Landman Life

In case you haven’t heard, Aubrey McClendon was killed in a car accident this morning. For those of you who don’t know who Aubrey McClendon is…oh wait, everyone reading this blog knows who he is. Most of you have probably never met the man, but at some point in your careers have had to deal with Chesapeake Energy, or later Orange Energy Consultants. Just under 24 hours ago Aubrey was indicted…

I have spent a lot of time thinking about new ways to engage with the few readers we have here at Landman Life, and with the new year I think it’s time to try some new ideas. Keeping this site running is a minimal effort besides paying the bill for hosting, but coming up with new content for the site is a different matter. It requires time, and time is something that everyone seems to be running…

2015 and Donald Trump

2015 was a tough year. It’s almost over, and I have to say…I am glad. That’s not meaning that 2016 has any real promise of being better at this point in time, but I find it hard to imagine that it could end up worse. This year I have run three businesses in three different markets, but they are all contingent upon the skills I learned working as a landman. Just making ends meet, paying bills, and…

Well I don’t think this really needs more to be said, apparently someone wasn’t happy with the management at Purple Land Management. We’ve all heard about their unorthodox interview process, so I’m not surprised that other strange things happen there… Purple Goodbye Letter Always a shame when people don’t understand that in order to be successful, you need to keep talented people at your company.…

Let’s Play a Game Called Climb the Ladder!

It’s a dart game, I swear. Not surprised you haven’t heard of it because I made it up myself. Trust me it’s a good one. (more…)

The Post PC World – Politically Correct

Some of you might have seen on our Twitter feed the other day that I was frustrated by the County Clerk in some podunk town telling me that I can’t take pictures of documents without paying them $1.00 per picture. That’s fine and all, but what really aggravated me was her reasoning for WHY I couldn’t take pictures without paying for them. Instead of just saying that the County Clerk’s office did…

Where are they now? Feature on Metalhead

Metalhead In January, I received an e-mail from a broker I went back to work for in September 2014. In the e-mail, he detailed how I “overstepped every plausible boundary” and he “cannot let this pass.” Here’s Sidestory #1 One thing I did was shoot a tweet to a well-known E&P company that loves to NOT pay their people and subcontractors. What this company has done, apparently, is subcontract out…

Life After Landmanning – Making a Career

All of us know the standard steps for progression with your career after being a landman…you either get an in house job or you eventually become a broker. With the cuts that have gone on since last year specifically in the exploration side of the oil and gas industry, I’m curious to know what avenues you plan to take next. The skills that we have acquired running title, negotiating leases, etc…

Review: The Prize by Daniel Yergin

The Prize by Daniel Yergin is probably the most comprehensive and interesting history of the oil and gas industry. I have yet to find another book that encompasses the entire history of oil and gas while also going into great detail without being boring or technical.

LANDMANIFESTO: PART TWO DUEX

So I spelled it wrong, who gives a shit. We’re just rolling with a tradition that was established…the other week. Since NOBODY likes math (besides the AZNs) we’re going to start the count anew each week. Let’s begin:

Bill EVERYTHING. If you can fit it into “copies” or whatever miscellaneous expense categories your broker comes up with, do it. Don’t ever hesitate to bill legitimate expenses, but…