The Energy Challenge Behind the AI Boom

[00:00:00] Josh Lowrey: Welcome to the Energy Pipeline podcast sponsored by Caterpillar. My name is Josh Lowrie. We are coming to you live from the Upright Digital M- Upright Digital Media Studios in Prange Associates office in Memorial, Texas. I am joined by two good friends of mine, longtime friends of mine, Tim Tarpley, Molly Detterman, co-CEOs of Energy Workforce, Energy Workforce Technology Council Did I nail that or?

[00:00:29] Josh Lowrey: I kinda nailed it. I'd give that a B+. We're not going back.

[00:00:33] Molly Determan: No.

[00:00:33] Josh Lowrey: There's too many words. There's a lot of words.

[00:00:34] Molly Determan: Let's do

[00:00:36] Josh Lowrey: it. Caterpillar's in there. There's a long intro. There's EWTC's acronym is long. At least you got the name in the right order. Sometimes people flip that around. How do they say it? Uh,

[00:00:46] Tim Tarpley: Energy Technology- Energy Technology-

[00:00:47] Tim Tarpley: and Workforce Council. Yeah. Get that a lot.

[00:00:49] Josh Lowrey: Those people.

[00:00:50] Molly Determan: Right?

[00:00:51] Josh Lowrey: Those people. Well, look, I'm one of the people that still... So this is a great audience. Caterpillar is, uh, been a great partner with us. Huge. I mean, their [00:01:00] audience is massive. This show's been around a long time. So before we get going, uh, I would encourage you guys to go to the Caterpillar oil and gas website.

[00:01:07] Josh Lowrey: Look how they have everything indexed. This is a very educated oil and gas audience. Um, so for people that are listening, EWTC, Energy Workforce Technology Council, is formerly the Petroleum Equipment Suppliers Association, PESA as it was known, for 90-something of its 95 years. Uh, great transition. I mean, the, you don't last for 95 years without a lot of, uh, growth and transition and learning and checking out the market.

[00:01:37] Josh Lowrey: So, you know, y- again, full disclosure, all, all of our companies have been a member of EWTC/PESA for really since 2007. That's my first year that I was a member of the c- the industry organization. Um, and now you two are co-leading it, and you have w- vastly different roles within the company. Um, but leading one group.

[00:01:59] Josh Lowrey: [00:02:00] So I'll tell you what. Tim, we're gonna come back to you. Molly, give me the scoop on the organization first, like the who, the what's. Give me the stats on it. Then we're gonna go to Tim to describe, like, the non... 'Cause I, I, the reason I'm saying that is- Yeah ... it is a, this could just be my podcast for the next 45 minutes.

[00:02:16] Josh Lowrey: Yeah.

[00:02:17] .: We're good.

[00:02:18] Josh Lowrey: Josh Lowery's having a great time today so far. Do we still have to sit here or?

[00:02:24] Josh Lowrey: Well, I just mean there's, there's advoc- there's advocacy, there's, you know, public rela- uh, not public relations. There's all kinds of things. Public policy. There's a lot of things, so why don't you just give me the scoop- Sure ... and then we'll go from there. Sure.

[00:02:34] Molly Determan: So Energy Workforce, like you said, we've been around for more than 90 years, and we're the national trade association for energy services and equipment companies.

[00:02:43] Molly Determan: And- Oh, yeah, also

[00:02:44] Josh Lowrey: AESC, the former group of AESC back in the day. Yeah, so,

[00:02:47] Molly Determan: well, that brought in our well servicing sector, but we represent more than 200 companies, more than 625,000 jobs just in the US alone. And what those companies [00:03:00] do is they provide the services, they manufacture the equipment, they bring the technology that produces oil and gas.

[00:03:08] Molly Determan: And what we do on their behalf is we advocate, um, for their interests. We also bring together committees. We bring together members to share best practices, to create industry guidelines, to continue to raise the bar for the industry. And we also provide market intelligence, networking opportunities, and we do that with our member company partners like Upright and others that help us to be able to, you know, say what's happening within the landscape of not only the sector but the industry at large, what's happening in the market at large, and, um, what do companies need to know, um, what's coming up.

[00:03:51] Molly Determan: So those are kind of the three main areas, um, that we operate in. Uh, but there's a lot of detail behind that [00:04:00] and the different initiatives that we have. But, um, you know, Tim and I have been working together for the last 10 years and, um, for the association, and so we have a great partnership, and like you said, we cover different areas.

[00:04:12] Molly Determan: Yes.

[00:04:12] .: But

[00:04:13] Molly Determan: I think that, um, we really, um, balance each other well, and it's been a really great partnership, and I think a great partnership for the association too.

[00:04:22] Josh Lowrey: I agree. Tim? So just let me read this real quick. Um, it says, "Molly focuses on people, talent, technology, future workforce needed to meet rising energy demand.

[00:04:32] Josh Lowrey: Tim focuses on policies, regulation, permitting frameworks, and geopolitical factors that either enable or restrict industry growth." Hmm.

[00:04:41] Tim Tarpley: That i- that is a, uh, quite, quite a little summary there. Um, yeah, no, I mean, I, I mean, I think w- you know, the, the strength of EWTC is really that there's o- there's other oil and gas trade associations out there.

[00:04:53] Tim Tarpley: No, they're not. Th- w- w- they will remain nameless. Yes. Um, but, you know, we work with them, and w- w- when, when it makes [00:05:00] sense. In fact, we, we all talk every Monday and- Oh ... and get together, and, and, and when we can work together, we can work together. But we are the only trade association for energy services and technology companies.

[00:05:09] Tim Tarpley: That i- we are the voice for that part of the sector. And that i- is, I think, incredibly important because- Like I said, there's times when we agree, but there's times when we have issues that are only impact- that we have a certain, uh, you know, view on, a certain perspective, and we have our voice. We have a voice in Washington.

[00:05:28] Tim Tarpley: We have a voice in Austin. We have the ability to speak for that sector, and I think that's, that's really what brings us, uh, you know, separates us out from-

[00:05:35] Josh Lowrey: When you say we have a voice, can you give the audience what that means on a real world? Um, 'cause, like, I have a voice, but not really. So what does, what does we have a voice mean when you say that?

[00:05:44] Josh Lowrey: Uh- Like, how do you put that into practice?

[00:05:46] Tim Tarpley: It, it means that we have, uh, we have mechanisms to have advocacy at the federal, the state, and the local level. Um, when there is a, when there is an issue going on in Washington, for example, um, like, you [00:06:00] know, uh, we've spent a lot of time on, on the tariff issue recently.

[00:06:03] Tim Tarpley: Um, everyone's got different opinions, right? In the industry. Every, every different, uh, company has different views. But our companies, they have a voice. They are, have a seat at the table. Because if you don't have a seat at the table, the discussion's gonna happen without you, and the decisions are gonna be made without you.

[00:06:19] Tim Tarpley: So EWGC is- Yeah ... is, is that voice.

[00:06:22] Josh Lowrey: Well, and, and look, I was being a little coy there. The- Yeah ... the reality is that I believe you've won- The, they don't, what do they, they don't call it lobbyist, do they? Is it still called a lobbyist?

[00:06:33] Molly Determan: He does win. He's the top lobbyist- ... in all time for the last several years.

[00:06:38] Tim Tarpley: He, I, he, I'm serious about this, right? Didn't he win- Yeah.

[00:06:41] Molly Determan: No, you're right.

[00:06:41] Tim Tarpley: Yeah. Uh, it's, it's a list of many, not the top. The, there, there's- He is the top ... there's a, a number of, of- I've never heard of anybody

[00:06:48] Josh Lowrey: else ... senior lobbyists. But- I don't know anybody else you're talking about. Yeah, yeah. But you, that is, that's a big deal.

[00:06:55] Josh Lowrey: So- It is ... you, the, when the audience hears that we have a [00:07:00] voice, they don't just kinda have a voice. Right. They've got a top lobbyist. And, you know, I know that EWTC kind of runs away from that title a little bit just because- Sure ... we're doing so much more than lobbying. Yeah. Um, and there's fly-ins that y- Right

[00:07:13] Josh Lowrey: that we're doing on a, you know, yearly basis, not only in DC, actually bi-yearly basis to DC- Yeah ... correct? Yeah. And then to, also to Austin, that kinda stuff.

[00:07:21] Tim Tarpley: Yeah. Sometimes, like lobbying, it's like a, uh, a, a different kind of connotation than it really means. Really, it's just, it's, it's being a voice for the sector, for the interests that are important to that sector, and ensuring that you're in every discussion that's gonna be relevant to the companies that you represent.

[00:07:38] Tim Tarpley: That, that's all it is. I mean, that's all lobbying is, um, really, at the end of the day.

[00:07:44] Josh Lowrey: Well, as a fellow lobbyist, I'm, I'm- ... I knew that. I knew that answer. Yeah. No. Uh, I was actually on what I think was one of the very first, um, EWTC fly-ins back in maybe '12. Does that sound about right?

[00:07:56] .: Mm-hmm.

[00:07:57] Josh Lowrey: And it was [00:08:00] really an eye-opening experience for someone who had never been up and to do something like that.

[00:08:05] Josh Lowrey: You, you're getting, you're actually sitting with senators in their office- Mm ... with four people- Mm ... and sitting with congressmen with, you know, four or five people. And you're talking to them, and they, they know your issues. And I was, I was like, "This is, they really care. They actually do listen." And you're able to kind of, like, here's this real person.

[00:08:24] Josh Lowrey: And one of the things I'll never get them talking about was like, hey, you know, giant company X.

[00:08:28] .: Mm-hmm.

[00:08:29] Josh Lowrey: I understand what you're saying. This is really good information. And, you know, 625,000 jobs is, is a ton of jobs. Um, they were like, "Do you have ... What we really want is..." I always tell people about this podcast.

[00:08:41] Josh Lowrey: Everybody wants to come on and talk about their widget, right? And this widget is the best widget of all time, and 8.2 gigawatts and, you know, whatever it is. The people don't remember the gigawatt. They don't remember the, the, how this widget was built. What they really remember is how did this widget change their life, make their life better, safer, faster, et cetera.

[00:08:58] Josh Lowrey: Mm-hmm. [00:09:00] ability and the, the genuine care that I felt like I got, uh, you know, speaking of lobbying getting a bad w- rep, our congressmen and our senators get a bad name. I mean, those people- Mm-hmm ... they didn't go to DC to be bad people. They went to DC to make a difference, to try to help people. Yeah. And their ability to recall, you know, "There's a, there's a person in my district that works for you guys."

[00:09:22] Josh Lowrey: Mm-hmm. "And h- and he or she does this and..." And I just remember thinking like, that is a story that doesn't get told enough, that we can relate 625,000 jobs across America. There's very few states that we're not in, if, if any, right? I mean, I, I would... W- how many... Are we in all 50 states? Uh-

[00:09:38] Tim Tarpley: All 50. For a while, couldn't find anybody in Vermont, but I found one, so we're, we're all 50 states.

[00:09:43] Tim Tarpley: I love it. And, and that is incredibly important. It's also, you know, this, this sector, there's a perception that when you talk about energy, oh, it's, they, we're just talking about five or six states. We're just talking about your Oklahoma, your Texas- Yeah ... your Louisiana and Pennsylvania. And you, you gotta break that barrier down because you gotta go into North Carolina, you gotta go [00:10:00] into, into, um, Wisconsin, and you gotta form that connection.

[00:10:03] Tim Tarpley: Yes. Because you're gonna need those votes just as y- much as you're gonna need- 100%. Yeah, the- That

[00:10:07] Josh Lowrey: machine shop in those ar- those towns you just mentioned are coming to oil and gas. Right.

[00:10:10] Tim Tarpley: The member f- the senator from Washington gets the same vote as the senator from Texas. Mm-hmm. And you have to make those connections.

[00:10:16] Tim Tarpley: A- a- and I think it's one of the things we do as an association is to build those connections.

[00:10:19] Josh Lowrey: Well, it's 180 degrees in Texas in the summertime. I will volunteer to move to Vermont.

[00:10:25] Molly Determan: Oh, to be number two. Yes. Employee number two. In

[00:10:28] Josh Lowrey: case that person is- We appreciate that ... unavailable. We,

[00:10:29] Tim Tarpley: I, I think w- Houston would miss you, Josh.

[00:10:32] Tim Tarpley: I, you know, I think we would miss you.

[00:10:34] Josh Lowrey: Caitlin is shaking her head no over there.

[00:10:36] Molly Determan: Is shaking her head no. Caitlin

[00:10:37] Josh Lowrey: better be care- husband hunt. But I think it- She's gonna get some on-air time here.

[00:10:40] Molly Determan: I think you bring up a good point, though, about, you know, on our end, one, one part of the advocacy that we do as well when we talk about, like, when we have a voice- Mm-hmm

[00:10:49] Molly Determan: in addition to the lobbying, is the work that we do telling the story of the sector. Mm-hmm. And doing that through media and other avenues. [00:11:00] And I think that personalizing... Like, there's really cool technology, there's really cool jobs that we have within our sector, but, like, the personal stories of the people that work in here, like, it's good-paying jobs.

[00:11:14] Molly Determan: Oh. Outstanding. And some of them are highly technical and some of them are highly skilled, but you can come, you can come out of high school, you can go to a trade skill- trade school, and you can have a job that can change the trajectory for your family. I remember we started, um, our, um, leadership program for the field, um, you know, a number of years ago.

[00:11:39] Molly Determan: Our advisory board came to us and were like, "You know, y'all do these leadership programs, but where we really need leadership is in the field."

[00:11:47] .: Mm. "

[00:11:47] Molly Determan: And on the front line." And so we started that program, and our first Uh, one of our first courses was in the Denver area. And so I went and was, you know, [00:12:00] attending the course and was talking to the guys over lunch, and they brought up, like, "How did, how did you come to be in the oil and gas industry?"

[00:12:08] Molly Determan: And so I was just sitting there eating lunch and listening to this conversation, and, um, one of the guys was telling a story about how he, um, you know, knew about the oil and gas industry living in Colorado. He had never really considered going to work for it. He had, um, some young kids and was having trouble, like, with having a steady job, and he reached a point where he couldn't afford milk for his babies.

[00:12:39] Molly Determan: And he remembered his friends telling him that there would always be a job that he could find in the oil and gas industry. And so he went, and the job was there, and he's been there ever since, and he doesn't have to worry about, you know, providing for his family. Now he's thinking even bigger and about, like, his kids going to college- Mm-hmm

[00:12:58] Molly Determan: and doing things [00:13:00] that, like, he did not have the opportunity to do. And so I think that those stories about, like, the impact that the oil and gas industry can have on the trajectory of people's lives- Yeah ... it's important, and that's one of our jobs is to tell those stories.

[00:13:16] Josh Lowrey: You know, Caitlin does a great job of prepping notes for me, and I was reading this while you were talking and listening, and it's just incredible, you know- I don't need any of these notes.

[00:13:30] Josh Lowrey: It, it is amazing, as you were sitting there talking, I'm like, "What am I really looking at?" I mean, I can ask you about AI. We'll talk about AI. We can talk about, you know, what is your role and your events that you host, your, your annual meetings and... 'Cause there's an au- there's people on this list that are listening for the first time that they're gonna look up what EWTC is and go figure it out.

[00:13:49] Josh Lowrey: But what it really is, is you, you said it earlier, I think, Tim, you're the one that said it, it is the mouthpiece for our industry, and it's... There are other really good organizations, but they're sometimes they're so big that [00:14:00] you can get lost, and this is one where, you know, Tim and Molly and the entire team is, is available, and you can reach out and figure out, "How can I get involved?"

[00:14:10] Josh Lowrey: Y- I, it is... I'm gonna just say this to the audience, like, there is... It is not a stretch by any lema- you know, any way at all to say that the PISA/EWTC changed the entire trajectory of our company.

[00:14:24] .: Mm-hmm.

[00:14:25] Josh Lowrey: I- and starting, you know, we started a company in o- in 2012, and the impact, the direct impact that EWTC had on it changed everything.

[00:14:35] Josh Lowrey: I mean, it really did. And, you know, for that, I'm thankful for it, obviously. But really, you just feel like the industry needed you to kind of coalesce everybody at that time, to bring everybody together. We had a great run for a decade. The world kinda changed a little bit. Mm-hmm. And it's resetting now, and, you know, uh, we had a g- another guest on earlier before this.

[00:14:55] Josh Lowrey: He said, "Remember e- everybody talked about the great crew change?" Yeah. He's like, "We're kind of at the great end of the great crew [00:15:00] change right now." Like, and we really are. You're, you're seeing new workers come in. There's a lot of workforce training that you guys are doing, education, your Oil & Gas 101, still a phenomenal event.

[00:15:09] Josh Lowrey: Um, y- you know, the, your leadership that y- I mean, you're training an entirely new segment of people in this industry to... It's gonna be data center. H- how do we power these data centers? How do we power this AI revolution that's coming? How do we have the most intelligent workforce that we've ever had coming into oil and gas that are gonna be touching more buttons and technologies than they've ever touched in their entire life, and keeping everybody safe and getting everybody home?

[00:15:38] Josh Lowrey: I mean, it's still a very dirty, dangerous job, but you've gotta... It's gonna be smart and less dangerous than it's ever been. Um, so yeah. I mean, I'm looking at this, I'm like, "What do..." Yeah, can I talk about the next generation, the state of the energy workforce, policy and growth? I do wanna talk about all this stuff.

[00:15:53] Josh Lowrey: It, it, it... I do. I I care about it all, but, like, it is, it's just incredible how all of this stuff[00:16:00]

[00:16:03] Josh Lowrey: Every single part of it funnels through EWTC.

[00:16:06] Molly Determan: Yeah. It's incredible. It, it is a small trade association, and it is a place where, like, you come and you won't be lost. And, like, your, your company's story is so impressive, and it's one, one of the company stories that's been impacted by the involvement in the trade association.

[00:16:22] Molly Determan: Um, and I love hearing those stories about, like, the deals that are made at our meetings, or the, the- Tens and tens of

[00:16:29] Josh Lowrey: millions of dollars ...

[00:16:30] Molly Determan: the collaborations that happen, the public company- Hundreds of millions is what I'm talking about ... that, that happens, that is formed out of it. Um, but it is, it is a small trade association, but there is a lot that we, that we do, and it's unbelievable to think about that with what's such a small team that we can cover so many different areas.

[00:16:51] Molly Determan: Um, one of the things that we do is every year we host, um, all of the committee chairs to come- Mm ... in and talk about what their different initiatives are with each other [00:17:00] so they can find areas of collaboration. And every year at it, I know, I'm involved in these things, this is my job- Mm ... day to day, and I am still impressed every single year at the breadth of programs and initiatives that our small team manages to do.

[00:17:15] Molly Determan: And that's the only way that we're able to do that is because we have members who care and that are really actively engaged.

[00:17:23] Josh Lowrey: So, b- hang on, Tim, before you jump in this. I just want you to... I'm gonna read... And Kaitlin, great job. I'm gonna read these topics, though, because I want you to understand, like, it is...

[00:17:33] Josh Lowrey: Tell me where, person listening, where your job is not impacted by these next couple of subjects. Ready? Setting the state. Well, setting the stage. Oh, boy. I'm, I'm reading. I'm Ron Burgundy.

[00:17:47] Josh Lowrey: All right. The state of the energy workforce, the next generation of energy, uh, w- of energy workers, policy and energy growth, energy security and geopolitics, technology and the service sector, AI, data centers, energy demand, [00:18:00] supply chain a- and in- industry readiness, the future of the energy workforce, the future of energy policy, and then looking ahead.

[00:18:09] Josh Lowrey: Within those nine or 10 different topics there, every person's job is under that subsect. Whether it's job readiness, AI demand, power, oil and gas, LNG, it, it falls under that subsect. And every one of those starts with polis- Everybody wants to know how, well, how do things get done? Things get done b- when you go to...

[00:18:33] Josh Lowrey: We always called it the business of business. You have to go do the business of business to be good at your business, and the only way to do th- business of business is to go to EWTC, period. And there's nothing, there's nothing after that. I mean, it is. It's a hard stop. If you're not involved in the EWTC, then you are watching someone else-

[00:18:56] Josh Lowrey: run faster than you Period Well, [00:19:00] it's- That's, that's two periods ...

[00:19:00] Tim Tarpley: it's true. And, and you're, and you're always gonna w- whenever you work together as a group, uh, for certain issues, it's gonna be to the benefit. For example, the People and Culture Committee this morning, uh, that Molly led, you know, hosted a, a webinar on how to deal with security issues in the Middle East, right?

[00:19:16] Tim Tarpley: During COVID, we, we had our committees leading, uh, groups on how to, on, on how, you know, how to, how to, how to run your company, uh, you know, during COVID. Working together on issues like that that are bigger than one company, that's always gonna benefit- Mm ... it's gonna benefit everybody as a sector. Putting together a, a workforce training program, uh, you know, for, for well servicing and, and for well control that they, that is available to all the workers in that industry, that...

[00:19:41] Tim Tarpley: I mean, in that sector, that, that raises the whole sector, the, the bar. So i- there's all these opportunities where you can raise the bar- Mm ... for everybody, and it benefits everyone.

[00:19:49] Josh Lowrey: You know, you bring up a... I, I actually just... I had forgotten all about this till you just said it. Uh, during COVID, you know, we have outsourced HR and all that stuff too, but- Yeah

[00:19:56] Josh Lowrey: during COVID, I actually called the leadership of EWTC and [00:20:00] I said, "What are companies my size doing? What are they... You know, are they making moves yet? Are they- Yeah ... hiring, firing? What, what does the policy look like?" Remember the no contact? Yeah. And that's where I was getting my direction, was I wanted to know what people my size were doing from other industry companies through EWTC.

[00:20:21] Tim Tarpley: Right.

[00:20:21] Josh Lowrey: Where else can a business leader go? I'm, I'm not gonna call my dad. You know- Yeah ... who, who are you gonna call? Yeah. Yeah. Like, you, you wanna be able to call industry experts that... And how... I bet you guys were fielding phone calls constantly back then.

[00:20:33] Molly Determan: Yeah, I mean, we were hosting weekly calls. But I mean, I think anytime there's something that comes up and collectively, like, there's an issue where pe- companies are gonna have to address it- Mm-hmm

[00:20:43] Molly Determan: well, let's just do it together. Um, you know, like the tariff task force-

[00:20:48] Tim Tarpley: Yeah ...

[00:20:48] Molly Determan: for, is a good example.

[00:20:50] Tim Tarpley: Right. I mean, when, when there's, when there's a joint... In, in the instance of tariffs, unfortunately, it's, it's a threat, it's a cost, you know, but we're all facing the same thing, right? So we can work it all on our [00:21:00] own as different companies, different...

[00:21:01] Tim Tarpley: You know, trying to do one-offs here and there, or we can coalesce together and we all have the same objective, uh, and work together. And 99.9% of the time you're gonna be more effective when you work together. It's, it's a rare issue that you're better off on your own. Yeah. I mean, it comes up, sure, but most of the time you're always better to be in a group.

[00:21:19] Tim Tarpley: Yeah. And- If you wanna go fast, go alone. And- If you wanna go far, go together. Yeah.

[00:21:22] Molly Determan: So, like, right now still dealing with tariffs, but also, like, how do, uh, this... And this morning, you know, how do we keep our, our people safe in the Middle East? And then, um, how do we also, uh, take advantage of the opportunity to enter the Venezuelan market?

[00:21:38] .: Mm-hmm.

[00:21:39] Molly Determan: And w- are there any issues there? What, what, what do companies need to know?

[00:21:43] Tim Tarpley: Right. Right. Yeah, just, just two, you know, two weeks ago we sat down with OFAC and had a, you know, a pretty- What is OFAC? Uh, they're responsible for sanctions. Uh- What, what's the- It's within

[00:21:53] Molly Determan: the Department of Treasury. Yeah.

[00:21:54] Molly Determan: Office

[00:21:54] Josh Lowrey: of?

[00:21:55] Tim Tarpley: Office of Foreign Asset Control. I... That was a good test for me. Usually- I'm not good with those [00:22:00] acronyms. I can't believe I just popped that off. Um, I didn't know I was gonna get tested today. Ding, ding, ding. Well, so- Yeah. I mean, um. N- no, but, but it's a good example. It's, it's ... Okay, we have a number of companies that wanna en- enter Venezuela.

[00:22:12] Tim Tarpley: Um, there's significant questions that the government has about how to structure the sanctions regime. They come, they come to the association because they don't wanna talk, have one-off conversations with eight different companies. They wanna have one conversation, get a sense of where the industry is, and then everyone bene- benefits from that, from that conversation.

[00:22:31] Josh Lowrey: We had a, a CEO in the company or on the podcast before. Mm-hmm. And he said, speaking of acronyms, he said, "Well, it's obviously PBT."

[00:22:40] Molly Determan: Obviously.

[00:22:41] Josh Lowrey: And I said, "Peanut butter toast."

[00:22:45] Molly Determan: That was a good guess.

[00:22:47] Josh Lowrey: It is profit before tax. Oh. Oh. In case anybody wants to know. Not peanut butter toast. I should have known that from the context.

[00:22:55] Josh Lowrey: I

[00:22:55] Molly Determan: thought it was like Permian Basin tried.

[00:22:57] Josh Lowrey: PBT. That's- Oh, yeah. That's better than what I [00:23:00] said. Yeah. Peanut

[00:23:00] Molly Determan: butter toast is better. Peanut butter toast felt

[00:23:02] Josh Lowrey: right. It was not correct. Um, listen, you guy- we could take this thing wherever we wanna go. Okay. This is, it's, it's 190 degrees. The streets are melting.

[00:23:12] Josh Lowrey: Yeah. I'm in a bad mood. I mean, you can't tell 'cause I'm in such a good mood, but it's just too hot to be in a good mood. I mean, what do ... Molly, what do we wanna talk about? Th- I, I want people to, I want everybody to sign up for EWTC at the end of this podcast. If you are listening, go to EWTC si- uh, ewtc.org.

[00:23:34] Josh Lowrey: Click join. Done. All right, now what do we wanna talk about? Moving on. The state of the energy workforce?

[00:23:40] Molly Determan: Sure.

[00:23:40] Josh Lowrey: Okay.

[00:23:41] Molly Determan: Sure. Tell

[00:23:41] Josh Lowrey: me about this. What's going on? Um- We have new workers, 625,000. Is it growing? Is it shrinking?

[00:23:47] Molly Determan: That is the question. Um, so we track the employment trends within OFS monthly, and, um, then also do an annual report so you can compare and kind of look at like what are the trends over the years?

[00:23:59] Molly Determan: What are the [00:24:00] trends by month? What are the trends over the years? And the more interesting thing than bimonthly to me is the, the yearly trends. And what you can see is companies are not responding to the boom and bust cycles anymore, um, that things are more stable in the hiring. And so it used to be that employment would go up, and then it would go down, and that, when you're going down, that means that you're letting go of people.

[00:24:28] Molly Determan: Good people. And that makes it really hard, um, to bring people back in. Mm-hmm. But what you can see over the last four years is a lot more stability in the jobs numbers. And so people are being really careful as we are adding work to not rush to hire too many people so that then we don't have to shed people, and th- it can be a more stable place to work, which is over time gonna make it easier to be able to bring people- To retain too, yeah

[00:24:56] Molly Determan: into this industry and to hang on to them too once they're there. So [00:25:00] it's like always the question is like what's the hardest? Attracting, retaining, you know, talent? Hmm. I mean, it's all difficult, but it's more difficult if people come in thinking I might lose my job because of the industry that I'm in.

[00:25:15] Molly Determan: Yeah, the

[00:25:15] Josh Lowrey: fluctuations. Mm-hmm.

[00:25:16] Molly Determan: Yeah, because of those fluctuations. And so that trend is something that I think is really a great story for OFS.

[00:25:27] Josh Lowrey: Tough to beat. I'm not gonna make you answer that question twice. That was a great question.

[00:25:30] Molly Determan: Okay. Thank you.

[00:25:30] Josh Lowrey: What, uh, Tim, I do have a question that I'm nerding out about. I kind of mentioned this downstairs, but- Okay, I'm excited about this. Yeah. Well, look, I just... I find, I find AI and peptides to be the most entertaining things on the planet Earth right now.

[00:25:47] Josh Lowrey: Okay. So we won't talk about peptides. Thank you. So we will t- '

[00:25:51] Tim Tarpley: Cause I don't really know what

[00:25:52] Molly Determan: they are. Good- ... 'cause I don't either. I'm just... I'm like, "I want them." That's the next podcast. Yeah. Let's see. I gotta learn

[00:25:57] Josh Lowrey: what they are first. But [00:26:00] AI, and I'm, I'm gonna use AI, the joke of all-inclusive, right? So all-inclusive AI, data centers, the se- the efficiencies that are coming from this.

[00:26:09] Josh Lowrey: Mm-hmm Are you getting questions and calls about this more often now, and are they from a energy demand standpoint, or are they from a how is this going to affect our company's standpoint? Like, what, what world do you touch? Does that touch you at all?

[00:26:26] Tim Tarpley: Uh, the answer is yes- Okay ... um, to all of those. I will say that when you're talking about energy in, uh, i- in a lot of different contexts right now, you cannot have virtually any conversation without it going back to coming energy demand, which primarily folks associate that with AI and data centers, right?

[00:26:46] Tim Tarpley: Mm-hmm. Now, there's actually other, other things that are leading to increased demand. You know, we're trying to bring supply chains back to the United States and, and Europe, so there's, there's industrialization going on, there's automation going on. There's other reasons why energy demand is, is increasing, but [00:27:00] AI and, and data centers are certainly a big part of that.

[00:27:02] Tim Tarpley: Uh, it's become the primary political topic that when you talk about energy, that's all anyone wants to talk about. It, it's, it, it, it is, it is what it is. We had a conversation with, uh, Congresswoman Hageman just, uh, on Thursday la- of last week. She came, she came and saw us at, at our, our headquarters. Uh, she's r- running for Senate in Wyoming, probably will be, uh, the senator from Wyoming next, next term.

[00:27:28] Tim Tarpley: Uh, she also is on energy and commerce, so she knows- Hmm ... she's got chops in energy. Um- Nice ... you know, we were talking about a number of issues, but everything went back to, to AI and data centers, and when she goes back to her district, that's what folks are asking her about- Yeah ... and that's what they're talking about.

[00:27:44] Tim Tarpley: So i- the, the, the short answer to your question is yes. Kind of all roads in energy right now lead to that question. Um, and when, when Secretary Wright comes out and says, you know, publicly that he thinks we're gonna have... need 100 gigawatts [00:28:00] of firm power generation in the next five years, um, and that, and that estimate could even be an, an underestimate, um, that is, that is pretty transformative, and that is, that is really our generation's challenge.

[00:28:12] Tim Tarpley: It's not, it's our industry's ch- challenge, but it's also really a generational challenge. I remember when, when, when Chris Wright first said that, I, I embarrassingly, I couldn't even conceptualize how much 100 gigawatts was. Right. So ironically, I asked AI, and AI told me that's roughly equivalent to the residential energy demand of the United States.

[00:28:34] Tim Tarpley: So from Maine- Holy crap. Really? ... down to Miami. That-- And can you imagine the, the energy infrastructure that is necessary to support that energy demand? We have to do that in five years. Um, and if we- Hmm ... don't do it, well, someone else is gonna, is gonna do it, probably- Well, the world's trying,

[00:28:49] Josh Lowrey: right?

[00:28:49] Tim Tarpley: Right.

[00:28:50] Tim Tarpley: One of our strategic, uh, competitors is gonna do that. So I really see that as a generational- Hmm ... challenge, and I think that's a good thing. I think it's good to have a challenge because, uh, our ind- who's gonna, who [00:29:00] is gonna solve that problem? Primarily, it's the companies, you know, that make up energy, e- energy workforce and economy.

[00:29:05] Tim Tarpley: Let me ask you a question

[00:29:05] Josh Lowrey: real quick. You said that all roads lead to that question Is that, I feel like, well, is that good or bad?

[00:29:11] Tim Tarpley: Uh, well, there's, there's always a risk is that, is that everyone's so focused on one thing, you get blinders, and you don't see, you don't see what's to your right and what's to your left.

[00:29:21] Josh Lowrey: Yeah.

[00:29:22] Tim Tarpley: You know, when you're driving on a long, uh, high- you know, when you're going to college and you've been driving for six hours and you get that stare where you're only looking at the, the lane you're on. I'm a good driver, Tim. I don't know. Every time you drive. Okay, it was a hypothetical. Yeah. But, but, but I do think there's a fear that we get so focused on this AI and data centers, we don't see other challenges that are to the right and to the left, so we gotta be careful about that.

[00:29:41] Tim Tarpley: But, uh, I, I do think that energy demand and how we meet that energy demand is incredibly important. Number one, I don't think our politics is, is aligned to, to- Hmm ... to solve the problem. I think we have the technology and the expertise to do it, and it's a lot of our companies, they have the technology and expertise to do it, but we don't necessarily have the [00:30:00] policies to back that up, and I don't think we have the, quite frankly, the supply chain.

[00:30:03] Tim Tarpley: I think, I think we're gonna have some serious supply chain constraints to try to meet those demands, and I don't think we're fully ready for either one of those issues.

[00:30:11] Molly Determan: But it so clearly makes the case for why permitting reform has to happen.

[00:30:16] Tim Tarpley: Yes. Y- I mean, that is, that is very true. I think permitting reform is a huge, huge part of that, uh, that equation.

[00:30:23] Tim Tarpley: And- What does... Well, I mean, I,

[00:30:24] Josh Lowrey: I... What does that

[00:30:24] Tim Tarpley: mean?

[00:30:25] Josh Lowrey: Permitting reform. Well,

[00:30:26] Tim Tarpley: it, it, it means a lot of things to different people, but I'll just summarize it. Just the easiest way you can do it is right now in the United States, to build a gas pipeline, and that's assuming you can get a permit to do it, and I'm talking about intra- in- interstate, not intrastate.

[00:30:40] Tim Tarpley: Interstate. Intrastate in Texas, you can get a permit pretty quick. I'm talking about an interstate- Yeah ... gas pipeline. Uh, if you can get a permit, it takes on average more than five years. That is now more than Australia and Canada. Wow. So Democratic countries have all the protections and safety that we have.

[00:30:56] Tim Tarpley: Uh, they're take- they're quicker than us. That's unacceptable. Let's go back [00:31:00] to that 100 gigawatts that our friend, uh- Mm-hmm, Chris Wright ... uh, Secretary Wright mentioned. Mm-hmm. Imagine, so not only do we need the power generation to meet that, which me- is primarily gonna be gas. That's gonna be gas power plants, maybe a little bit of nuclear.

[00:31:12] Tim Tarpley: Uh, primarily gas. You've gotta get the gas to where that, uh, those gigawatts are, um, are, are, are produced, and we don't have the ability to do that right now. Many of our gas pipelines are either at capacity or are at, at close to capacity. Uh, without permitting reform, I don't see how that gets done.

[00:31:30] Tim Tarpley: Somebody could

[00:31:30] Josh Lowrey: prove me wrong and do it. I, I just don't see it. So when you keep saying permit re- f- you're just talking about, like, we've gotta go, it just seems like you're trying to, that's a big- Easy word for a big problem. Right.

[00:31:42] Tim Tarpley: It r- there's a lot to it. We also have state permitting reform that's necessary- Yes

[00:31:46] Tim Tarpley: which is not, when you talk about permitting reform, many people genuinely think- There's

[00:31:49] Josh Lowrey: a lot of red tape just in that one phrase- Right ... is what I hear.

[00:31:52] Molly Determan: For sure. Well- Go on ... the, the way that I learned exactly like how complex this is, is we put on a, a [00:32:00] power markets course that Dan Romito taught last year.

[00:32:02] Molly Determan: Love Romito. And he's doing it again this fall, and it's like he takes you through the generation transmission and- Mm-hmm ... like all of the different- Yeah ... permits that have to happen at every single step of the way, and it's like, well, how, how are we gonna do this without reform and without everybody getting on board that like we have to enable, um, our country because if we don't, somebody else will.

[00:32:29] Tim Tarpley: It's, it's, it's really true. And you know, there's, there's some good packages out there. I mean, the House passed a bill primarily focused on NEPA, which is anytime you do a large scale project, you have to go through a number of processes with different federal agencies, trying to speed that up. So, so maybe instead of five years, we're talking about two or three.

[00:32:46] Tim Tarpley: It's a good step in the right direction. Mm-hmm. Uh, like I mentioned though, we still got problems with the states. You can't get a, a pipeline through, through New York State. The fo- the folks up in Boston, to get gas, they're, they're driving gas all the way around the coast up to Boston Harbor [00:33:00] when they're 400 miles from, uh, you know, a huge gas field, uh, you know, in Pennsylvania.

[00:33:05] Tim Tarpley: They can't get it through New York State, which just boggles the mind to think that we're- I will never forget- ... that we've done that to ourselves. I was in

[00:33:12] Josh Lowrey: DC, I don't know- Yeah ... five plus years ago, probably five years at this point, and we were, got lucky enough to go to a, a Nationals game. Yeah. So we're sitting there, and everybody was from the Northeast, congressmen, senators, in this little, you know, suite.

[00:33:28] Josh Lowrey: It was pretty awesome. I was the only guy from Texas there. And- Every, then all of a sudden they found out I was from Texas. Mm-hmm. And then they found out I was in oil and gas, and instantly, like four New York guys turned on me. They liked me for a minute until they didn't.

[00:33:41] .: Mm.

[00:33:41] Josh Lowrey: Mm. And they were like, "Hey, don't do what you did to New York.

[00:33:47] Josh Lowrey: Don't do to New York what you've done to Texas with drilling." And that's back when, you know, Marcellus was taking it. Yeah. Yeah. And they just r- railroaded me for, I'm telling you, for 10 minutes straight- Sure ... about, "Don't do this, don't do that. We don't like oil." And I'm, and I'm fi- Like, "Guys, give me a break, dude.

[00:33:59] Josh Lowrey: I'm [00:34:00] watching a baseball game. I mean, I'll, I'll defend what I can, and if you don't wanna be reasonable, that's on you." And I finally was like, you know, but I kept saying, "But look at Pennsylvania." I said, "Look at this line." Yeah. "The number one Ford dealer in all of New York State is the one that is attached to the Pennsylvania state line.

[00:34:16] Josh Lowrey: That's a fact." And, and they said, "We don't care. You know-" Yeah. "... New York, leave it alone." So finally I got these guys to lay off me, after 10 minutes of getting berated by four New York businessmen. Mm-hmm. They turn around, except for one guy, and he stops, and he, and he looks back at me and he says, "You know, I'll tell you what, though.

[00:34:34] Josh Lowrey: Uh, I own some land in Pennsylvania, and it's great." He goes, "We're just, it's crushing on our o- on the- ... LNG." And he starts just telling me how great- Yeah ... he, uh, his property in Pennsylvania's doing. 'Cause they were like, "Don't come to the Finger Lakes." The Fi- that's where they were just, "The Finger Lakes, the Finger Lakes.

[00:34:50] Josh Lowrey: Don't do that in New York." Yeah. And he turns back to me and he's just like, "We're, I love oil and gas in Pennsylvania. That, don't mess that up." That's why he was at the same dinner I was at. Yeah. And I said, "Hey, man." [00:35:00] I, I was so annoyed. I go, "Why don't you go tell those three guys that just yelled at me for 10 minutes- Yeah

[00:35:06] Josh Lowrey: what you just told me?" And he wouldn't do it- Mm ... 'cause it was a not in my backyard kinda guy. Yeah. And but the, the NIMBYism of all of this was it's just of course they have it right there. Yeah. They have... I mean, Toby Rice, if he was on this podcast, he'd be lighting that story up. Right? I bet you he hears that story 10 times a month.

[00:35:26] Josh Lowrey: So-

[00:35:27] Tim Tarpley: Well, I'm gl- I'm glad you held your ground with those folks, um, Josh.

[00:35:30] Josh Lowrey: I did. I was annoyed. I was an... Well, I got one of them anyway.

[00:35:33] Tim Tarpley: The good news is I'm starting to see it change a little bit. You, you're starting to hear from folks that were, uh- That's one of the three hot dog men ... op- opposed to oil and gas.

[00:35:40] Tim Tarpley: They're changing their tune a little bit, and it's more about energy security. Uh, it does not mean we don't have any, any struggles there, any, any problems in front of us. We do. But I, I have, I have heard a little bit of, of, of weakening in some of the anti-argument over the past maybe two or three years. I think Ukraine, uh, Russia invading Ukraine really changed the game, and then [00:36:00] now with the Middle East, it's, it's even doubling down on that, um, mindset.

[00:36:03] Tim Tarpley: Um, the mindset that we need our own oil and gas? That everyone needs to have energy security, and if you don't have energy security, you, your economy's not really safe, and your people are, are not really safe. I think, I think that- It's shocking that it even had- Yeah ... to go that far. Yeah, you're right. It should've been common sense.

[00:36:19] Molly Determan: A no-brainer.

[00:36:20] Josh Lowrey: Seriously. Um- So, okay. So you guys tell me, so you have the value of EWTC is what? Why do people need to... I mean, clearly this podcast lets them know, but why do people need to care about EWTC, Molly?

[00:36:37] Molly Determan: I mean, I think that there's a couple of different reasons. One of them is for your own organization.

[00:36:46] .: Mm-hmm.

[00:36:46] Molly Determan: Um, the, the way that you can make your own organization better, but also how you can make the sector better. And that is something that [00:37:00] you can have self-interest in because it benefits your company. But also, like, you're serving a greater good. Like, the- when you have your energy workforce hat on, you can see beyond the particular widget that you're trying to sell.

[00:37:13] Molly Determan: Mm-hmm. And you can see beyond that to, like, why are we in this business? W- what is it that we are trying to accomplish as the energy services sector? I think that we're trying to provide energy, um, to make modern life possible, and our sector brings the jobs and the technology that does that. And so you can take your company hat off for a minute and be a part of something bigger and better.

[00:37:44] Josh Lowrey: I love it. Get out what you put in type stuff. Okay. Tim, would you add to that at all or...

[00:37:51] Tim Tarpley: Yeah, I think, um, I think Mol- Molly summarized it well. I think, um, uh, when, when you're, when you're able to... Look, I, I personally [00:38:00] think that producing the energy that this, this country and the world needs is a valiant effort, right?

[00:38:06] Tim Tarpley: It is, it is working for the greater good. I truly believe that. And, you know, the companies that are, uh, uh, in the ener- OFS sector, they are doing it more efficiently and, uh, more safely, uh, and, and, and better than it's ever been done before. I think that is a worthy goal, and that benefits really quite frankly the whole country, the whole, the whole world.

[00:38:27] Tim Tarpley: So by, you know, working together, I, I think you can, you can, you can head towards those goals and work to them together as a group, which I think benefits everybody.

[00:38:36] Josh Lowrey: Well, you bring up a kind of an interesting point there. What n- what sector or what... How much of the, the next workforce is gonna be technical versus digital?

[00:38:46] Molly Determan: I mean, I think that, um, the future workforce, um, a lot of the jobs will have digital components to it. Mm-hmm. I don't know that it, [00:39:00] um, replaces, like, jobs in the field or anything like that, but does it automate things? Does it make things safer? Um, I think that it can, and I think a- automation, um, is something that our companies are, um, heavily invested in because of the piece of, like, you can take people out of harm's way, you can make things more efficient.

[00:39:28] Molly Determan: I think that cont- the companies will continue to try to make things more efficient. Companies will try to continue to automate things. Um, and what we're excited about and interested in seeing that the companies are working on now is how they kind of bring all that to really, like, what's the next big technology break in oil field services?

[00:39:55] Molly Determan: Is it that, um, there's automation across the services, that they're talking [00:40:00] to each other instead of just automating a particular service line? M- Mm-hmm. Maybe. What does that look like? Um, we don't know, but I think that, um, that the future workforce is going to, you know, have to be more, um, digitally fluent.

[00:40:23] Josh Lowrey: Yeah, that's... I agree with that.

[00:40:24] Molly Determan: And, um, but will still be jobs in the field and on the manufacturing floor.

[00:40:31] Tim Tarpley: Yeah, I think there's... Yeah. Oh, yeah, absolutely. It, it, it's gonna be a force multiplier. It's not gonna be a replacement. I, I think it's gonna... You know, you see that graph of efficiency gains, I think it's gonna continue to go up and up and up as, as you get more automation and more, more technology built into the systems

[00:40:47] Josh Lowrey: These questions are great, Kaylin.

[00:40:50] Josh Lowrey: I'm, I'm proud of this. This is doing wonderful. Um, so one of the things I think that's the most valuable of EWTC are the [00:41:00] events. Um, I'm skipping. These aren't, aren't... These are not Kaylin's questions. These are my questions now, just so the audience knows. I'm writing these now- ... on my own. Um, you're, you guys have the annual meeting-

[00:41:13] Molly Determan: Mm-hmm

[00:41:14] Josh Lowrey: which is incredible.

[00:41:16] Molly Determan: Best ever.

[00:41:17] Josh Lowrey: It, it is. It's an incredible event. It is a, you know, typically some great location across the United States. Every CEO of every major company goes. Um, it's how many people? 200, 250 people, somewhere in that range. Mm-hmm. So it's intimate, but yet it's fun. You... There's a lot of great content.

[00:41:34] Josh Lowrey: The... So I highly recommend you join EWTC for the, uh, annual meeting. What other types of conferences and, what do you call them, events? I don't know what you'd call them.

[00:41:44] Molly Determan: Yeah, yeah, no, I mean, so we have 15 different committees.

[00:41:49] Josh Lowrey: Okay.

[00:41:49] Molly Determan: And they range from, like, service line type things, like well servicing, well stimulation, wire line, and then, um, you know, functional things [00:42:00] like HSE and supply chain, and each of those committees puts on their own events.

[00:42:07] Molly Determan: Mm. And so there will be a supply chain conference- Where When

[00:42:12] Josh Lowrey: is that?

[00:42:13] Molly Determan: That's in September.

[00:42:14] Josh Lowrey: That is one of the best things that people need to know about. That has always been one of the best events in the business.

[00:42:22] Molly Determan: So the supply chain conference is great, and we work, you know, and I think one of the things that we- Is that in

[00:42:26] Josh Lowrey: Houston?

[00:42:27] Molly Determan: Yes. Okay. That we do is our committees work collaboratively with the other committees, so it's not just supply chain hosting it. There will be breakouts on international trade and, um, HSC, legal, different topics.

[00:42:42] Josh Lowrey: ENPs from across the, I mean, ENP speaking or- There'll

[00:42:45] Molly Determan: be ENP panel- Yeah ... supply chain leaders, um, and then a supply chain outlook in addition to those- Okay

[00:42:52] Molly Determan: into those breakouts as well. Um, we're having a state of energy services, um, conference also in the fall. [00:43:00] Um, and I think date's TBD, but, um, it is, you know, our, our well stimulation, so our frackers and wireline and- Okay ... um, those committees, uh, will have different panels, and then we'll have our safety awards that we give out.

[00:43:16] Molly Determan: Um, our chapters, so we have, uh, Permian, Oklahoma, uh, Louisiana, Middle East, and, uh, South America, um, that does things in, uh, Argentina and in Brazil. Okay. Um, they all host events as well too. Our domestic chapters host, um, scholarship, um, tournaments- Mm-hmm ... because we give out scholarships to all of our member company employees and their dependents for anything post high school for four years.

[00:43:47] .: Okay, great.

[00:43:48] Molly Determan: Um, uh, industry agnostic. So they, they raise the funds for that, and then they also host, um, luncheons where we'll have a market outlook, and then an ENP that's active in the [00:44:00] region will come and give an outlook specific to, like, come and talk to your suppliers, and let's talk about what partnership is Um, today and what it should look like.

[00:44:10] Molly Determan: And I think that's a forum that we host that we feel pretty passionate about, um, is let's, let's, uh, have the EMPs address their suppliers collectively. Okay. Yeah.

[00:44:20] Tim Tarpley: And June 17th, um, we're... The Energy Technology Committee will be hosting a forum here in Houston with Greater Houston Partnership downtown to answer really a lot of the questions that we were just talking about- Mm-hmm

[00:44:30] Tim Tarpley: was how, how are OFS companies, how is our technology and our expertise going to answer the energy demands that are coming?

[00:44:38] Josh Lowrey: Okay, say that one again, 'cause I wanna make sure that the- Sure ... microphones and the cameras pick this up, 'cause this is a big deal. So in June 17th. June 17th. The, the coolest time of year in Houston, Texas.

[00:44:47] Josh Lowrey: Great job planning that.

[00:44:49] Tim Tarpley: It, it will be inside. It is, it is, it is inside of Greater Houston Partnership. Uh, it should be an excellent event. Um, and we're gonna have a series of panels to, to a- really answer the questions [00:45:00] of how we're gonna do this. The question that I just asked. The question that you just asked.

[00:45:03] Tim Tarpley: Yeah, that's right. So s- so smartly asked. Uh, but no, we'll have a, a number of people smarter than me answering that, answering that question. Uh- And that's

[00:45:10] Josh Lowrey: the Energy Technology Council.

[00:45:12] Tim Tarpley: The Energy Technology Committee's putting it on. Committee, excuse me. It's Energy and Technology and Policy, uh, event.

[00:45:17] Tim Tarpley: Yeah.

[00:45:17] Josh Lowrey: Do you know who's speaking at it so far or who's gonna be participating in it?

[00:45:20] Tim Tarpley: There, there, there are quite a few. We have a, we have a power generation panel, which is really focused on how OFS and our technology and our expertise- This is the Caterpillar podcast. They'll be quite interested in this

[00:45:32] Tim Tarpley: caterpillars, uh, uh- They'd like to know about this one. And, and then, um, we have, you know, a panel on electricity, uh, on electricity. Okay. We have a panel on new energy, things like geothermal, et cetera. Ah. So it, it's gonna cross the whole gamut. Um, so encourage folks to, um, to check out the website and, and come- It's, like, just a couple weeks from now.

[00:45:47] Tim Tarpley: Okay. Yeah. Yes. Nice. Two weeks.

[00:45:49] Molly Determan: In addition to those, then we also have, um, leadership forums that are small kind of round table discussions. Mm-hmm. Like, our next one coming up is Stuart Bowden, the CEO of Ranger. We have... [00:46:00] We just had Ryan Ezell- Mm-hmm ... the CEO of Flowtech.

[00:46:02] Josh Lowrey: Ryan's great.

[00:46:02] Molly Determan: Uh, de- yeah, it was, it was really good.

[00:46:05] Molly Determan: Um, it's members of our board, um, and advisory board do those leadership forums. Mm-hmm. And then we also have the executive address that's in the fall, I think it's in November this year, um, that's at Topgolf, and Ron Gacek will be,

[00:46:19] Josh Lowrey: uh- Oh, really?

[00:46:20] Molly Determan: Yeah, giving his leadership talk, and then everybody goes out and plays Topgolf together.

[00:46:23] Josh Lowrey: So I'm gonna encourage you guys to get involved in that one as well. So that, that's been an event that I've been to multiple times. Ag- maybe 100 people. I don't know. It's- Yeah ... it's a fairly, not a huge amount of people, but it's- Yeah. R- Ron's a stud, knows his business, knows the business. Um, nice little, you know, s- hors d'oeuvres, speech, and then everybody plays golf.

[00:46:44] Josh Lowrey: So these are the types of things where you can't- It's really diffi- I always tell people, "It's hard to get 20 minutes with Tim," right? "20 minutes with Molly." You're busy. And like, get... Imagine getting 20 minutes Ron, with Ron. Like, you're gonna get more than that. I mean, and it's just crazy the [00:47:00] access that an EWTC gets a company.

[00:47:04] Josh Lowrey: Sure. And the, and then the advocacy that it gets, professional, award-winning advocacy.

[00:47:09] Molly Determan: Award-winning.

[00:47:10] Josh Lowrey: Multiple years award-winning. For the record, we've always got 20 minutes for Josh. Well, I, I also know how to crash a party.

[00:47:17] Tim Tarpley: Yeah, you do.

[00:47:18] Josh Lowrey: So- You do. So I'm getting my 20 minutes one way or the other. Oh, hey guys, I wasn't invited.

[00:47:24] Josh Lowrey: Great. But I'm here now.

[00:47:25] Molly Determan: Happy to be here.

[00:47:29] Josh Lowrey: Um, is there anything I've left out that you guys wanna talk about?

[00:47:34] Molly Determan: No. Not for me

[00:47:36] Josh Lowrey: No? Mm-mm.

[00:47:37] Molly Determan: Tim?

[00:47:38] Tim Tarpley: No, I, I think, I mean, just kinda to wrap up a lot of the things we've talked about, I, I think it's an exciting time to be in energy. I, I really do. I think you only have, I think, a challenge, a kind of a generational challenge like this once, once in a while.

[00:47:53] Tim Tarpley: So I just hope that, you know, some of the folks listening to this podcast who are in the space, w- uh, you know, obviously most of them would be, uh, [00:48:00] do kind of feel excited about that. Uh, because I think there's really an op- an opportunity to change the world, and I think we're, like, a big part of that.

[00:48:07] Josh Lowrey: You know, Tim, the last time I interviewed was you was six years ago.

[00:48:10] Josh Lowrey: Really? Yes. And it was-

[00:48:12] Tim Tarpley: Why, why'd it take so long for the second invite, Josh?

[00:48:15] Josh Lowrey: Well, it was- ... right after COVID. You've been on other- Yeah ... podcasts that we have. Yeah. This is just with me directly interviewing you. Yeah. And this was, uh, I mean, call it, like, June, 1st of June. It was right after C- COVID had really started.

[00:48:29] Josh Lowrey: Yeah. And you came on to kind of give a much different update at that point. Mm-hmm. And I, I remember this one. And it was, we, everybody had social... We had the chairs moved back. Oh. Everybody had to wear a mask. We had to take them off right for the interview. Oh, right. Do you remember that? I do. It was in, it was a really tough time to kind of navigate.

[00:48:53] Josh Lowrey: And I remember calling you, saying, "Hey, you guys, you gotta come calm the people down."

[00:48:57] Tim Tarpley: Well, oil had just gone to zero. Actually, it was in [00:49:00] negative- Yeah, that's right ... for, for a while. Minus the- Yeah. And we clearly didn't know where we were going. I mean- Right ... there was so much uncertainty there. Yeah. And, and, and, and let's be honest, there's a lot of uncertainty right now.

[00:49:08] Tim Tarpley: Uh, w- you know, there's, there's all kinds of geopolitical questions out there. Um, I don't think anybody thinks that we're just on easy street. But, you know, it, it, it, it does feel like it's, it's an exciting time to be in this space- Yeah ... and that there's, there's challenges ahead. That's great, and we can meet them, 'cause we've always met them as a, as I say.

[00:49:27] Tim Tarpley: Well,

[00:49:27] Josh Lowrey: you, you have, and I'll, I'll kinda wrap this up here with this note. It's like, you know, this is The Caterpillar Podcast, and it's, these guys are 100 years old this year, right? And, you know, look, who doesn't know what Caterpillar is? They're one of these brands you just, we have all grown up around, right?

[00:49:42] Josh Lowrey: Everyone knows the colors and the cat and whatnot. And you start interviewing their people, and the guy's like, "Oh, yeah, I've been here for 25 years." The lady say, "Oh, I've been here for 15. Oh, I worked in Canada," or, "I worked in London," or, "I've done this." And you're like, "Okay, but what's, what's the theme of the company?"

[00:49:58] Josh Lowrey: "Well, the, the theme is [00:50:00] this, and I started 25 years ago." And you, you talk to her, "Well, the theme is this, and I've only worked internationally-" And I've never worked for anybody domestically. And you're like, "Well, that's the same..." And you don't even know each other or, you know, whatever, and that's the same theme that everybody talks about.

[00:50:14] Josh Lowrey: And I've been so impressed with their consistency. That's how you get to 100 years. Speaking of 100 years, EWTC, you guys are about 95 years right now?

[00:50:24] Molly Determan: Yeah.

[00:50:24] Josh Lowrey: 95 year-

[00:50:25] Molly Determan: We're getting, we're getting there.

[00:50:26] Josh Lowrey: Well, it matters.

[00:50:28] Molly Determan: Mm-hmm.

[00:50:28] Josh Lowrey: It matters. And the way you get to 100, you gotta get to 95 first, right? And you guys have...

[00:50:33] Josh Lowrey: You know, I didn't bring up that interview six years ago on accident. You know, when I was terrified- Yeah ... I called you guys. Yeah. And I said, "Come help. Don't just help me. Get on this microphone and help everybody that you know, all of us. Tell us all what's going on as best you can." Yeah. And you know, it's, there's a consistency that comes with the EWTC that is unmatched.

[00:50:56] Josh Lowrey: It really is unmatched out there. And- Yeah ... you know, you guys are good friends, you're [00:51:00] good partners. We, we're thrilled to be a member and, um, you know. But like that's why you should, audience, why you should join the EWTC, or just listen to them. It doesn't matter. Look, if you wanna be poor, don't join. I don't care.

[00:51:13] Josh Lowrey: If you wanna, if you wanna learn how to, you know, run your business and make money, then join. This is... If you want the best information. That endorsement's gonna go on the website. Um- Yay. But hey, just

[00:51:21] Tim Tarpley: for the record, we were scared too in COVID. I mean, you gotta think, you're right. You were, you... A trade association that in, it involves people meeting each other, and you're not allowed to meet.

[00:51:29] Tim Tarpley: Right. We didn't know what was gonna happen either. I mean, we were just as scared. But, but working together as a group and talking through the same, when you're all facing the same issues, that's a, that's a powerful thing. It's a helpful thing.

[00:51:39] Josh Lowrey: I don't know if Caterpillar's gonna like that joke as much as I

[00:51:41] Tim Tarpley: did,

[00:51:43] Josh Lowrey: but- Well we'll let them, we'll let them decide if they wanna take that one out or not.

[00:51:46] .: Right.

[00:51:46] Josh Lowrey: Caterpillar com- uh, communications team, I apologize for that one. Um, well, if you guys have anything else, I'll wrap us up before I get canceled. And by the way, I'm uncanceled, so anything from you guys? No? All [00:52:00] right. Uh, Tim, Mollye, you guys are awesome. Keep it up. 95 years, we're going to 100. We're charging towards 100.

[00:52:08] Josh Lowrey: It's gonna be the best next five years the organization's ever had. So, um, guys, that's gonna wrap us up on the Energy Pipeline Podcast today, sponsored by Caterpillar. Um, look us up on all of our socials. We're on LinkedIn. By the way, I'm gonna... A bit of plug for you guys. Your LinkedIn is where a lot of you guys, you disseminate a lot of your information, correct?

[00:52:26] Josh Lowrey: Mm-hmm. It's through LinkedIn? Okay. So check out energyworkforcetechnologycouncil.org, or ewtc.org. I think they both go to you guys.

[00:52:34] Molly Determan: Energyworkforce.org.

[00:52:35] Josh Lowrey: Energyworkforce.org. Yeah. And also on LinkedIn, on all the socials. Same with us, look us up. Caitlin, did I leave anything out? No. Okay. Tim and Mollye, thank you guys very much.

[00:52:48] Josh Lowrey: Thank you.