modglin?

Jason Modglin [00:02:31] Yes Sir. Yeah

Rey Trevino [00:02:31] And so it’s basically like it’s it’s it’s. You sound out.

Jason Modglin [00:02:35] Yes. Yes. There’s not too many of us. And we all kind of pronounce it the same way, so. But I don’t know the origin or some of those interesting things, family origin. But it’s a it’s a unique name, so it kind of stands out.

Rey Trevino [00:02:52] Well, okay. Well, no, it is very unique and there’s nothing wrong with that. And I like having unique names myself. I think, you know, mine is pretty unique, but I just want to add one thing. But that’s my rule is I always like to get people’s names right. So. So it’s not my Modglin. It and so I don’t know if there’s anybody else out there that that’s like that but so that’s how you say Jason’s last name Modglin And ah.

Rey Trevino [00:03:14] But Jason, one thing that I don’t know how many people may not know about you is you’ve been fighting the good fight there in Austin for almost the last 20 years, not only in the energy, but really in the oil and gas sector since day one of your career. So I want to kind of talk about that in your background a little bit.

Jason Modglin [00:03:36] Well, your ways you kind my my journey to oil and gas really started in 2015 when my boss at the time, a state representative out of the San Angelo area, became the House Energy Resources chairman quite suddenly.

Jason Modglin [00:03:54] We didn’t expect that to be the case. He had been working on budget issues and so I was very familiar with the Railroad Commission at the time, but really that was the extent of my experience. But then in 2015, one of the issues was then and and kind of city regulation of oil and gas production and so was thrust into trying to figure out how is this where we want to go?

Jason Modglin [00:04:22] Do we want to cede regulation from the Railroad Commission and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to thousands of cities spread across Texas? And the answer was emphatically no.

Jason Modglin [00:04:34] And so the legislature had to step up and and craft a policy that was not overbearing or burdensome to cities and orderly development, but but actually protected private property rights, protected those mineral rights, and make sure that we can continue to produce oil and gas in suburban and urban settings.

Rey Trevino [00:04:56] Right. If I remember correctly, I actually of that’s where I graduated from with North Texas way back in 2008 and a TCU fan by mayors. My wife went there, her dad went there, her mother went there and her brother went there. So.

Jason Modglin [00:05:11] Still a. Great football program. Yeah, absolutely.

Rey Trevino [00:05:15] You know, I’ll say this. I don’t know who I didn’t hear a lot of arguing about the final four teams. Like, everybody felt like those were the four teams that needed to be there. And I’m not a OU Fan, I have several good friends that have gone there, four great master’s programs in energy they have great programs,.

Rey Trevino [00:05:34] But I always like watching them get beat by those teams and I I’m not a sports analyst or anything, but I think that game unfortunately showed how much further ahead the SCC is than every other single conference out there.

Jason Modglin [00:05:51] They’re pretty good. Yeah. Yeah and maybe the start of a New Dynasty there.

Rey Trevino [00:05:57] We’ll see. We’ll see. I mean, you know, Georgia, I mean, they just they were like they were bigger. I mean and you know, I get an opportunity, my father all have season tickets, so I get to go to the first game against like the small teams and that’s what it almost looked like, that that they were playing just giants, which was like, you know, if you get a tall ten against TCU or a what’s the other that’s a lumberjacks.

Jason Modglin [00:06:24] SFA

Rey Trevino [00:06:24] SFA Yeah, you know, they go in there and they play and there’s a size difference. Well that’s what I saw on TV, you. Know.

Jason Modglin [00:06:29] Right Right

Rey Trevino [00:06:30] It’s like man these guys know and the but hey, they had a great year and I don’t I don’t think they’re done. I don’t think TCU is not going to be gone end up with your album out of you are correct they’re headed to the SCC so I think it kind of opens the door for TCU there more and yeah so we’ll see for sure.

Jason Modglin [00:06:48] For sure.

Rey Trevino [00:06:49] But no but anyway getting back to it, I remember if I’m correct in back they didn’t didn’t outlaw fracking.

Jason Modglin [00:06:55] They did.

Rey Trevino [00:06:55] Is that correct. Yeah. In 2004 13.

Jason Modglin [00:06:58] Well it would have been 2014. So it was a city ordinance. It was proposed by citizens there. The city council, I think rightly looked at it and voted it down. And then there was a local referendum and they reimposed the ordinance, which basically banned hydraulic fracturing within city limits and the extraterritorial jurisdiction.

Jason Modglin [00:07:26] And and as you know, with shale development, that’s that’s how you produce those minerals. And so effectively, the city was foreclosing and condemning all of those property rights. And so the General Land office at the time sued a brand new commissioner, George Bush sued the city. And you had the legislature really saying, we’ve got to address this issue. And cities had been dealing with that issue for a long time.

Jason Modglin [00:07:59] The City of College Station and Brian had dealt with those issues with the Austin Chalk development in the eighties. And so there had been a track record for how to work through orderly development, but but didn’t really through all that out and you had cities across the state really decide, okay, now we’re going to reinsert ourselves into into oil and gas development.

Jason Modglin [00:08:23] So legislature had to take action and that that bill passed overwhelmingly supermajorities, both Republicans and Democrats saying we need to make sure that that jurisdiction lies with the Railroad Commission of Texas, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. Those are the appropriate places for oil and gas development and waste streams and not not cities curtailing that ability to produce those minerals.

Rey Trevino [00:08:53] Yeah, exactly. And that that was a lot because they don’t know exactly what all goes into producing an oil and gas well. And there’s just so much that goes into that from the minerals to the land Commissioner George Bush when he was there to the Railroad Commission, and that was in 2015. You said that’s when you started working with the Energy Policy group. Was that when you also started with the Railroad Commission or had you already know.

Jason Modglin [00:09:22] Moved to the Railroad Commission in the end of let’s see you backtrack a little bit, I guess it would have been 2018, really the start of 2019 was there for a couple of years working for Commissioner Christi Craddick, now the chairman of the commission, and and a pivotal time at the Railroad Commission,.

Jason Modglin [00:09:46] One in trying to get more resources for their IT development. And as you know and have experience with that system 20 years ago, I mean, it was a mainframe dot matrix. There was times when it would be public time and then Railroad Commission time and you had to log in that particular times of the day just to access the database, which is crazy.

Rey Trevino [00:10:16] You know, it’s that database and I think there’s a reason why the companies like Enverus and then make.

Jason Modglin [00:10:22] Absolutely.

Rey Trevino [00:10:23] Use of money because they’re able to get in there, pull it out and make it more user friendly. I joke about it with my dad all the time because you talk about a frame in this. Matina You know, I don’t know if you know, but that’s how we got our start in the eighties. And I say we not me, but my dad in the oil and gas was by writing Custom oil and gas software for a lot of families here downtown Fort Worth.

Rey Trevino [00:10:43] But he could understand and rock and move in the nineties and in the early 2000 with the with the oil and gas website the railroad commission I’m like so I just laughed of the ghost because of all the old stuff that, you know, that you’re able to move those oil. Like you don’t know why nobody else does. And I’m like, yeah, it it is. I think they used the same people to create that that did all the health care back. You know, I joke with you, you know, because that was a blast. But but.

Jason Modglin [00:11:08] It’s gotten better.

Rey Trevino [00:11:09] Right? Really.

Jason Modglin [00:11:12] And and so a lot of that investment really that a big chunk was in 2019 and the legislature recognizing that the commission needed those resources, really thanks to the three commissioners that are there right now, really advocating for the agency, making sure they’ve got the employees that they need,.

Jason Modglin [00:11:33] But also kind of the resources behind the scenes to make sure that those processes move quickly. If if the state is sitting on a drilling permit for a week or two weeks, you potentially chase away that capital investment. And so now it’s a day or, you know, under sometimes to really make sure that they’re doing all their checks, but that it can be processed efficiently.

Rey Trevino [00:12:02] And that is something that we’ve noticed. You know, Pacos we’ve been around since 2011 as a company, and that that process has got just in that time frame so much quicker. And that is something. But I wanted to dive into your background because then that leads you now to where you’re at. And I just want people to know this, like your background is. I mean, you could have a better person that is now the President of the Texas Alliance of Energy Producers. And I say, now, you’ve been president for over.

Jason Modglin [00:12:33] About three years now, three years here in June, and worked a lot with the alliance over the years. So I started I started in 2015 with oil and gas issues, but had worked with the Alliance back to 2005. Yeah. Had been around the the legislature and they had been advocating there. The alliance came together in the year 2000, but it was basically two organizations coming together prior to that. So 1930, the North Texas Oil and Gas Association was founded, and then in 1931, the West Central Texas Oil and Gas Association was founded, and these two mid con organizations advocated for their industry and their interest and those producers in those communities.

Jason Modglin [00:13:19] And so one was based in Abilene and one was based in Wichita Falls. And really we still have phenomenal members in those areas. And the alliance has really been an effective organization for not only representing smaller independent producers, but really those those family businesses that are rooted in their community exactly what what you have and your dad having just you live here, you work here and you want to see that be able to be passed on to the next generation.

Jason Modglin [00:13:52] And so that’s kind of what’s in the back of our mind all the time is, yes, we represent some large publicly traded companies as well. But when I ask you for membership, I’m taken from your kid. You know, I’ve taken from you and the family. And so we’ve got to do our best to live up to that word. We’re just as hard try to work just as hard as your work and to make sure that your interests are represented in Austin, in Washington, D.C..

Rey Trevino [00:14:21] And I’m glad you brought that up, because that is one thing with your group. First of all, I got to do a shout out to Wichita Falls. That’s where a lot of our production is. And we’ve got well, not us, but there’s wells out there that have been producing for over 100 years.

Rey Trevino [00:14:35] So and then you talk about, you know, we live here, we work here you know, we do our best to get the guys that are there in the small towns of Holliday or Archer, you know, Burt BURNETT and it’s like, Hey, y’all know the area. Y’all come work. And, you know, we try our best to get the people of the community to get to be involved.

Rey Trevino [00:14:54] And, you know, and what we’re we doing right now with the we cost our we’re pumping 150 to 200000 into a community just per well. We’re drilling shallower stuff right now That’s great with with the way the costs are I mean you know but that’s for everybody. Yeah. Not only in our industry, but across the board.

Rey Trevino [00:15:12] But but getting back to it, would you mentioned, hey, you’re fighting for the little guys just like the big guys. You know, if somebody wants to join the Texas Alliance of Energy Producers, what is it that you guys are like? You know, what is it that you’re fighting for for us and and standing for?

Jason Modglin [00:15:27] Yeah, absolutely. Texas Alliance Dot ORG is our website and so we work in both Austin and Washington, DC advocating for smart regulatory policy, smart tax policy that will allow the oil and gas industry to flourish here in Texas.

Jason Modglin [00:15:46] And we think such a critical part of that is smaller independent producers just simply from from them being rooted here. But then also that’s your workforce. That’s that’s really who is maintaining and working these wells. That’s your knowledge base. And then the communities, the community aspect of it, just the investment in the local community. So. Crtical.

Jason Modglin [00:16:11] We kind of divide our our focus at the alliance into three particular buckets so policy area and that that keeps us busy on the kind of those two fronts economics until we’ve got a car Ingram, a petroleum economist that does a Texas petro index for us every month and then does some semiannual analysis as well and then communications. And so communications is in part coming to see you.

Rey Trevino [00:16:34] Yeah,.

Jason Modglin [00:16:35] Come to see groups across the state. But then also being very active on social media and Twitter and LinkedIn and YouTube, trying to get the message out that there’s very positive things happening in oil and gas, particularly here in Texas.

Jason Modglin [00:16:50] And we need to be proud of that. We need to advocate for it. And so just really happy to see what you’re working on and it’s so critical to have more voices in this space.

Rey Trevino [00:17:01] Well, thank you for that. But no, we do need to get the word out. You know, it’s like we’re doing as I say, we the oil and gas industry is doing so many great things for everybody in America. We’re not looking offshore left. If you’re right, it’s like we want to produce as much as we can so we can get the price down of gasoline. It’s like and everybody should know that, you know, it’s just supply and demand. So we know that if we’re going to produce more, guess what our price does going to come down.

Rey Trevino [00:17:28] But it’s like, hey, we want to get back to a place where we can help inflation. And don’t even get me started on that, you know, oxymoron which you’re he you know, he blamed the oil and gas industry for inflation. It’s like, well, if you’re going to blame us and let us produce more to bring down that process, you know, so don’t you know, we’re not going to get into that.

Rey Trevino [00:17:49] But another example of us really trying to get the word out is, you know, want to do a shout out to Exxon. I did a deal with them the other day and because they just opened, they’re about to open up an addition to a refinery in Beaumont or.

Jason Modglin [00:18:04] In Beaumont in the Blade facility, right? Yes. Yeah.

Rey Trevino [00:18:07] And that’s a big deal because they’re adding to an existing facility. However, we can’t get permits to drill new jobs to build a new refinery, but we can add on in the size that they’ve added is basically a brand new refinery.

Jason Modglin [00:18:24] That’s right. That’s right.

Rey Trevino [00:18:25] So that’s something that Exxon should be doing on their own is getting the positive word out there. And but I know you guys have talked about it and that’s that’s what we need to be doing. And that’s another great thing that you guys, again, are doing is getting the positive word out there on all the great things that the only gas industry is bringing.

Jason Modglin [00:18:45] Yeah, I mean, we focus on downstream, but certainly excuse me, we focus on upstream, but we can geek out on downstream because that that facility is really going to be primed for light sweet crude coming out of the Permian Basin. And unfortunately, you had another facility just down the road from there is due to close this year, the Linville facility, which is about the same size, it was 250,000 barrels a day.

Rey Trevino [00:19:14] I did not.

Jason Modglin [00:19:15] But that input was heavier crude. So they’re taking Venezuela, they’re taking Saudi Arabia. And so the Exxon facility will really be able to refine West Texas and Texas crude, which is phenomenal. And really something that we need from our refineries is really start investing in the types of technologies like the Blade facility that will be able to to be more self-sufficient with the production that we have here in the United States, rather than needing to constantly trade barrels around the world to make sure that we can refine it here.

Rey Trevino [00:19:50] And I think that’s going to be my hook for today’s episode on The crude Truth is that the majority of our refineries can handle that ugly, nasty oil that comes from places like Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, and that we have that great sweet crude like we have the best oil in the world.

Rey Trevino [00:20:09] And unfortunately, a lot of our refineries cannot handle that. I’m not a technical guy, but they don’t handle all that kind of oil. So this, again, is a major win. And it also truly gets us closer to energy independence. Definitely helps our dinner security bar none, but it also helps us with energy independence getting down the road one day to be there.

Jason Modglin [00:20:32] That’s right. And and there’s an environmental benefit to it the Permian Basin and the Gulf of Mexico are the lowest emitting areas for production. And so if if the focus for you as an environmentalist is to have the cleanest burning fuel, then then that’s what you want. You want to promote these types of investments in in domestic oil and gas production. So, yeah, we’ve got a little bit of everything I mean, we can talk about jobs, we can talk about the economics, but then we can also talk about the advantages that domestic production has on the environment.

Jason Modglin [00:21:10] And then one last plug is, is labor standards. I mean, we have the highest labor standards in the world coupled with our environmental standards and when you compare oil and gas against batteries and heavy refinery and, you know, just some of these metals and things of that nature that are being mined in Africa and China and these places, I mean, that have none of those controls, no environmental or labor standards. It’s just shocking so that we get out there and kind of tussle and put the bumper sticker out. Well.

Rey Trevino [00:21:47] Speaking of bumper sticker, this is it right here. Just to show people right here, Texas alliance energy producers come and take it. So this is a bumper sticker. So when you become a member, you get one of these also that you can put on your bumper. So good thing to put them on a bumper. Even though bumpers ornament, most vehicles nowadays are like, get rid of bumpers. I call my my pickup truck. You know, we all expect to be chrome, but it’s near like that Corvette back days. And I’m like, well, how are you going to.

Jason Modglin [00:22:14] We’re trying to break. Yeah, the bumper stickers back, Permian Basin Petroleum Association, they’ve got some good ones right now with Midland over Moscow and.

Rey Trevino [00:22:23] Yeah,.

Jason Modglin [00:22:24] Yeah. So we’re we’re, we’re having fun with those.

Rey Trevino [00:22:26] I like you to bring them back to bumper stickers. I love they’re fun. I mean, it’s something good in the and it’s better than all the good Trump or stuff that’s out there right now. Let’s go with Midland over Moscow and and I definitely like to come and take it with the protest on there.

Rey Trevino [00:22:40] Oh, so, okay, here we are, Texas Alliance of Energy Producers. We are now in a state legislative session. They’re going at it every day. What are some of the issues that you were looking out at and and fighting for? Because you all do have teams out there in Austin fighting for us every day.

Jason Modglin [00:22:59] Yeah, yeah, yeah. So they are flush with cash right now, thanks in large part to the oil and gas industry. There were some $10 billion paid in severance taxes this last year, which is just truly a phenomenal number. The highest three peaks that happened prior to that. It only got up to $5 billion a year.

Jason Modglin [00:23:21] And on average, Controller Hager says it’s a $3 billion average on oil and gas severance tax collection. So a lot of money coming into the state government. What are the other trade associations in the state?

Jason Modglin [00:23:35] Texas Oil and Gas Association put out a report this week that $24.7 billion were paid in to state coffers alone by the oil and gas industry this year in terms of sales tax and property tax and royalties.

Jason Modglin [00:23:50] So a lot of the money that they’re sitting on right now is directly from the oil and gas industry. And we want to see them put it to good use. I think one part is, is some tax relief and certainly we all need that in the form of some property tax relief and I think they’re going to champion quite a bit of that this session.

Jason Modglin [00:24:12] But also investing in some kind of core infrastructure needs that we have in this state. And so maybe water will be a key focus for them. Several years ago, they took half of the severance tax dollars that flow into the state and they put it into highways. So for the last nearly ten years, the state has put severance tax dollars directly into highway fund development and maintenance. And so, really, you know, the new bridge in town might be a direct result of that oil and gas pump down the road.

Rey Trevino [00:24:45] And the funny part, when you talk about new highways, you know, it does take petroleum products to make those highways. So that’s you know, that’s just an oxymoron where they want to, you know, build up the infrastructure but get rid of oil and gas. Enough.

Rey Trevino [00:24:58] But no, you talked about the severance tax with $10 billion, if I’m correct, and I might not be. So people go back, check me. But here in Texas, the severance tax for oil is is four and a half percent.

Jason Modglin [00:25:09] Yep. Yep.

Rey Trevino [00:25:10] And again, you know, I say that because, you know, I look, I look at that stuff and that’s a big number, $10 billion out of it. So and that’s just out of the seven stacks that you talked about. So that’s why I wanted to highlight that, that now, of course, you know, hey, I’m an American taxpayer, so it’s four and a half percent is still too much,.

Rey Trevino [00:25:32] But it’s really not a big number and yet look at it generated is that 10 billion? And then you talked about the 24 billion and all of this money is going towards, like you said, the schools, the roads. And that’s big. And, you know, and you’re here fighting for the oil and gas industry that is over a third of this great state’s economy.

Jason Modglin [00:25:52] Oh, yeah. I mean, it’s a phenomenal impact that we really track those upstream workers. And so just under 200,000 Texans get up every day and go to work in producing oil and gas. And then you have. About another 300,000 that are moving it around the state, refining it and marketing that.

Jason Modglin [00:26:15] So nearly half a million people are directly involved in the oil and gas industry and punching well beyond our weight in terms of salaries, but then also economic impact and it’s the feedstock that goes into everything.

Jason Modglin [00:26:30] So agriculture, our food, our refining, our petrochemicals, medicines, it all is dependent upon oil and gas. And so, yeah, I was doing a panel the other day and the first question from the audience was, is in oil and gas going away, It’s like, absolutely not.

Jason Modglin [00:26:51] But the last place that we want to keep pumping is here in Texas because of all the advantages that we have in Texas. And so even if I concede, maybe one day there will be reduced demand. The last place you still want to get it out of is Texas.

Rey Trevino [00:27:07] Yeah. No, you’re absolutely right about that. You know, God bless the great state of Texas. You know, I know you’re from the Houston area and I’m from the Fort Worth area. So we’re we’re we’re Texas born boys and other ain’t a darn thing wrong with that.

Jason Modglin [00:27:19] That’s right.

Rey Trevino [00:27:20] I won’t apologize. I want to also highlight that you mention that you guys get out there, whether it’s social media, whether you’re on panels, which if anybody’s ever out there, I’m looking right into my camera here and you see that Jason Modglin is on a panel, get a ticket and go watch it. Listen to him speak first and foremost.

Rey Trevino [00:27:42] But you’ll also have big functions that you all do, and I’m going to butcher the name of it. But y’all did one, I think it was in September. I was there and it was at the Hotel Drover, the brand new hotel that may or may not be California people, but but hey, you know, the Fort Worth Stockyards and look at awesome.

Jason Modglin [00:28:01] It looks great.

Rey Trevino [00:28:01] And go But you had Brian Sheffield speaking. Yeah Double Eagle.

Jason Modglin [00:28:12] Cody Camp.

Rey Trevino [00:28:13] Cody Campbell.

Jason Modglin [00:28:14] We had Chase Van Hoff.

Rey Trevino [00:28:15] Yes

Jason Modglin [00:28:17] We had. Alex Epstein

Rey Trevino [00:28:18] That’s the other big one wayne Christian.

Jason Modglin [00:28:21] Yeah. Commissioner Christian came out, Yeah, we had a fantastic day. Sean Strawbridge from Port of Corpus Christi. Yes, really just some phenomenal speakers. And Bradbery from American Export.

Rey Trevino [00:28:34] And she’s from the North.

Jason Modglin [00:28:35] Oil. Yeah she’s, she’s from DC. Yeah.
Rey Trevino [00:28:37] So she came down for that.

Jason Modglin [00:28:38] Yeah. So she came in and really had a fantastic time. Thanks for, for coming to join us there in September at the Drover and yeah, we were, we’ve done some great public events, we’ve done webinars and kind of the online presence and then social media and then go and speak to Rotaries and.

Rey Trevino [00:28:58] Yeah,.

Jason Modglin [00:28:58] And Kiwanis clubs and things of that nature that, you know, just trying to spread the good word.

Rey Trevino [00:29:03] No. And that’s what you’re doing and that’s why I would have mixed that because that’s something that I don’t even know if you’ll have it on the calendar yet for this year, 2023. But people need to be on the lookout for because you can grab a lot of information.

Rey Trevino [00:29:17] And I think that’s what really such all apart is the amount of knowledge, the amount of backing, the insight that you guys have. And there at the Texas Alliance of Energy Producers. So thank you guys for what y’all do. Jason, I really appreciate it.

Jason Modglin [00:29:33] Thank you.

Rey Trevino [00:29:34] And speaking of insight, I think you’re sharing your insight right now with that insider, David Blackmon, on a weekly basis, if backed up, I think you were just on his show here recently.

Jason Modglin [00:29:46] I was about, you know, half an hour ago. That’s your great facilities here, which are truly phenomenal.

Rey Trevino [00:29:55] Thank you.

Jason Modglin [00:29:57] Yes, have a great time with David. And he’s he’s wrote me in to a kind of weekly podcast right now. Yes. Recapping the Texas legislature and what happened there. And so we have a lot of fun together.

Rey Trevino [00:30:11] Well, and that’s what I wanted to do. I wanted to highlight that for me just because. How great is that that you guys are spending the time to really recap the week you have. David was a lobbyist for several years and you being right there next to the Capitol have such great insight you to do and what goes on during the week and you actually can explain it in a way that’s not engineer talk is the best thing to put you know.

Rey Trevino [00:30:39] My youngest brother is a chemical engineer major and when we get the reservoir engineers involved in all that, we all sit there together in a great meeting and and the next thing you know, being Ruben, we’ll go grab lunch or something and I’ll be like, okay, what?

Rey Trevino [00:30:54] And he can at least translate what the engineer really, really said if I had a question and so that’s what you guys are doing because look, the legislation, they’re talking legal mumbo jumbo left and right and it’s awesome.

Rey Trevino [00:31:06] But what you and David are doing is just like breaking it down, talking about it. But also from the Crude Truth standpoint is that you’re breaking it down and really just speaking the Crude Truth about what’s going on and how this legislation is aiming for the future of this great state.

Jason Modglin [00:31:23] Well, it’s a special place. I mean, obviously worked there at the Texas legislature and so love it to the members and staff. Really do do a phenomenal job for our state. 181 legislators down there, both in the House and Senate that are representing parts of our state all over the state.

Jason Modglin [00:31:42] And really, when you when you get down to it, there’s not that many oil and gas professionals in the legislature. They’re a part time legislature. So there’s lawyers and doctors and, you know, kind of everybody in between down there.

Jason Modglin [00:31:58] But but only a handful of oil and gas professionals. And so we really have to communicate. We have to go see lots of people. We have to go see both Republicans and Democrats and work with them to make sure that they understand some of the legislative proposals, how it would impact oil and gas, how it would impact consumers. And so we try to we try to keep them abreast of those challenges. And it’s going to be a lot of fun with David over the next 120 days or so.

Rey Trevino [00:32:30] That’s a long time with David just saying, well, I got to ask you and it may be not as part of the question, but here we are. We’re we’re in the first quarter of 2023. You know, give me the crude truth of where you see Texas lining up for oil and gas in 2023 and maybe where you’re kind of seeing in an elevator pitch on where you see oil and gas going this year.

Jason Modglin [00:32:56] Well, we are very excited to see record production back in Texas, which was just commenting on this, that really in 2019, the start of 2020, we were breaking record production levels here in Texas from the 1970s.

Jason Modglin [00:33:15] Just the critical need that those oil and natural gas resources have not only for the United States but also around the world. And we were there and then and then COVID and shutdowns and demand destruction.

Jason Modglin [00:33:30] But we’re we’re we’re nearly back The Permian Basin is already setting record production levels. The Haynesville, as long as the Haynesville has been producing, is now back to record natural gas levels. We still need Barnett and the Eagle Ford to to get back up and going, but Texas is going to set record production levels at the same time.

Jason Modglin [00:33:55] The industry has changed in the last several years. Now we’re far more efficient. That’s both a good and a bad thing. We have less employees out there. As I said, we tracked about 195,000 upstream employees in Texas that used to be 350,000. Really, it’s peak.

Jason Modglin [00:34:14] And so that’s a loss for sure. But at the same time, it’s really remarkable just to see the evolution and the efficiency gains in the Texas industry. I’m reminded that we used to have to have fresh water to do hydraulic fracturing and now the ability to move to brackish and brine. And then ultimately you’ve got companies that are using produce water now, they really.

Jason Modglin [00:34:44] Those efficiency gains have made West Texas certainly more resilient to have those fresh water resources. But but that continued push, that investment, that innovation is just remarkable. And so it’s like they’re holding the tiger by the tail, trying to watch the new things that this industry is working and pioneering on.

Jason Modglin [00:35:10] You’ve got some of the super majors right now focused here in Texas, trying to figure out, can we use hydrogen to power certain industries? Can we decarbonize certain industries like shipping and trucking and then and then the prospects for carbon capture.

Jason Modglin [00:35:28] We’ve been doing carbon dioxide floods in Texas for well over 50 years as a way to enhance oil recovery in that tertiary recovery. But now, you know, the environmentalists want to figure out a way that you can take carbon dioxide directly out of the air and put it down hole.

Jason Modglin [00:35:50] And where are you going to get that expertise? It’s not from that kid throwing tomato soup on. I mean, it’s from an oil and gas professional that’s really figuring out how to how to make the world work and solve those big problems. And so it’s yeah. To give you the year I mean, I have no idea but it’s going to be a. Exciting and really a fun time.

Rey Trevino [00:36:12] You know, first, you know, you talk about before I wrap up, you talk about, you know, basic carbon capture and things like that for environment friendly. I had a great meeting yesterday with I think it’s c t c t j Energy, I think is what you call out of Fort Worth.

Rey Trevino [00:36:26] And there are ways for flare stacks and stuff to capture things. So. So it was pretty cool to listen to that because, you know, we’re being very environmentally friendly. And as I’ve said before, that that’s what oil and gas men and women are. We’re conservationists. But what I’ve just heard from you is that the crude truth is Texas is set for record breaking years based on the great technology for us to become even more efficient. That’s that’s.

Jason Modglin [00:36:49] Right. That’s right. Yeah.

Rey Trevino [00:36:52] Well, Jason, how can people get a hold of you get a hold of the Texas Alliance energy producers and become members and really enjoy the great fight that you guys are on. And please, you know what?

Jason Modglin [00:37:04] Yeah, Come see us. Texas Alliance dot ORG. We’re very active on social media, Twitter and LinkedIn and YouTube and all of my contact information is right there. So please reach out to us. We work just as hard for our individual member as we do for those very large companies and so if we can be helpful to you at the Railroad Commission in State Government or in Washington, DC, please let us know.

Rey Trevino [00:37:34] Well, well, Jason, I cannot thank you enough for for this day for coming up to Fort Worth, getting out of Austin and venturing out. And I know this was the only thing you’re here in town doing several things, several speaking engagements.

Rey Trevino [00:37:48] And so thank you so much. Thank you for the compliments on our studio. Shout out to Real News Communications Network to one of the crew true sponsors, but also provides us with a great little studio. We try not to do just a normal by.

Jason Modglin [00:38:00] Satellite so that I can take advantage.

Rey Trevino [00:38:03] Oh man, you know, we’re glad you like it. Maybe we’ll have to get you out our Dallas studio next time. But, you know, perfect. We’ll talk about that too much. But no, I cannot thank you again enough. And well, that’s I guess that’s about it on this episode and thank you all for this episode and see you next time. On The Crude Truth.

Please reach out to Jason Modglin on his LinkedIn HERE