A recently published interview with Charlie Burd, executive director of the Independent Oil and Natural Gas Association of West Virginia, yields new insights into the current status of the oil and gas industry in the Mountain State. One of those insights is the importance of subcontractors–what we call the supply chain–to the oil & gas industry in WV (and elsewhere). We often refer to producers or exploration and production companies as “drillers.” To be honest, it’s almost always a hired subcontractor that does the actual drilling. And subcontractors do a host (most of) the other pieces of getting a well up and running–everything from water deliveries for fracking to fencing around well pads to hauling away drill cuttings and brine. Burd talked about the key role subcontractors play in the process. He also said that 99.9% of the small, “mom and pop” independent producers (conventional drillers) that have been around for the past 150 years are now out of business in WV, since the rise of shale drilling. That’s a pretty startling statistic. Oh! And Burd explained the difference between “major” oil and gas companies, like Exxon and Chevron, and “independent” companies like Antero Resources and Cabot Oil & Gas. We always wondered what earned the biggies their name “the majors,” even though there are some “independents” nearly as large (in revenue) as the majors. We now know the difference…
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