http://greeninc.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/29/big-utilities-pull-back-on-coal-plant-plans/

Eric’sWeb

http://geology.com/press-release/geothermal-power-plant-productivity/

Eric’sWeb

Promises, promises.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20602099&sid=amm7GJfWypJE

Almost $6000/per acre paid for 37,000 acre block.

http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2009/09/post_15.html

Eric’sWeb

I was surveying some shallow gas wells near Billings, when I recalled the first well I ever drilled in NobleCounty.  I briefly recounted the story to the three people in the vehicle with me but I omitted telling them about the pathos I felt at the time.

It was near the lowest financial ebb for Anne and I following the eighties oil bust.  We had a very large glass piggy bank that we had filled with coins over the years and we had agreed to wait until our most desperate moment before opening it and spending the coins.  The time finally arrived.

We were expecting thousands but there was only about two-hundred-sixty dollars in the glass pig.  The money tided us over for the moment but we got down to our last dollar on more than one occasion.  Somehow, every time our money became dangerously low I would somehow manage to sell a prospect or make a few bucks doing a little consulting job.

There were few real jobs available in the State at the time and there was a joke going around about a geologist that applied for a job flipping burgers at McDonald’s.

“Sorry,” the manager told him.  All the geologists that work for us have Master’s Degrees.”

The story wasn’t far from the truth.

Before the “Bust”, I had an ego as large as Texas.  Geologists must have a second sense to find oil many miles below the earth’s surface and the best are dubbed oil finders.  I knew that I was good and I knew that I was also incredibly lucky.

One of the founders of Texas Oil & Gas once told me, “Eric, you have a gift.  You’re an oil finder.  There aren’t many around like you and if you can find oil and gas the world will beat a path to your door.”

It didn’t seem like anyone was searching very hard for me in 1989 as I remember going a year without selling a prospect.  Somehow, Anne and I managed to eke out a living but my pocketbook and my ego had taken a huge pummeling.  I had lost my mojo and everything I touched seemed to turn to turkey poop.

My dreams, along with my ego, took a severe bruising.  I continued working and had the idea for a drilling prospect in NobleCounty, a county I had never previously worked.  Unable to afford professional drafting I drew the map on a sheet of typing paper and colored it with a used set of thrift store colored pencils.  It took me a while to find someone that even wanted to look at it.

One weekend I read an ad in the Sunday Oklahoman classifieds posted by someone with a Dallas area code. The tiny ad said they were looking for a geologic prospect.  I called the number before finishing my first cup of morning coffee.

Two days later a man driving a Volkswagen with a large rubber roach attached to the roof drove into our driveway.  He had a small exterminating company in Dallas and he drove a bus at the DFWAirport.  Before the crash, he had worked in a phone room raising money.  He thought the time was right and that he could raise enough money on his own to drill a well.  He left Oklahoma City with my hand-drawn maps after giving Anne and me a check for $7000.00.  We were on Cloud Nine.

Two years passed and he hadn’t drilled the well.  He finally called and told me in his slow Texas drawl that he had decided not to drill it.

“My engineer says even if we find what we’re looking for that it will be drained.”

I spent the next hour convincing him that his engineer was wrong.  Tom D was (is) a good man.  He could hear the neediness in my voice and knew that if he had been there in person that he would have seen me on my knees.

“All right,” he finally said.  “You talked me into drilling the well but I’m only doing it because I believe in you.  I hope you don’t let me down.”

I barely had any swagger left by this time in my life.  As he began drilling, I knew that this was his one and only shot at success.  If he drilled a dry hole, he was on his back to driving a bus at DFW again.  I had pretty much badgered him into drilling the location, a well about which some engineer was still shaking his head.  With my ego damaged and mojo gone, I now had a ton of guilt on my shoulders to make matters worse.

All sorts of scenarios are possible from this point of the story.  We could have drilled a dry hole prompting Tom D to commit suicide, or something equally horrible.  It didn’t happen that way.  We nailed the zone, just as planned.  Anne and I had three percent of the well and it came on for one-hundred-forty-five barrels of oil and four-hundred-fifty MCFG.  The well made us lots of money over the years and it is still producing.

Hundreds of wells later my damaged mojo has never fully recovered and I don’t suppose it ever will.  As I returned from NobleCounty, I thought about Tom D and that first well.  I also thought about the good times Anne and I had during the bad times and it made me sad that she isn’t alive.

Times are tough these days and maybe my age and my own experiences qualify me as someone that can give a little honest advice.  It’s just this – Never quit believing in yourself no matter how bad things become.  You can’t really lose your mojo, but sometimes you have to remain persistent to coax it out of hiding.

Eric'sWeb

The Commander’s Palace is one of the finer restaurants in New Orleans. Here is one of their recipes from their website.

SHRIMP AND TASSO WITH FIVE-PEPPER JELLY

36 Jumbo shrimp (shelled and deveined)
6 oz. Spicy tasso (julienne into 1" strips)
36 Pickled okra
5 Pepper jelly (see below)
Crystal Hot Sauce (above)

Make a 1/4" incision down the back of each shrimp and place one stripe of tasso on each incision. Secure with a toothpick. Lightly dust each shrimp with seasoned flour and fry.

Placed cooked shrimp in a bowl with 4 oz. of Crystal hot butter sauce and toss until well coated.

Spread 5-pepper jelly on the bottom of a small dish and arrange shrimp on the plate alternating with the pickled okra.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

FIVE PEPPER JELLY

1 each Red, Yellow and Green peppers diced
1 Jalapeno
1/4 tsp. Pepper Flakes
6 oz. Karo Light Syrup
6 oz. White vinegar

Put light syrup and vinegar in a pot and reduce until sticky. Add remaining ingredients and cook until the peppers are soft. Add salt to taste.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

CRYSTAL HOT SAUCE BEURRE BLANC

5 oz. Crystal hot sauce
Pinch of garlic
Pinch of shallot
2 oz. Heavy Cream
1 1/2 lb. Butter

Sauté garlic and shallots in a pan with a little butter. Add Crystal Hot Sauce and reduce by 75%. Add cream and reduce again by 50%. Slowly whip in softened butter a little at a time.

Louisiana Mystery Writer

 “One thing is for sure -- energy consumption will not decrease anymore.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20602099&sid=a.jxd8hCg318

Eric’sWeb

An interesting and informative article.

http://www.epmag.com/WebOnly2009/item45570.php

Eric’sWeb

Why are natural gas prices rallying? No one wants to miss the party.

http://www.calgaryherald.com/Mapping+path+natural/2015914/story.html

Eric’sWeb

Sector's Uneven Recovery Results in Growing Disparity Between Companies With Cash and Those Without

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125357165232729207.html

Eric’sWeb

An interesting article for more than one reason.

http://www.rigzone.com/news/article.asp?a_id=80579

Eric’sWeb

“if geological and financial impediments are ultimately surmountable, political constraints are harder to drill through, particularly in countries where the industry is in state ownership.”

http://www.rigzone.com/news/article.asp?a_id=80464&hmpn=1

Eric’sWeb

Another Haynesville article for all of you “Shalies” out there.

http://www.forbes.com/2009/06/05/natural-gas-haynesville-shale-business-energy-haynesville.html

Several years ago, I sold a geologic prospect to a Dallas company. Much as it is now, times in the oil patch were tough. Part of the requirement for buying my prospect was that I had to help them “promote” it to the industry. They paid my airfare and expenses, and their engineer Don and I spent almost a year traveling all over the country trying to sell it. We never quite accomplished our goal.

After a day of showing the prospect to various Dallas companies, landman Charlie and I visited a dark Texas bar to unwind from the stressful day. He thought I was crazy when I heard a booming voice in the darkness and I said, “I know that voice.”

It was a friend of mine holding court at the bar. I hadn’t seen him in ten years, but no one on earth sounded like him. He was big, six four, three-hundred pounds and his voice was as deep and melodious as any television announcer was. His name was Big Bill Boorhem.

We renewed our friendship and he subsequently bought a prospect from me and drilled nine shallow wells on it. He and Kathy, his significant other, moved to Seattle on their sailboat, and then back to Texas. When Anne became ill with cancer, they would come up from Texas, cook for us and generally try to help us keep our spirits up.

Bill owned a restaurant for a time in Dallas called Suds and Duds. He knew many great southwestern recipes and loved “Austin” music.

Bill, alas, didn’t live much longer than Anne, succumbing to lung disease. No, he wasn’t a smoker. Here is one of his recipes that I recited to my Mother over the phone and she returned to me sometime later in a letter.

Bill, like me, loved beer. I got him to drinking brewpub beer and he became somewhat of a “beer snob.” His favorite was Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. I’m telling you this because I know you will love his recipe. When you are having your first scrumptious bowl, pop the top on a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale and toast Big Billy for both of us.

Big Billy’s White Bean Chicken Chili

• 1 ½ lbs of breast, cut into bite sized pieces
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 3 large cloves, minced
• 1 tsp cumin
• ½ tsp cayenne pepper
• ½ tsp chili powder
• ½ tsp salt
• 3 cups chicken broth
• 1 lb white beans, cooked and drained
• 1 large onion, diced (about 1 ¾  cups)

Heat a large pot over medium-high heat. Add oil, onion, celery, chicken and salt. Sauté until the onion is transparent and chicken begins to brown. Add remaining ingredients.

Bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer, covered, for 45 minutes.

Top with a dollop of sour cream, a sprinkling of cheddar cheese, and sliced green onions just before serving.

Louisiana Mystery Writer

Heartache in the Heartland.

http://newsok.com/energy-industry-slowdown-means-idle-rigs-cuts-in-jobs/article/3401946?custom_click=pod_headline_energy

Eric’sWeb

Nothing to do with energy but interesting.

http://www.wsgs.uwyo.edu/Publications/OnlinePubs/docs/IP-12new.pdf

Eric’sWeb

With the prospect that oil and gas are undervalued, traders jump on board.

http://www.rigzone.com/news/article.asp?a_id=80424&hmpn=1

Eric’sWeb

NG prices rebound despite glut.

http://www.rigzone.com/news/article.asp?a_id=80321&hmpn=1

Eric’sWeb

Weekly production less than expected.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125287811513106893.html

Eric’sWeb

Interesting historical statistics.

http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/oog/info/twip/twiparch/090910/twipprint.html

Eric'sWeb

Oil imports increase, exacerbating balance-of-trade.

http://newsok.com/august-marks-largest-oil-imports-for-year/article/3400481

Eric’sWeb

Many types of people, both male and female, populate the domestic oil industry but none of them saints.  During my tenure in the business, I have met many of its denizens but the most colorful of all was a person named Harold - not his real name.

Harold, an OJT geophysicist that had found a billion (I'm not exaggerating!) barrel oil field in Nigeria for Mobil Oil.  He was quite seriously, one of smartest persons I have ever met.  Unfortunately, he had a larcenous side.

Anne and I had a company in bankruptcy when Harold showed up on our doorstep, his own oil Company and sixteen-hundred acre Texas ranch in foreclosure.  He parked his old Mercury (the only vehicle he had left) in our driveway and proceeded to move into our spare bedroom where he stayed for about two months.

During the time that he lived with us, Harold drank every drop of liquor in the house, became engaged to a woman he somehow met in the interim, and talked to our creditor's committee, telling them we were incompetent and needed replacing as debtors-in-possession.  When I heard what he had done, I hung him out the second story window by his heel, threatening to let go.

"I don't really care how you treat people that you don't know, but Anne and I are your friends.  You shouldn't treat us like marks."

My actions must have had an effect because Harold never again treated me, or Anne, like a mark.  He did talk the owner of an OKC mud company into starting an oil company and hiring him as president.  The long-time mud company owner died a pauper after Harold had sucked off every penny he had.

I got to thinking about Harold after my story about the Carousel Lounge in Shreveport.  Harold, Anne and I had an adventure at the Carousel Lounge in New Orleans, at the Monteleone Hotel - an adventure instigated by Harold.  Never drink at a rotating bar, is a rule that I had lived by for years, only to violate it some twenty years later.

Louisiana Mystery Writer

My second wife Anne and I ate at Mr. B’s on Royal Street for the first time shortly after its opening in 1979. The B in Mr. B’s stands for Brennan, a name synonymous with fine dining. I love the restaurant and I featured it in a scene in my novel A Gathering of Diamonds. Here is a recipe for their version of gumbo (oh yes, it is very good!) from their website.

Mr. B’s Gumbo Ya Ya

Making a roux is tricky business. Some pointers to keep in mind: cook your roux over moderately low heat because too high heat will cause the roux to speckle and if that happens you’ll have to throw it away and start over; add the flour gradually to the butter or oil; you must stir the roux constantly with a wooden spoon, your arm will get a workout; and never, but never leave your roux unattended.

This recipe makes a lot of gumbo, 6 quarts, so you’ll have enough for a big party or you can freeze some for later.

• 1 lb. (4 sticks) unsalted butter
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 red bell peppers, in medium dice
• 2 green bell peppers, in medium dice
• 2 medium onions, in medium dice
• 2 celery stalks, in medium dice
• 1 1/4 gallon (20 cups) chicken stock
• 2 tablespoons Creole seasoning
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon dried hot red pepper flakes
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 tablespoon chopped garlic
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 tablespoons kosher salt
• 1 lb. andouille sausage, cut into 1/4 inch-thick slices
• 3 1/2 lb. chicken, roasted and boned
• hot sauce to taste
• boiled rice as accompaniment

In a 12-quart stockpot, melt butter over moderately low heat. Gradually add a third of the flour, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, and cook, stirring constantly, 30 seconds. Add a third more flour and stir constantly 30 seconds. Add remaining third of flour and stir constantly 30 seconds. Continue to cook roux, stirring constantly, until it is the color of dark mahogany, about 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Add bell peppers and stir constantly 30 seconds. Add onions and celery and stir constantly 30 seconds. Add the stock to roux, stirring constantly to prevent lumps. Add all remaining ingredients except chicken, rice, and hot sauce and bring to a boil. Simmer gumbo, uncovered, 45 minutes, skimming off any fat and stirring occasionally. Add chicken and simmer 15 minutes. Adjust seasoning with hot sauce. Serve over rice.

Yield: about 6 quarts

CREOLE SEASONING

• 1 1/2 cups paprika
• 3/4 cup ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup kosher salt
• 1/3 cup granulated garlic
• 1/3 cup dried thyme
• 1/3 cup dried oregano
• 1/3 cup dried basil
• 1/4 cup granulated onion
• 1/4 cup cayenne

In a bowl, combine all ingredients. Store in an airtight container

Yield: 4 cups

Louisiana Mystery Writer

CEO Says High Taxes Limit Energy Exploration; 'Not at Any Price'

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125253964544897599.html

Eric’sWeb

New find will take everything the industry can throw at it.

http://www.epmag.com/WebOnly2009/item44985.php

Eric’sWeb

A “no-brainer” prediction.

http://www.rigzone.com/news/article.asp?a_id=80111&hmpn=1

Eric’sWeb

OPEC satisfied with oil prices.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20602099&sid=aW8TNusEGi8c

Eric’sWeb

Here comes the Marcellus!

http://www.epmag.com/WebOnly2009/item44832.php

Eric’sWeb

A segment on the world's hottest pepper appeared on Nightline. The pepper comes from a remote part of India and one restaurant in Chicago uses it to make what they advertise as the world's hottest chicken wings. A Nightline reporter interviewed the chef who informed him they made their customers sign a waiver before serving them their specialty hot wings. This is because the Indian pepper is 2000 times hotter than a jalapeno on the SHU scale, a scale for measuring the caipusun content (the chemical that makes it hot) in a pepper.

The Nightline reporter mentioned that humans are the only creatures that will eat a pepper. Supposedly, not even a rat can be trained to eat one. Why then are hot, spicy foods so ingrained in the diets of many cultures, Americans as well?

A psychologist interviewed by Nightline said that hot wings prepared with the super-hot pepper was probably consumed mostly by young men, often as a challenge and often during a televised sporting event such as Sunday's Super Bowl. Hot spicy foods do have at least one benefit. They cause the release of endorphins and provide the effect of something similar to a runner's high. When couples consume the spicy fare together, they are often more sexually attracted to each other. This, I guess, should make hot wings and other hot, spicy foods the date food of choice.

The report got me to thinking what else that humans do that other creatures don't. For one, only humans run marathons and play team sports, such as football. There is an important connection here that I haven't yet grasped but one thing is sure - Americans, Nightline reports, will consume 90 million pounds of hot wings during the Super Bowl. That's right, 90 million pounds!

That brings me to the Super Bowl. The most watched television event of the year has little to do with which team plays the best football. It's really all about peppers, team sports and sex, and you can bet there won't be a single rat watching the event. Happy Labor Day.

Eric’sWeb

Brennan’s in New Orleans is famous for many dishes, including their brunch, but their signature dessert is Bananas Foster. I found this recipe on their website and they explain that New Orleans was once the primary destination for Central and South American bananas. This is one of those desserts you need to put on your bucket list.

Brennan’s Bananas Foster

• ¼ cup (½ stick) butter
• 1 cup brown sugar
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon
• ¼ cup banana liqueur
• 4 bananas, cut in half 
  lengthwise, then halved
• ¼ cup dark rum
• 4 scoops vanilla ice cream

Combine the butter, sugar, and cinnamon in a flambé pan or skillet. Place the pan over low heat either on an alcohol burner or on top of the stove, and cook, stirring, until the sugar dissolves. Stir in the banana liqueur, and then place the bananas in the pan. When the banana sections soften and begin to brown, carefully add the rum.

Continue to cook the sauce until the rum is hot, and then tip the pan slightly to ignite the rum. When the flames subside, lift the bananas out of the pan and place four pieces over each portion of ice cream. Generously spoon warm sauce over the top of the ice cream and serve immediately.

Eric’sWeb

When I worked for Cities Service Oil Company my primary duty was sitting (staying on location, describing samples and calling for drill stem tests) drilling wells, mostly in Kansas.  After months of learning from other geologists, I was allowed to sit a well in Comanche County, Kansas all alone.  My first solo experience was quite traumatic.

The well was a wildcat (more than a mile from established production) scheduled to drill into the Arbuckle Dolomite, a very old carbonate that sometimes produces lots of oil and gas.  At Cities, the technique for describing and drilling a prospect was well defined but had many flaws.

The powers-that-be considered Cities a technologically advanced company and would not drill a wildcat without seismic control.  The geologist would locate an anomaly by doing subsurface mapping.  He would then propose a well and management would either agree or can the prospect.  If they agreed, the geophysicists would get involved and have a seismic survey conducted over the prospect.  If the geophysics agreed with the geology, then Cities would drill a well there.

When I started working for Cities, the Mid-continent Division had not had a discovery in more than ten years.  Part of the reason, I soon learned, is that seismic surveys never work perfectly.  My opinion is that they rarely work, at least in Kansas.  There are many reasons for this, most too technical to delve into in the space of a few hundred words.  I had an inkling of this fact the first well that I sat alone because I had already had discussions with other disillusioned company geologists.

Every well is different and only a trained wellsite specialist can tell you exactly where you are in the hole, and if you are running structurally high (very good) or structurally low (very bad).  There is a marker zone, the Heebner Shale, in Kansas that is almost always used to determine how you are running.  When we reached the Heebner, I knew exactly where I was in the hole and called my boss to report the information.

“You must be mistaken,” Don W. told me.  “If what you say is true you would be running fifty feet low.  The seismic map says you should be running fifty feet high so you obviously have a hundred foot error.”

I tried to argue with him, explain that I knew where we were and that we really were running fifty feet low.

“You’ve missed a correlation point.  Go up the hole a hundred feet and try again.  You’ll find your mistake.”

From that point, my daily report was in La La Land.  I knew where we were but my boss was becoming increasing confused to the point that he called me an idiot and threatened to send out a more experienced geologist to correct my obvious mistake.  At one point, he almost had me convinced that I didn’t know what I was doing.

We finally reached total depth and when I looked at the electric log I knew that I had been correct all along.  By this time we were almost seventy feet low to the nearest correlation point.  There was no email in those days or any way to quickly transmit the logs to Oklahoma City for the honchos to view.  It was four in the morning when I looked at the last log and realized that we had a dry hole.  In a near state of despair, I called Don, my boss.

“Calm down, Eric.  Everything will be okay.  Is there any possibility that you are miscorrelating the log?”

There wasn’t, but it hurt my feelings that he was still blaming the failure of the well on me – at least that’s the way I felt at the time.

“What do you want me to do?” I asked.

“Bring the logs to the office.  We’ll have a meeting first thing in the morning.”

Management cared little about their minions.  Another geologist, a close friend of mine, had rear-ended a parked semi on the side of the road as he headed for a remote well site in the wee hours of the morning.  He didn’t survive.  It didn’t matter that I had been awake for almost twenty-four hours.  I had my orders – drive all night and present the logs for management’s inspection the following morning.

I drove into Oklahoma as the sun was arising and made it to the corporate offices before nine the next morning.  Three of my bosses studied the logs, frowned and scratched their heads, finally dismissing me without so much as a thank you or well done.  Later that day, Fred, the older geologist that had taught me almost everything I knew, came to my office.

“Don’t worry about it.  It’s not even your prospect.”

“I just can’t believe that management trusts a tool that almost never works over the word of their geologists.”

A big grin spread over Fred’s face.  “Welcome to life as a geologist,” he said.  “When you drill a discovery, someone else takes the credit but you get all the blame for every dry hole.”

“But Fred, seismic sucks.  How can management continue to believe in it?”

“Eric, a geologist is nothing but a justifier, someone or something that gives the okay for a company to dump millions of dollars into the ground.  You don’t really know any more than the seismic tool whether or not there is oil where you are planning to drill.  We use the best science we have but once you are a foot below the surface of the earth - and you can take this to the bank - it’s all Mother Nature, and she doesn’t give up her secrets easily.”

Fred was correct.  I have drilled many dry holes in my career and I’ve worked with lots of people and many companies that have had their discoveries.  And sometimes when I wake up at night and stare into the darkness, I can hear old Mother Nature giggling to herself.

Eric’sWeb

BP’s new discovery located about 200 miles south of Lake Charles, Louisiana is one of the deepest wells ever drilled. The structure possibly contains 3 billion barrels of oil and oil equivalents.

Eric’sWeb

Markets start the day on a positive note.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20602099&sid=aVvH1ZJr6uEM

Eric’sWeb

Fred was already in his fifties when I started work for Cities Service Oil Company. He taught me how to make contour maps, and pick formation tops from electric logs. More importantly, he instructed me on how to find oil and gas. Though important, they were not the only things I learned from him.

Fred was the senior Kansas geologist and no longer had to watch drilling wells. He still liked to go to the field occasionally, but more as an observer than anything else. “A vacation from the office,” he said.

For the first two or three wells that I watched, Dave, another junior Kansas geologist accompanied me, letting me do most of the work but correcting my errors as we went along. When the company finally trusted me enough to watch a well alone, I felt confident that I could do the job. A week had passed when Fred joined me on the well.

He picked me up at the well site the first morning, taking me to a nearby town to a favorite café he remembered for a breakfast of steak and eggs. After breakfast, we spent much of the day driving around the countryside, Fred pointing out wells he had drilled and explaining Cities’ politics, and the local history of every little town we drove through.

After dinner, we found a bar and pool hall where we drank pitcher after pitcher of beer and played game after game of pool. At midnight, when the tavern closed, he drove me back to the location and told me to catch up my samples and descriptions. He would see me in the morning.

The same routine continued for three days, eating, wandering, drinking beer and shooting pool until midnight, and then me burning the midnight oil to bring my well site work up to date, while Fred went to the motel in town. The fourth day, he found me with my head on the trailer’s desk, very much asleep.

“Hey,” he said. “I hope you haven’t missed any shows. We’ll have hell to pay if you did.”

“You kidding me? I’m so tired, I fell asleep staring into the binocular microscope. Both of my eyes are probably black. It would be a relief if you fired me. At least I could get a little rest.”

Fred wasn’t the type that laughed much, but he guffawed a time or two at my words. Patting me on the shoulder, he said, “Go into town and get some sleep. I’ll catch things up for you. You can come get me for dinner.”

I found out later from Dave that Fred had done the same thing to him. “He just wants to see what you are made of,” he said.

Next time Fred joined me on a well and suggested we shoot a game of pool, he actually laughed when I said, “Fine, but if we stay for more than one pitcher, then I’m going to the motel room, and you’ll have to watch the well tonight.”

Eric’sWeb

The eastern giant takes advantage of bargain oil.

http://www.rigzone.com/news/article.asp?a_id=79821&hmpn=1

Eric’sWeb