Pivotal Strategic Solutions

07/11/2026

Part 3:

When does a mature oil or gas well stop being an asset and become a liability?

I believe we’ve been asking that question backwards.

Too often, once a well becomes marginal or inactive, the assumption is that its highest public value is to be plugged.

But what if that’s not always true?

What if that mature well can still:

• Return to production under new economics?
• Produce geothermal energy?
• Recover critical minerals or iodine from produced water?
• Serve future carbon management projects?
• Become valuable infrastructure for technologies we haven’t fully developed yet?

The first question shouldn’t be:

“How quickly can we plug it?”

It should be:

“Is this well creating greater public value as an asset than it would as a plugged liability?”

In Part Three of The Life Cycle of America’s Oil and Gas Wells, I argue that mature wells should be evaluated—not presumed—to be liabilities.

Good stewardship protects the environment.

It also preserves valuable assets whenever they continue to serve the public interest.

I’d appreciate your thoughts and respectful discussion.

Read the full article on my Substack.

Part Three: Asset or Liability?

07/07/2026

The Life Cycle of America’s Oil and Gas Wells
Part Two: Bonding Is Not Plugging

Most people assume that requiring more bonding automatically means more wells get plugged.

It doesn’t.

Bonding is a financial assurance mechanism. It is not a plugging program.

That distinction matters.

Across America, states are requiring operators to commit billions of dollars in additional surety bonds, letters of credit, cash collateral, and other forms of financial assurance.

The purpose is understandable: protect taxpayers and ensure funds are available if an operator fails to meet its obligations.

The question is whether the current system is producing environmental benefits that justify its economic costs.

Every dollar tied up in financial assurance is a dollar that cannot be used to maintain producing wells, return marginal wells to production, employ workers, pay royalty owners, invest in new technology, or eventually plug wells when they truly reach the end of their useful lives.

Economists call this opportunity cost.

Good public policy requires more than good intentions.

It requires evidence that the benefits justify the costs.

In this second installment of my series, I ask a simple question:

If we are requiring industry to commit billions of dollars in additional financial assurance, where is the evidence that these requirements are producing a proportional increase in wells plugged or orphan wells prevented?

This is not an argument against environmental responsibility.

It is an argument for accountability, stewardship, and better public policy.

I welcome your thoughts and respectful discussion.

Read the full article on my Substack.

Why requiring billions of dollars in additional financial assurance deserves a rigorous cost-benefit review.

06/30/2026

Production came first. Regulation followed.

That’s a historical fact that should shape how we think about regulating America’s legacy oil and gas wells.

In every major producing state—Pennsylvania, Oklahoma, Texas, Louisiana, New Mexico, West Virginia, and North Dakota—oil and natural gas production began before many of the environmental regulations we now consider standard.

That doesn’t mean those wells should be exempt from regulation.

It does mean they should be regulated with an understanding of the historical standards under which they were developed.

In my latest Substack companion essay, “The Evolution of Oil and Gas Regulation: Why History Matters,” I argue that regulation is both necessary and an added cost of production.

The best regulatory systems recognize history, protect groundwater, prevent waste, and preserve valuable domestic energy resources whenever reasonably possible.

After more than fifty years in the industry, I’ve come to believe the best model has always been collaborative regulation—regulators and operators working together to achieve compliance while protecting both the environment and the public interest.

History matters.

I’d welcome your thoughts.

We all recognize that regulation of the oil and natural gas industry is necessary.

06/16/2026

An Oil Deal That Ended a War Nobody Won.

The line of the day is simple: “The devil is in the details.”

We all hope this agreement ultimately prevents Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

We all hope the Strait of Hormuz is reopened and remains open.

We all hope Hezbollah and Israel step back from a cycle of destruction that has destabilized the region for decades.

But right now, hope is about all we have until we know the details of the agreement and, more importantly, whether those details are actually enforced.

To me, the 60-day time frame remains very nebulous. If Iran gains access to frozen assets or sanctions relief before its nuclear program and nuclear material are verifiably dismantled, that raises serious concerns.

At first glance, I don’t see a dramatic difference from where we were under the Obama agreement, except that this time military force was used and significant military and nuclear infrastructure was destroyed.

The stakes could not be higher—for the Middle East, for global energy markets, and for the world’s economic stability. As always, the details—and the follow-through—will determine whether this is a historic breakthrough or simply another temporary pause in a conflict that remains unresolved.

A 60-day U.S.-Iran ceasefire framework reportedly reopens the Strait of Hormuz, but it remains a temporary and contested arrangement rather than a full political settlement.

06/03/2026

06/02/2026

Through the years, I’ve supported a lot of candidates for public office. Malana Bracht is a shining star!
She and her husband, Travis have sacrificed everything to start a church and now to bring Christian principles into public service.
I have attended their church and they are the real deal! I encourage you to support her candidacy

https://www.bracht4senate.com/?fbclid=IwZnRzaASL_yxleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZAo2NjI4NTY4Mzc5AAEetOFQmt4Temje_A_flZZ3ZqdbyYBb1TiVbchlwAa4gbVntXwjcTfuqZ71Sxc_aem_rVhd53u9dC5qKw98p8Bf7g

Malana Bracht is a Conservative Republican running for Oklahoma State Senate representing Midwest City, Choctaw, Jones, and parts of Luther and Oklahoma City, District 42. Malana Bracht is from Midwest City Oklahoma and is the author of Images of America: Midwest City by Arcadia Publishing.

06/02/2026

Missi Currier, the head of the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association, is a dynamic leader. She may be one of the most effective and respected petroleum association executives in America.

This clip reminded me of a chapter in my book Advance entitled “Sometimes You Just Have to Break the China,” taken from a quote by Winston Churchill, who once said, “John Foster Dulles is a bull who carries his own china closet with him.” I’ve been accused of being that guy myself.

While the peaceful resolution of controversial issues is always preferable, sometimes you simply “have to break the china.”

Missi Currier — one of the most diplomatic people I know — just demonstrated that she also knows how to throw down when the moment requires it.

It is unusual, politically incorrect, and even risky for the head of a petroleum association to publicly call out a candidate who has a legitimate chance of becoming governor of the state where she has to work. But it is also courageous — and, in this case, absolutely necessary.

I generally subscribe to the old political adage that in the political arena we only have friends and potential friends. That should remain the mantra… until someone demonstrates otherwise.

New Mexico Oil and Gas Association President Missi Currier told a crowd to oppose former Interior Secretary Deb Haaland's bid for governor.

06/02/2026

Mindy Stitt- Dost was the first employee that the OERB hired. We hired her because of her organizational skills and ability to just get things done at a rapid speed.

While Mike Terry was our first Executive Director and did a terrific job, Mindy was almost totally responsible for conceptualizing, building, working with the state Department of education in making the student education piece of the program unique in America. That program has educated thousands of students over the years about Energy.

Mindy also worked with the state Department of Education and the API to create an energy curriculum unique to Oklahoma schools that is fair and balanced without political agenda.

When Mike Terry left there was simply no other consideration but to hire Mindy to run the entire program. I think Mike would be the first to agree, she was running a lot of it anyway.

Mindy, I’m really sorry to see your step down as you have been so instrumental in building and maintaining with integrity, the greatest oil and gas public relations program in the country.

I wish you the very best and all that you do from now on. Your contribution to our industry has been invaluable! 

We all love you!

Bubba. 

After 32 years with the Oklahoma Energy Resources Board, it’s hard to put into words the impact Mindy Stitt-Dost has made on our organization and across Oklahoma.

Her leadership, passion, and dedication to the people of Oklahoma Oil & Natural Gas have helped shape programs, support educators and students, and make a difference in communities across our state.

Mindy, thank you for the countless ways you’ve poured into OERB over the years. We are so grateful for your leadership, friendship, and the legacy you leave behind.

Please help us wish her a very happy retirement and an exciting next chapter! 💙

06/02/2026

For some reason, it is always been my fate to emulate the little boy in the ESOP fable who pointed out “the Emperor has no clothes“.

I’m about to do that here and take the unthinkable position of disagreeing with President Donald J Trump.

I only know personally three candidates in the Republican primary. Gentner Drumond, Mike Mazzei, and Charles McCall.
I personally like all three.

But my choice from the beginning has been Attorney General Drumond. We don’t agree on every issue. I doubt that I would agree on every issue with any of the candidates. Our rights and our responsibility as American citizens is to make the best informed decision we can and choose the Candidate of our choice.

I for one will never relegate that right to anyone, including the president I like , Donald J Trump. And I’m not afraid to admit that I don’t like him all of the time. 

In my view, we have never had an Attorney General as effective as Gentner Drummond.

He has not just talked the talk. He has walked the walk, supporting conservative issues like suing the Biden EPA several times when their extremist policies threatened our oil and gas industry, thwarted illegal immigration, running the cartels out of Oklahoma, and intervening when the Chinese have tried to take over our valuable farm land and water rights.

He has vigorously prosecuted those that he has thought have broken the law. I don’t even agree with all of his prosecutions.

But the bottom line for me is that “talk is cheap“. No other Candidate has taken a stand on issues that conservatives should care about like General Drumond.He’s a proven fighter and that’s what I want in a Governor. In my view, it is simply petty to hold it against General Drummond because his wife wrote a check to Joe Biden. Even then, when they realized it was on a joint checking account, they asked for it to be returned. How sexist is it when we expect an independent woman and an accomplished attorney and business woman like Wendy Drumond to give up her right to exercise her own opinion. Goodness, even Ronald Reagan was once a labor leading democrat. What does that have to do with the price of tea in China, or the quality of life in Oklahoma? 

I encourage everyone to make their own minds up based on information and facts and not on who one man 3000 miles away in Washington DC believes would be most loyal to him personally. I find that offensive. 

I am a strong supporter of the policies of Donald J Trump. But I think it erodes our democracy and flies in the face of federalism (states Rights) when our chief Executive inserts himself in primaries all across the country.

We should never give up the right and the responsibility to think for ourselves; especially when it concerns one of our most important responsibilities -that of voting for the Candidate of our choice 

Whoever is your choice for governor-you decide. 

05/12/2026

I participated in an interview recently, discussing how energy fuels more than just economies - it's essential to daily life. I'm grateful for the opportunity to address the realities, challenges, and future of the oil and gas industry.

Oil prices continue to ride a market rollar coaster. Up one day, down the next. How is that uncertainty impacting Oklahoma's oil and gas industry, and could ...