THE CRUDE TRUTH Ep. 30 Kelly Cook VP at BEI Oilfield Service’s, INC

Can you imagine being told, “you can close the doors or take the reins and run it?” Well that is exactly what Kelly was told and she RUNS IT. . . In this episode I highlight another great service company, this one is from Big Springs, Texas. BEI Oilfield Services is a family company with a Big Variety of oil and gas service’s they provide. We discuss how she is taking he clients to the next level with Oilfield Remediation and tells us what it’s like being a woman in the oilfield.

Please reach out to Kelly Cook on his LinkedIn HERE  

Check out StatusJet HERE

THE CRUDE TRUTH Ep. 30 Kelly Cook VP at BEI Oilfield Service’s, INC

Rey Trevino [00:00:00] Well, as we continue our great journey of the oil and gas industry, I again celebrate another great service company at West Texas. We’ll talk about them and much more on this episode of The Crude Truth.

Rey Trevino [00:01:11] Good morning. Good afternoon. Good evening. Good night. Whenever it is that you are watching, listening to this awesome podcast, The Crude Truth, I cannot thank you enough. Please, as always, be sure to like, subscribe, you know, and always take a look at what’s going on. You can also catch up on the news at TheCrudeTruth.com.

Rey Trevino [00:01:32] Also, I want to give a real quick shout-out to all of my sponsors, the Oil and Gas Workers Association, Sandstone Group, Air Compressor Solutions, Basin fluids, the fuel pros and real news communications that work because we are averaging just about 3000 downloads a month. And I cannot thank all my listeners out there enough for just listening to what I have to say and more importantly, what’s going on and how we’re really trying to just build a great network of showing all the positive things that are going on in the oil and gas industry. So thank you all very, very much.

Rey Trevino [00:02:12] And speaking of all the great things going on in the oil and gas industry, as you know, as I said earlier this year, that I’m doing my best to highlight the service companies, not only the big CEOs and the railroad commissioners and people that know the industry ins and outs on a financial side or operating side, but also on the service side, because who we could without those literally service men and women, we got no production going on. And that’s terrible because I’m not making a dollar, neither is any other operator. So today I’m just excited to bring on Kelly Cook of BEI Oilfield Services. Kelly, how are you?

Kelly Cook [00:02:47] I’m doing well. How are you?

Rey Trevino [00:02:49] Oh, I can’t complain and thank you so much. And for all my listeners, a once again in our South Lake studio, the Pod, the podcast studio. So we got our microphones in front of our face and we’re just sitting here and having a good time and welcome to North Texas.

Kelly Cook [00:03:05] Thank you. Thank you. Sure is a lot greener than where we’re from.

Rey Trevino [00:03:10] And where are you from?

Kelly Cook [00:03:11] From Big Spring.

Rey Trevino [00:03:12] Oh, my goodness. Yeah, That’s probably where actually West Texas originated at if I’m correct.

Kelly Cook [00:03:17] It actually is yes it is

Rey Trevino [00:03:19]  How long it took born and raised in Big Spring.

Kelly Cook [00:03:21] I was born and raised in Leonora Grady tarzan tiny little town.

Rey Trevino [00:03:25] Okay.

Kelly Cook [00:03:26] If you blink, you miss it.

Rey Trevino [00:03:27] Oh, My.

Kelly Cook [00:03:27] Graduate is nine people in high school.

Rey Trevino [00:03:30] Wow, was that your graduating class?

Kelly Cook [00:03:31] My graduating class.

Rey Trevino [00:03:32] Holy cow. So you must have been valedictorian.

Kelly Cook [00:03:35] Oh, absolutely. Not, absolutely not. I was the talker, the little Sportster I definitely was not the smart one.

Rey Trevino [00:03:41] Oh, come on. I don’t know there’s a reason why you’re on today, So we’re going to get into that. So you got some kind of smart supply for.

Kelly Cook [00:03:47] No.

Rey Trevino [00:03:48] No. And just about that Man Nine people don’t even have football?

Kelly Cook [00:03:53] So we did 1A 6, man. Okay. It was tiny it was kind of like everybody had to participate to have a team.

Rey Trevino [00:03:59] Oh, yeah.

Kelly Cook [00:03:59] Oh, but it was fun. It was fun.

Rey Trevino [00:04:02] Wow. That’s in Tarzan, Texas.

Kelly Cook [00:04:03] Yes. During that Texas. Grady. Grady, Grady Wildcats.

Rey Trevino [00:04:06] Okay. Okay. For everybody out there, definitely, Google Tarzan, shout out the Tarzan Texans. And soon, as you say, Tarzan, I always think of that old Tarzan movie. Oh, yeah, with a Johnny Weissmuller where they’re black and white and they got hokey gorillas and.

Kelly Cook [00:04:22] Yeah, yeah.

Rey Trevino [00:04:24] So. But no, I invited you on because what you’re doing right now is just amazing your company, BEI Oilfield Services, y’all are just kicking butt, taking names. And more importantly, you own the company. It is a woman-owned company and you are actually also a family-owned company and that was the thing I really wanted to highlight. So, you know, let’s talk a little bit about your background and how it is that you and BEI are now doing what you all are doing.

Kelly Cook [00:04:52] So I actually come from a farming background. My dad, my father was a farmer. He did not get into the oilfield he bought by back in 2015. Okay. And I started working for him in 2018 and 2019. So whenever I started working for him, I was just field only. I just moved workover rigs. I had like I was the peon, you know, I just, I just was the service person, it’s very cool so which I’m thankful for.

Kelly Cook [00:05:17] So I got to learn a lot and then, you know, if we got through working over, moving to work over rig, I’d get to go with the crews and see what they were doing, which all the guys, you know, I enjoyed. They taught me everything that I know today, but it was really cool. So that’s where I started. In 2019, Ronnie underwent a pretty intensive back surgery, which Ronnie is my father.

Rey Trevino [00:05:39] Okay.

Kelly Cook [00:05:40] And we actually had to let go of our manager, if you will, the one who pretty much ran everything. There was a lot of issues we had with the companies we were working for and it was kind of like if if you don’t get rid of them, we’re going to quit using you. And so I kind of just got thrown to the wolves and Ronnie was like, look, like it’s either you close the doors or you take it on you do what you want to do.

Rey Trevino [00:06:02] Whoa.

Kelly Cook [00:06:03] Yeah. So it was definitely not something that I asked for or wanted or had the. Had the knowledge. I had absolutely no knowledge in any of it.

Rey Trevino [00:06:11] So what was that like when you’re just like, look, you can either close the doors and basically like, go find another job or you take this and run. Here’s here’s a football.

Kelly Cook [00:06:22] Run, run. Yeah. So it was extremely scary. Definitely one of those I use the Internet, you know, what in the world is heat or treater, You know, like, what is a separator? What is poly pressure? What does SDR 11 mean? You know? I mean, I just it was definitely a learning curve and it was good for me. I’m glad that I learned that way.

Rey Trevino [00:06:42] Well, and then you also mentioned moving rigs. I mean, I what an experience that must have been for you just to be out there just to do that, because that’s a that’s a feat in itself.

Kelly Cook [00:06:52] Yeah. So you’re might be thinking a drilling rig so even where like the work of rigs, like the smaller rigs, but it was still, you know, very fun like I mean of the trailers we went the pipe pipe racks, catwalk rig mats, all that.

Rey Trevino [00:07:02] That’s a lot of gear

Kelly Cook [00:07:03] Was it fun.

Rey Trevino [00:07:04] Yeah. Yeah,.

Kelly Cook [00:07:05] But that’s where I started.

Rey Trevino [00:07:06] Holy cow. So you. Yeah, You got thrown to the wolves that was us. And I did people already know. But, you know, when we started in 2011, PACOS Country Energy Exploration and Production Company.

Kelly Cook [00:07:16] Yeah,.

Rey Trevino [00:07:17] Same thing I was in the finance world, you know, I got a degree in organizational development and behavior, you know? Yeah, exactly. Yeah.

Kelly Cook [00:07:24] Well, that probably works well with this industry.

Rey Trevino [00:07:26] You know, some days, you know, I guess so. But it was like, Hey, my father goes, Hey, I have an idea. And we’re like, All right, let’s go for it. And next thing I know, I’m out in West Texas. And I was working on a drilling rig slinging pipe.

Rey Trevino [00:07:40] Oh, really?

Rey Trevino [00:07:40] Yeah, for about two years.

Kelly Cook [00:07:41] Very nice.

Rey Trevino [00:07:42] Then I worked on the completion side with EOG and doing the third party work.

Kelly Cook [00:07:47] Yeah,.

Rey Trevino [00:07:48] They’re much more important.

Kelly Cook [00:07:49] Yeah.

Rey Trevino [00:07:50] And so I was out there for I did my time and then I did a little bit more the just a few years ago during the downturn. Yeah.

Kelly Cook [00:07:57] During COVID?

Rey Trevino [00:07:58] Right before COVID and our, our father was kind of like, hey, I don’t know what’s you know, he was already kind of seeing some things. And so I went back out there and did some different work. But but no, it’s no joke when you get thrown into it, you got to really, like understand it because you’re surviving for yourself, basically.

Kelly Cook [00:08:17] Absolutely.

Rey Trevino [00:08:17] And you know, I know, you know, one mentality that I have as an entrepreneur is you’re not hirable again.

Kelly Cook [00:08:23] Absolutely.

Rey Trevino [00:08:25] You don’t, you know, just working for somebody else. I can’t imagine that. Now, what about you?

Kelly Cook [00:08:29] Oh, no, no. And that’s what I think every day, you know, working with family and especially with my father. Him and I are so business savvy differently. You know, he’s a good old man handshake kind of man and I’m like, absolutely not. Get it documented, get this, get that. Yeah. And so, yeah, it’s it’s, it’s a struggle, but there’s no way I could work for anyone else.

Kelly Cook [00:08:48] And, you know, one day I was complaining is kind of funny. I was complaining to one of my good friend company Men’s that I work with and he helps me on some issues if I ever have any of them. And and I said, man, I just I’m tired of this and I just can’t do it anymore working for my dad and he was like, There’s one thing you ought to remember you are not going to work well with others. So yeah, you can’t you can’t have a boss.

Kelly Cook [00:09:11] Yeah, Sometimes I think families, the only ones I can truly put up with you being.

Kelly Cook [00:09:15] Absolutely. Yeah.

Rey Trevino [00:09:17] Yeah. And I know I’ve gotten into it we’ve got to discuss it once or twice with my father On. On what direction do we want to go in, exactly? I was like, Oh, let’s go, let’s go, let’s go, let’s go ahead.

Kelly Cook [00:09:27] I want to go the opposite, right?

Rey Trevino [00:09:28] Yeah my dad is methodical he will sit there and like, take a week. You know, I’ll ask him a question Monday morning at eight I’ll get the answer at 445 on Friday. Go on. It’s the start after 3:00.

Kelly Cook [00:09:41] Yeah,.

Rey Trevino [00:09:41] Well, you’re still working, right?

Kelly Cook [00:09:42] Yeah. Yeah. Well, yeah, yeah. I see. My dad and I are the opposite my dad’s like, Oh, whatever. And I’m like, I have it all written down, color-coded this is what we’re doing.

Rey Trevino [00:09:52] Yeah, well, I agree with you on the documents. I mean, I wish I hadn’t. I mean, I still give a handshake and I saw our handshake, but not, it’s not a lot of people do anymore. It is such a shame the way that certain things in the industry have gone. You know, I think some things are better than they were, but I think some things are not as good.

Kelly Cook [00:10:12] Right. Right.

Rey Trevino [00:10:13] So. So tell me. Okay. You know, you guys are located in Big Springs and, you know, a lot of people that are listening to the show that may not know history on West Texas oil, that’s where it all started with Big Springs. So what’s it like over there for you guys these days? Oh, man, it’s fine.

Rey Trevino [00:10:28] It’s good. You know, there’s a lot of great service industries all around us we all work together really? Um, I love it. I love it because what I like most about where my yard is, is I’m kind of centrally located. So I can go to the Permian or I can go back east and I’m literally in the center of everybody. So that’s nice.

Rey Trevino [00:10:47] No, because you’re really not that far from all the fields that are in the Abilene area because you’re less than 2 hours from there.

Kelly Cook [00:10:53] Absolutely. Yeah. So a lot of my work is in the Snyder rotation near area. Yeah.

Rey Trevino [00:10:58] Okay. Yeah. No, that’s a good area.

Kelly Cook [00:11:00] It is. It is. And it’s a very it’s up and coming, you know. Yeah. A lot going on right now. Yes. I’m very interested to see where it goes over there.

Rey Trevino [00:11:07] Well I will not. All, Jenny, for any insider information of mine but yes, that is very good.

Kelly Cook [00:11:12] Is it? Can you tell me where?

Rey Trevino [00:11:13] Oh, man, it’s very good all over that area

Kelly Cook [00:11:16] Can you tell me what area?

Rey Trevino [00:11:18] The Abeline area.

Kelly Cook [00:11:19] Yes.

Rey Trevino [00:11:19] And just put a circle and do about an hour anywhere from there and it’s it’s looking real good. Fingers crossed. And so we like…

Kelly Cook [00:11:28] I know somebody that might have some production wells for sell in that area.

Rey Trevino [00:11:31] Oh really.

Kelly Cook [00:11:32] Yeah. Well, why don’t you give me a call?

Rey Trevino [00:11:34] Maybe so. Maybe so. We have to talk about that off air. You know, that whole big Springs area, You know, they’ve got the old hotel, which I think is now back up and running correct?

Kelly Cook [00:11:47] Yes. Hotel settles.

Rey Trevino [00:11:48] Yes. And, you know, hotel settles, you know, that used to host the princes of Saudi Arabia.

Kelly Cook [00:11:54] Yes.

Rey Trevino [00:11:55] How cool is that? I mean, you’re in a history town.

Kelly Cook [00:11:57] Right?

Rey Trevino [00:11:58] And I think that’s just too cool.

Kelly Cook [00:11:59] It is. It is and it’s an I don’t know. Have you been to Big Spring lately?

Rey Trevino [00:12:02] No. No.

Kelly Cook [00:12:03] Hotels that you want to come and I’ll take you to lunch. Okay. It’s nice.

Rey Trevino [00:12:06] I have been to the water burger.

Kelly Cook [00:12:08] You know Water burgers

Rey Trevino [00:12:08] It’s a. Few miles off the path.

Kelly Cook [00:12:11] Visited.

Rey Trevino [00:12:11] Yes, yes. No, it’s because it’s either that or you stop at that loves, huh? That’s right. Off the highway with the McDonald’s?

Kelly Cook [00:12:18] Yep.

Rey Trevino [00:12:19] It’s like, Well, do I want to spend that extra 20 minutes, go into town?

Kelly Cook [00:12:22] Correct.

Rey Trevino [00:12:22] Wait. And so basically an hour. But it’s okay you sometimes you get a whatever over McDonald’s. I’ll do that most.

Kelly Cook [00:12:29] Not Yeah.

Rey Trevino [00:12:30] And it’s not so I have passed it yeah thank  but last time I was there I don’t even think they were remodeling.

Kelly Cook [00:12:37] No its not they did a very good job on it.

Rey Trevino [00:12:39] Really. Okay, well, very cool I don’t know I’ll have to check that out sometime. Well, BEI what do y’all do over there? What do y’all do?

Kelly Cook [00:12:48] We do a little bit of everything. So we’re a small, wide variety service company. We got a little bit everything. And we’ve created that you know, anything, any services that our companies needed or our customers, you know that, well, we didn’t like this, so we’ll add them on. But we have have roustabouts we build as deputies, we build batteries, maintenance, and we build wellheads, flow lines, little bit of pipeline.

Kelly Cook [00:13:16] I have a maintainer we do a little bit of on the small construction side, we’ve got rentals, all kinds of rentals, any rentals, haul trucks, a little bit of everything. We have belly up so yeah, we got hydro backs. You know, a lot of haul truck services, a lot of hot shots, a lot of deliveries, pickups, all that good stuff.

Rey Trevino [00:13:38] Golly. Now I’ve seen your posts on social media and you’re out there.

Kelly Cook [00:13:42] Yes.

Rey Trevino [00:13:42] And you get dirty sometimes.

Kelly Cook [00:13:44] That’s much rather where I would be rather than here or in the office.

Rey Trevino [00:13:48] Okay,.

Kelly Cook [00:13:48] I’m going to lie. No offense, but that is definitely. Yes. Where I like to be.

Rey Trevino [00:13:54] Well, what’s one of your favorite things that you like to do out there?

Kelly Cook [00:13:56] Oh, man. Every time. Because now I don’t get to go on the field as much. So anytime my dad calls me because my dad still works in the field too. Like right now he is and learn pipe and flowback equipment.

Rey Trevino [00:14:06] That’s my fault we’re getting test done as we speak and I’ve got him in one of our guys out there with him today.

Kelly Cook [00:14:12] He did awesome

Rey Trevino [00:14:12]  Yeah. And he’s 70 I don’t know how.

Kelly Cook [00:14:14] My dad is almost almost 70 he’s 67.

Rey Trevino [00:14:17] Yeah. Yeah, he is 70 out there. One of my pumpers is called one time, called me on RT. So yeah, he goes, Your dad is standing on the 48 inch pipe wrench trying to get it to go. No, he’s got to go.

Kelly Cook [00:14:28] That is so my Dad.

Rey Trevino [00:14:29] And that’s like, golly. So he’s out there. He’s been out there. He was out there for two days and he came back in last night, you know, typical, showered, shaved and then went right back out this morning. And I’m like, golly, it’s I enjoy it and I know what you mean. I’d much rather, you know, there’s days where in I’ve had to cancel sometimes the show because people are like, you know, I actually still see a ranch, right. I get out there and work and as I say, like, you know, I still got to make a living and a very lucky to do the show. So thank you very much for coming on.

Kelly Cook [00:14:58] You’re welcome. You’re welcome.

Rey Trevino [00:15:00] Okay. So we’d much rather be out there.

Kelly Cook [00:15:01] I would I like the field. Yes. So every time when he calls me and he’s like, hey, you know, can you come go grab the pipe trailer and go grab some, you know, go get do bring me with me. Yeah, I like it. Just it makes my heart so happy. Just getting to, like, kind of step back in time for just a second. Be like, this is when everything were simple and not so complicated, and my phone didn’t blow up, and I wasn’t worried about having it on me constantly.

Rey Trevino [00:15:23] Isn’t that nice? It is. It is. I’m picturing you, you know, being here in the Fort Worth area. We get a lot of people with the the horse trailers. And I feel like more times out of ten, it’s actually a lady driving this big old truck with like a 30 foot horse trailer.

Kelly Cook [00:15:38] All right.

Rey Trevino [00:15:38] And that’s so that’s kind of what I’m picturing you would use.

Kelly Cook [00:15:41] Like I was raised on horses, my brother, rodeos I did I was not the good one. Oh, he was the reason we were there. But yeah, no, we definitely after football games, basketball games, we all kind of took our shift. And that’s, you know, my my father raised me. I have two older brothers.

Rey Trevino [00:15:54] Okay?

Kelly Cook [00:15:55] So my father raised me just with them. I was never the one that wanted to stay home with mom and cook and clean. And I always went to work with dad or my grandfather and so I was definitely raised as a boy, you know?

Rey Trevino [00:16:07] Yeah.

Kelly Cook [00:16:08] Like they didn’t know what to do with me so they’re like, All right, here we go.

Rey Trevino [00:16:12] I think I would be like that we have you know, I was telling him in pre preproduction meeting talk where we want to call it. You know, I have one boy, I’ve one son. He’s just over a year old, six months and it’s like I don’t know what I would do if I had a girl. I wouldn’t know how to.

Kelly Cook [00:16:26] Well, at least you have a boy first yeah, that is awesome. So I only have two nieces. It wears me out because I want him to have a brother so bad so that way they’ll be tough and get, you know. But I.

Rey Trevino [00:16:35] Know that.

Kelly Cook [00:16:36] But they are tough

Rey Trevino [00:16:36]  My brother has two girls, so I have two nieces and that was it and then my mom, sometimes I hear her slip in a Oh, that’s my boy, which she’s holding my grandson.

Kelly Cook [00:16:47] So your mom only had boys?

Rey Trevino [00:16:49] Yeah. Oh, yeah, Im the oldest of three boys.

Kelly Cook [00:16:50] Okay very cool

Rey Trevino [00:16:51] And so sometimes I’m like, well, no, that that’s your grandson that was mine. So I get to keep it. He’s actually the fourth of the third. So he’s very the fourth. But but we call Duke.

Kelly Cook [00:17:01] I like that.

Rey Trevino [00:17:02] And so it’s fun. And in fact I want to show you a picture he was out in the field, I think less than six weeks old.

Kelly Cook [00:17:09] I love it and that is the way to do it.

Rey Trevino [00:17:10] And it was good. And if he wants to be in the industry, more power to him. If he doesn’t, hey, that’s that’s okay, too.

Kelly Cook [00:17:16] Absolutely.

Rey Trevino [00:17:17] But I would like to think I could throw him out on a rig somewhere around 17 or 19

Kelly Cook [00:17:21] You have to.

Rey Trevino [00:17:21] Just to be like, go get it. You know, I believe in college. I believe in. But that being said, I’ve gotten questions on interviews before I go on is people asked me like, well, how is it that, you know, these oil and gas guys under 22 years old are making so much money? And I’m like, well, when they’re 18, they’re not and they’re working really hard learning it’s like by the time they are 22, 23, they have a college degree type background in education. That’s where they deserve that,.

Kelly Cook [00:17:47] Right?

Rey Trevino [00:17:47] So the difference is when you go to college, when you get out of college, you don’t have that work experience to get that. So, yeah, you’re going to start.

Kelly Cook [00:17:54] You’re starting fresh.

Rey Trevino [00:17:55] And so it’s like, so then by the time four or five, six years old down the road, they’re at that level as well. I don’t so I don’t want anybody to think I’m knocking on not having a degree because I think this day and age, there’s people that do it, people that don’t.

Kelly Cook [00:18:09] Absolutely.

Rey Trevino [00:18:09] And everybody can be successful will see that either way.

Kelly Cook [00:18:12] I could not agree more.

Rey Trevino [00:18:13] And but so yeah that that’s what I’m going to teach them is you will work on a rig or do you want to go to college Like, you know, what do you want to do. Yeah. And, but we’ll see. But no. So yeah, like growing up with two boy older brothers. Wow That must have been fun.

Kelly Cook [00:18:27] Yeah. I love. You know, I hated it then, but I love it now. Yeah, I wouldn’t want it any other way.

Rey Trevino [00:18:32] Well, you said you weren’t any good at Rodeo so what did you rodeo?

Kelly Cook [00:18:35] So why did i?

Rey Trevino [00:18:37] NO What did you rodeo in?

Kelly Cook [00:18:38] Oh, I was just about racing in the polls and yeah,.

Rey Trevino [00:18:41] Okay.

Kelly Cook [00:18:41] But my brother, he was that he was the all star bull dagger and the roper. And he was he was the all star.

Rey Trevino [00:18:47] Okay. I like to go to the Fort Worth Rodeo, and he has an what is a bulldog?

Kelly Cook [00:18:52] So it’s where they go off the side of the horse and wrestle this.

Rey Trevino [00:18:55] Oh, okay.

Kelly Cook [00:18:56] Yeah. Dear Wrestling that’s what they call it.

Rey Trevino [00:18:59] Okay. Okay. No, no, that’s okay that’s okay I learned something new. Yeah. And I was like, Bulldog. I was like, You know what it is? I’ve heard the phrase all cowboy hat no cattle before.

Kelly Cook [00:19:09] Oh, yeah. No cat. I don’t know. Oh.

Rey Trevino [00:19:11] No cattle cowboy hat. I don’t know. I’ve heard it. Basically making fun of people. I think like me, that, you know, I’ll wear a cowboy hat. But, yeah, I got.

Kelly Cook [00:19:18] But you’re not going to go ride a horse?

Rey Trevino [00:19:19] No, no, no. I’ll ride a horse. I don’t. I don’t know. I don’t know how to. Oh, okay. I can. I can just throw in the whole nine yards. I could do that, but I don’t know any cattle. That’s. That’s where the thing of the.

Kelly Cook [00:19:30] I got you

Rey Trevino [00:19:31] I guess I’m still considered a poser, you know?

Kelly Cook [00:19:33] Yeah,.

Rey Trevino [00:19:34] But with the way Yellowstone has kicked off, I don’t know if you’ve ever seen that show.

Kelly Cook [00:19:38] Yeah.

Rey Trevino [00:19:38] Yeah. I think everybody these days loves being a cowboy again which brings us back to.

Kelly Cook [00:19:43] Back to back to our background.

Rey Trevino [00:19:44] To our roots, you know? And, um. But no, with you guys over there you know, one other thing that really caught my attention is that, okay, you’re a woman literally in the oilfield services. You’re not you are a sales person, but you own a company and you’re out there getting dirty. I mean, I can’t imagine what a job that is for you to be doing on a daily basis, you know? You know, Can you talk about that a little bit?

Kelly Cook [00:20:10] What do you mean? It’s just my day-to-day.

Rey Trevino [00:20:13] Yeah, your day-to-day and how it is like you’re showing upbeat. I mean, I can’t imagine it. I’ve never seen it. But obviously, you know, you showing up with the pipe really was like.

Kelly Cook [00:20:21] Okay, yeah, yeah. I’d normally get some crazy looks and, you know, a lot most, most of the locations I go to, everybody, you know, is extremely respectful and extremely and you know, let me help you with that.

Rey Trevino [00:20:32] Yeah.

Kelly Cook [00:20:32] I’m one of those like, get out of my way. I can do it myself. No, step off. But, you know, I do try to give them a little bit of grace and let them be a man sometimes it’s hard.

Rey Trevino [00:20:45] It’s well, you know, sometimes but you also have your own routine of you probably want to take a load of one.

Kelly Cook [00:20:54] And one of my biggest pet peeves is, is whenever where I don’t know and my father taught me to be this way. And when I’m one of my main guys, Colter, he’s this way. We’re very particular about our straps.

Rey Trevino [00:21:03] Okay.

Kelly Cook [00:21:03] And as we, you know, we haul cages and we have to roll up the straps. Well, another service company was just wide, my straps on, and I was like, Oh, hell no, like that. Like, give me my straps. You go get your pick up and leave. Like, I can’t.

Rey Trevino [00:21:15] Okay.

Kelly Cook [00:21:16] Yeah, but, you know, it’s just little things you just get, you know, whenever you if you get me Colton, Ronnie out on a rig move, we just all know our spot. You know what? Where you’re going, what we’re doing. Get out of the way. Don’t get out the way. You know, Help! Here, Help there. It’s.

Rey Trevino [00:21:27] It flows.

Kelly Cook [00:21:28] Yes. Yeah, very close.

Rey Trevino [00:21:30] And that’s one thing I enjoy. I think when you have good service companies that all know each other and work together, it flows like a symphony. All this is just beautiful music of the way people come in and out you talk about straps, you know, I know I like to roll mine up and.

Kelly Cook [00:21:48] You can’t.

Rey Trevino [00:21:48] Do that. Yeah, really tight and then you kind of do the little for listeners. I’m actually trying to figure out, you know, you.

Kelly Cook [00:21:55] You Can’t.

Rey Trevino [00:21:56] See I’m trying to do it, but then you do a little nod at the end of it and, and they just sit there, right? Nice and neat all the way.

Kelly Cook [00:22:02] Yeah and that won’t come undone.

Rey Trevino [00:22:04] Makes no sense because it’s a weenie of a not something like that but, but it works it looks really nice as you drive down the highway. Yep. And as I know exactly. I think I know which one you’re talking about. But hey, you may have your own way too.

Kelly Cook [00:22:15] And everybody does.

Rey Trevino [00:22:16] You know, everybody has the best.

Kelly Cook [00:22:18] Mine is the right way.

Rey Trevino [00:22:18] Yeah, they know that and that’s the truth that’s the crude truth everybody’s is the right way.

Kelly Cook [00:22:24] Right.

Rey Trevino [00:22:25] And. Well, What’s next for you guys? What are you all looking to do? And, you know, kind of head of BEI what do you all thinking?

Kelly Cook [00:22:31] You know, honestly, we’ve got a lot going on right now. I’m trying to which we’re going to we’re adding it. We just added an additional crew this week and we got a lot of things going on. Remediation is one of my top priorities coming up, and I’m pretty excited about it but I’m doing a lot of research.

Kelly Cook [00:22:51] I’m one of those. I can’t just dive into something without knowing what I’m talking about. And so I want to, you know, I’m educating myself, working with a lot of people. And so, yeah, as soon as I get a good foundation on that, that’s, that’s my plan with B is moving towards that.

Rey Trevino [00:23:08] Well what are you thinking with the remediation and how are you all thinking? That’s going to be pretty important here over the next 5 to 10 years?

Kelly Cook [00:23:13] I do believe so. So, you know, of course, with the drones and everything else that the royal commission is getting, they’re catching more leaks, catching more problems, catching more things that that production company just haven’t kept up with or, you know, just maybe out of sight, out of mind and see. Yeah. And so I feel like I, I feel like, yeah, that that’s going to be a good get into. Starting to move up in.

Rey Trevino [00:23:33] Well, I can’t disagree with you that it’s got to be more important on my end as a small operator. I think it’s going to just cost me more money.

Kelly Cook [00:23:42] It is and that’s, you know, job security.

Rey Trevino [00:23:46] There you go. I don’t know if you had a chance to do any background research on me, but I’ve had on Wayne Christian a couple of times, and I’m hoping to get a Christie Craddock on here real soon.

Rey Trevino [00:23:57] And, you know, I think what they do is very important. It’s actually, I think, even gotten better in the last ten years, especially since we started, like I said, in 2011. And I think what the royal commission has done by doing all this has really helped West Texas.

Rey Trevino [00:24:15] I mean, you look at the emissions out there and the CO2, they are so low yet again, we still have methane. And I mean, you know, but they we’ve really cut them back. Knock on wood, the leaks, the spills, you know, there are few and far between. I mean, what are you seeing out there in West Texas?

Kelly Cook [00:24:32] No. I agree completely and then, you know, the gas kills gas sales going up rather than flaring. And, you know, it just to me, it all works together. It’s all just a big ball. Just keep on circling circle and circle.

Rey Trevino [00:24:41] Okay? And do you feel that we that you know, us as operators are doing a very good job at keeping things clean?

Kelly Cook [00:24:50] You know, I try to think of especially operators, you know, y’all are just like us. She got to think about your cash flow. You got to think about your people, what’s best, what’s best for everyone, not just yourself and I couldn’t imagine,.

Kelly Cook [00:25:01] You know, and looking at the cost of services, looking at the cost of repairs, at the cost of, you know, steel pipe right now, I mean, it is a big tall look like clamps, like, you know, it is crazy. And I couldn’t imagine being in your shoes. And so I definitely like awarded to anyone in production. I’ve seen it both ways and it is it’s a lot to handle, a lot of decisions you have to make.

Rey Trevino [00:25:23] There’s a lot of decisions we make no different than you guys but I know as an operator, you know, we trust, you know, a lot like your culture guy sounds like the kind of guy.

Kelly Cook [00:25:31]  he is a lot

Rey Trevino [00:25:32] You know, that’s like, All right no, they’re saying to do this over there. All right, let’s go. Because, you know, first and foremost, you know, for a listen to operators are a lot like general contractors that are building a house.

Kelly Cook [00:25:42] Absolutely.

Rey Trevino [00:25:43] It’s like, okay, I’m the one that’s building the house I’m the one responsible. However, I need to get my painter out there. I get the car.

Kelly Cook [00:25:49] Interest in you

Rey Trevino [00:25:50] Yes. It’s like, hey, I need you to build my battery.

Kelly Cook [00:25:53] Absolutely.

Rey Trevino [00:25:54] Oh, hey, can you run that flow line for me that’s, you know, that’s what you’re doing. Because now I get out there and do it, too, because I’m. Hey, man. Well, you know, I did it about a month ago because they had somebody call in and it would have knocked them back about a day or two.

Rey Trevino [00:26:08] And it’s like, Oh, man. Okay, well, let me get out there. Just get it done on time. And the other part I always look at with the service side is that you guys, I feel like a great and I know that the prices have gone up and I’m worried about that and I’ll tell you why.

Rey Trevino [00:26:26] A lot of service companies raise rates when we hit 100 about six months ago, which everybody stayed pat for like three or four years, right? So I can’t imagine, especially during the downturn, you know, everybody stayed the pat and it wasn’t really a big deal, especially when we hit negative there for a day and they finally got back to normal.

Rey Trevino [00:26:48] But I’m a little worried that when we hit 100 again, because we’re going to hit 100 this year and I’m saying that I’m slowly backing off my prediction in January that we would average $100 oil this year if we get to the end of May and we’re not at 95. I’m back off that prediction.

Kelly Cook [00:27:04] Right.

Rey Trevino [00:27:04] But we will see it so my fear is, are you all the service companies going to then raise rates again?

Kelly Cook [00:27:10] Right.

Rey Trevino [00:27:10] Because I don’t know how we’re going to handle it because pipe has gone up so expensive steel that what was costing us. You’ll just use an example, $1,000,00012 months ago is now costing us almost $2 million.

Kelly Cook [00:27:24] Absolutely.

Rey Trevino [00:27:25] You know, there was a report done that in the Permian operator spent 50% more in 2022 than they did the year before, obviously, but production only went up 6%. And I yeah, that’s because the cost, the.

Kelly Cook [00:27:38] Cost and then, you know, everything just blew up and rigs not being available y’all not able to get the services needing done because we just don’t have the workforce.

Rey Trevino [00:27:46] No, no. And that’s the other thing you know I had on a several other guest have talked about the work for my youngest brother. He’s 33 and he’s part of the young worker, like he’s part of the young group because nobody’s wanted to come to work out there anymore.

Rey Trevino [00:28:01] And it’s just blowing my mind that’s like, man, where are you know, here we were talking about 18, 19-year-olds. You know, nobody’s willing to get out there and do the work, and absolutely not. And so that’s also been something. And then, you know, some of these rigs have been down for six months or longer. Well, it’s going to take three months just to grease it up.

Kelly Cook [00:28:20] Right exactly.

Rey Trevino [00:28:21] And make sure.

Kelly Cook [00:28:21] That, you know, you got to think of the cost on that service company that that’s going to take.

Rey Trevino [00:28:24] Yeah.

Kelly Cook [00:28:25] And that, you know, the downtime that it cost to them. It’s yeah, it’s a it’s crazy. It is.

Rey Trevino [00:28:30] A snowball effect and God willing, hopefully, we can do some things here in the near future to get more people really more, for lack of better words, oil again, just so that we can help out with this economy, because God knows that right now, you know, inflation.

Rey Trevino [00:28:45] Yeah, these high gasoline prices add to it and yes, the high oil prices but why are we trying to I guess I’m getting off on a soapbox, but why are we trying to raise these rates, which then affects every single American? Yeah. Yes, it does. I still got to put gas in my vehicle. And, you know, and you know, but I think the people that are making decisions don’t do that anymore. You know, they know. Oh, God, no. They don’t care.

Kelly Cook [00:29:09] They don’t care.

Rey Trevino [00:29:10] And you know, what’s what’s coming you know, well, what’s one of the things with this remediation? You’re very excited about it. And I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that. And here we’re talking about the Railroad Commission that, hey, man, they’re using drones. I forgot that they’re using drones.

Kelly Cook [00:29:26] Yeah. I mean, they have a lot of I mean, technology. Look at it. You know what I mean? Yeah. And so they’re using it to their advantage, which is awesome. I’m not so operator’s advantage though, but to my advantage also because it’s job security.

Rey Trevino [00:29:38] It is job security. And you know, the big guys are never going to worry about what’s going on with the Railroad Commission and regulations because they’ve got the team.

Kelly Cook [00:29:48] They’ve got their lawyers, they’ve got their lawyers, they’ve got their everything.

Rey Trevino [00:29:52] And they may or may not.

Kelly Cook [00:29:53] Think the big service companies to with.

Rey Trevino [00:29:55] Oh yeah, oh yeah, yeah and then us you know, I remember the one time I felt like I was right there with Pioneer was after the downturn and all the independents got together in Austin and there’s Pioneer right there with the rest of us going like, okay, this, this downturn is real. The pioneers here today.

Kelly Cook [00:30:13] And you’re there.

Rey Trevino [00:30:14] Because, you know, they’re still considered a small producer, you know, a small independent or an independent, which everybody considered an all small. But it’s not we’re all not small. I mean, I think they’re doing a million or 100,000, something like that barrels a day. And, you know, so good for them.

Rey Trevino [00:30:30] But anyway, you know, the big companies, they don’t got to worry about these regulations. You know, if there’s like a prairie chicken or something. Right. Exxon will go hire five biologists tomorrow so they can go figure out the whole deal on the prairie chicken and why it’s probably okay to go drill me on the other hand, I’m like, Oh, well, I guess I’ll find another spot. Maybe the prairie chicken to migrate out of here.

Kelly Cook [00:30:51] Yeah, yeah, that’s exactly right. You know.

Rey Trevino [00:30:53] Because I just can’t get those five biologists, you know, and I can get a book.

Kelly Cook [00:30:57] It’s not affordable.

Rey Trevino [00:30:58] No, not even close. Not even close. and ah. But, you know, Kelly, I cannot thank you enough. How can people find BEI and, you know, if they want to use your services and I guess, you know, we did kind of touch on where you guys do work, but, you know, where are you all doing your work?

Kelly Cook [00:31:15] So we’re pretty wide variety. So I’m in round Murchison up round where all the Permian Basin where Snyder Road and Abilene Sweetwater where little bit of big radius there.

Rey Trevino [00:31:27] That’s very big radius you know when when when people look at a map of just they can just look at Abilene and go west. Absolutely Let’s just call from there. That’s a big, big part of Texas right there.

Kelly Cook [00:31:37] Yeah.

Rey Trevino [00:31:38] And I shoot I think from there it’s still seven or 8 hours drives just to El Paso.

Kelly Cook [00:31:41] Yeah.

Rey Trevino [00:31:42] Have Correct. From Abilene.

Kelly Cook [00:31:43] Yes.

Rey Trevino [00:31:43] And I think it’s 5 hours from Midland, right?

Kelly Cook [00:31:45] Yes. Yeah. Right around four or five.

Rey Trevino [00:31:47] Four or 5 hours. Yeah. So people you know, well listeners out there that aren’t in Texas, I mean, we have a big state.

Kelly Cook [00:31:52] We do.

Rey Trevino [00:31:53] How can they get a hold of you guys?

Kelly Cook [00:31:54] So I’m on Facebook or on LinkedIn mainly is is my main platform right now. But yeah, we’ve got a website, you know, all that good stuff.

Kelly Cook [00:32:05] Okay, Well, again, I cannot thank you enough for coming on today and coming to the studios and coming up to Fort Worth. What you guys are doing, keep it up in the remediation thing, you know, Good luck with that. And and thank you very much. And thank you to all my listeners out there. And we’ll see you next time on another episode of The Crude Truth.

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