Energy 101: We Ask The Dumb Questions So You Don't Have To

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Welcome to Energy 101 with Julie McLelland and Jacob Stiller. Join us on our mission to help raise the world's energy IQ.

  1. 3 DAYS AGO

    The Hidden Energy Crisis Powering Your ChatGPT Search

    Shawn Cutter, Founder & CEO of EnergiAcres, went from sixth-generation Ohio farmer to Discovery Channel reality TV star to selling his oil and gas software startup to Quorum before Series A. Now he's building circular energy infrastructure that pairs power plants with data centers and greenhouses to make energy count twice. We get into the grid crisis, the cloud vs on-prem debate, and whether data centers will ever make it to space. Click here to watch a video of this episode. Join the conversation shaping the future of energy.Collide is the community where oil & gas professionals connect, share insights, and solve real-world problems together. No noise. No fluff. Just the discussions that move our industry forward.Apply today at collide.io Click here to view the episode transcript. 00:00 - Intro and guest background01:24 - Sixth-generation farmer and family oil and gas roots02:39 - The Discovery Channel reality TV show07:44 - Building an oil and gas software startup10:45 - Getting acquired by Quorum before Series A15:39 - Life inside a big company post-acquisition19:15 - Mistakes, pivots, and finding his way back21:49 - What EnergiAcres actually does24:07 - The data center power crisis.28:20 - Energy mix and fixing the grid31:13 - How data centers evolved and why power demand exploded36:27 - Cloud vs on-prem and the cost reality39:28 - Water usage and cooling problems41:54 - EnergiAcres' greenhouse and circular energy model45:23 - SMRs, space data centers, and what comes nexthttps://twitter.com/collide_ai https://www.tiktok.com/@collide.io https://www.facebook.com/collide.io https://www.instagram.com/collide.io https://www.youtube.com/@collide_io https://bsky.app/profile/collide-ai.bsky.social https://www.linkedin.com/company/collideai

    50 min

  2. 23 MAR

    Australia Is About to Become the Most Important Energy Suppliers on Earth

    The Beetaloo Basin in Australia's Northern Territory is one of the most exciting shale plays nobody is talking about yet. Jason Finlay and Aiden Anderson-Barr from Vantage North Group, both former NT government officials, break down why Australia had a fracking moratorium, how a left-leaning government lifted it, what the East Coast energy crisis actually looks like, and why US technology is the key to unlocking it all. Click here to watch a video of this episode. Join the conversation shaping the future of energy.Collide is the community where oil & gas professionals connect, share insights, and solve real-world problems together. No noise. No fluff. Just the discussions that move our industry forward.Apply today at collide.io Click here to view the episode transcript. 0:00 - Intro and the Beetaloo Basin8:30 - Australia's energy landscape and LNG exports10:00 - East Coast energy security crisis22:00 - The fracking moratorium and how it got lifted35:00 - Traditional owners and community engagement45:00 - US technology and gas recovery59:00 - Vantage North Group and bridging the US-Australia gaphttps://twitter.com/collide_ai https://www.tiktok.com/@collide.io https://www.facebook.com/collide.io https://www.instagram.com/collide.io https://www.youtube.com/@collide_io https://bsky.app/profile/collide-ai.bsky.social https://www.linkedin.com/company/collideai

    1hr 3min

  3. 16 MAR

    Inside the Most Advanced Offshore Drillship on Earth

    Offshore driller Justin Forrest of Valaris Limited joins Jacob and Mark Meyer to break down what it actually means to sit in the driller's chair on a seventh-gen drillship, why managed pressure drilling is the offshore equivalent of horizontal drilling, what 28 days on a rig really looks like, and how Justin has been quietly documenting the hidden world of offshore drilling one black and white photo at a time. Click here to watch a video of this episode. Join the conversation shaping the future of energy.Collide is the community where oil & gas professionals connect, share insights, and solve real-world problems together. No noise. No fluff. Just the discussions that move our industry forward.Apply today at collide.io Click here to view the episode transcript. 00:00 - Introductions and offshore backgrounds04:00 - Justin's career path: Navy to drillships06:00 - What is managed pressure drilling?09:00 - Drilling in Australia: culture, regulations, and water depths15:00 - The modern driller's role and rig floor automation23:00 - Life on a drillship: schedules, food, and losing the social scene to Starlink30:00 - BOP testing and the regulatory landscape37:00 - Real-time data and remote monitoring39:00 - Offshore market outlook42:00 - Close calls and scary rig stories44:00 - Justin's offshore photography hobbyhttps://twitter.com/collide_ai https://www.tiktok.com/@collide.io https://www.facebook.com/collide.io https://www.instagram.com/collide.io https://www.youtube.com/@collide_io https://bsky.app/profile/collide-ai.bsky.social https://www.linkedin.com/company/collideai

    55 min

  4. 9 MAR

    Why Developers Are Switching From ChatGPT to Claude

    The Collide team takes over Energy 101. Jazmia Henry, Canisius Rozario, Jon Slominski, and Sam Texas from Collide break down why they went all-in on Claude, how they are building AI tools specifically for oil and gas, and what agentic workflows actually look like day to day. Plus, Sam once took down Candy Crush for 15 minutes and he is still employed. Click here to watch a video of this episode. Join the conversation shaping the future of energy.Collide is the community where oil & gas professionals connect, share insights, and solve real-world problems together. No noise. No fluff. Just the discussions that move our industry forward.Apply today at collide.io Click here to view the episode transcript. 0:00 - Intro and meet the Collide team1:27 - What everyone does at Collide3:23 - How AI has evolved over the last four years7:22 - Why Collide chose Claude over ChatGPT9:48 - Claude Code explained for non-developers16:43 - How the team uses AI outside of work23:28 - How LLMs actually handle math and numbers26:52 - Agentic workflows at Collide36:21 - Solving oil and gas problems with AI43:17 - Jacob reflects on his own AI journey at Collide45:48 - Sam's Candy Crush infrastructure disasterhttps://twitter.com/collide_ai https://www.tiktok.com/@collide.io https://www.facebook.com/collide.io https://www.instagram.com/collide.io https://www.youtube.com/@collide_io https://bsky.app/profile/collide-ai.bsky.social https://www.linkedin.com/company/collideai

    49 min

  5. 2 MAR

    How Social Media Changed Oil & Gas Forever

    Pressure testing, cold calls from Wendy's parking lots, and a family logo that goes back generations. Clint Wagner, Owner of Wagner Energy Services, Juan Macias Jr, Operations and Business Development Manager at Wagner Energy Services, and Peter Brecht, Commercial Insurance Broker at Falcon West Energy Insurance Solutions pull up to the NAPE edition of Energy 101 to talk about what hydrostatic testing actually looks like in the field, how TikTok comments turned into real business relationships, getting kids excited about energy careers in Ohio schools, and why the oilfield might be the most accepting industry out there for anyone willing to put in the work. Click here to watch a video of this episode. Join the conversation shaping the future of energy.Collide is the community where oil & gas professionals connect, share insights, and solve real-world problems together. No noise. No fluff. Just the discussions that move our industry forward.Apply today at collide.io Click here to view the episode transcript. 0:00 Intro and welcome from NAPE0:37 Wagner Energy Services and what pressure testing actually is4:27 Peter Brecht and the Local Energy Podcast origin story7:04 How TikTok and LinkedIn built real oilfield connections13:38 The Wagner logo and its multigenerational family history17:34 Starting a business from your garage at 4am18:42 Being dads in the oilfield22:30 The famous crystal gauge photo and how art led to a job25:06 Social media culture in oil and gas31:26 Platform personalities from LinkedIn to X to TikTok35:41 Ohio Natural Energy Institute and getting kids into energy careers40:04 Why the oilfield is open to everyone46:14 Northeast vs Texas vs California energy talk52:15 Shout out to Macias Industries52:59 The surfer and rig photo storyhttps://twitter.com/collide_ai https://www.tiktok.com/@collide.io https://www.facebook.com/collide.io https://www.instagram.com/collide.io https://www.youtube.com/@collide_io https://bsky.app/profile/collide-ai.bsky.social https://www.linkedin.com/company/collideai

    56 min

  6. 24 FEB

    He Worked Global Oil & Gas, Then Built a Brewery

    Sean Hanrahan, Founder and Managing Partner of Platypus Brewing in Houston, spent 25 years in global minerals and oil and gas before trading the corporate world for a brewmaster apron. From offshore exploration in Australia and the Gulf of Mexico to opening a craft brewery in the First Ward, Sean breaks down what those two worlds actually have in common. Click here to watch a video of this episode. Join the conversation shaping the future of energy.Collide is the community where oil & gas professionals connect, share insights, and solve real-world problems together. No noise. No fluff. Just the discussions that move our industry forward.Apply today at collide.io Click here to view the episode transcript. 0:00 - Sean Hanrahan intro and background1:35 - Global oil and gas career and Australian energy landscape5:14 - Australia vs US infrastructure and energy markets13:11 - Texas and Australia culture comparisons20:36 - How Sean ended up in Houston and started Platypus Brewing25:11 - Australian Day in Houston and Chamber of Commerce28:20 - Career lessons and building relationships35:20 - Craft beer industry trends and where it's headed43:06 - Platypus Brewing operations and distribution strategy52:52 - AI in brewing and closing thoughtshttps://twitter.com/collide_io https://www.tiktok.com/@collide.io https://www.facebook.com/collide.io https://www.instagram.com/collide.io https://www.youtube.com/@collide_io https://bsky.app/profile/digitalwildcatters.bsky.social https://www.linkedin.com/company/collide-digital-wildcatters

    55 min

  7. 16 FEB

    How Dead Oil Fields Became Clean Energy Goldmines

    Prabhdeep Sekhon, CEO of Eclipse Energy, breaks down the hydrogen rainbow and why it doesn't tell the whole story about cost, carbon intensity, and water use. From farm boy in Canada to petroleum engineer in the Bakken to clean tech founder, Prab explains how his team is using microbes to eat leftover oil in abandoned fields and produce hydrogen without water, turning billion-dollar liabilities into clean energy assets. He walks through their first-of-a-kind California project that hit 40% hydrogen production, the West Texas deployments coming next, and why co-locating data centers in oil fields solves both the molecule transport problem and the cooling water challenge. They discuss hitting $0.50 per kilogram hydrogen by 2028, why natural gas isn't going anywhere, and how oil and gas companies are actually paying them to figure out the future of their abandoned reservoirs. Join the conversation shaping the future of energy.Collide is the community where oil & gas professionals connect, share insights, and solve real-world problems together. No noise. No fluff. Just the discussions that move our industry forward.Apply today at collide.io Click here to view the episode transcript. 00:00 - Prab's journey from farm to petroleum engineer03:15 - Skills oil and gas taught him for clean tech08:26 - Energy pragmatism and decarbonization economics10:30 - Breaking down the hydrogen rainbow14:01 - Green hydrogen costs and water intensity15:53 - Gray and blue hydrogen trade-offs17:55 - Natural and geological hydrogen potential21:14 - Eclipse's approach to the problem24:17 - Eating oil with microbes for hydrogen26:20 - California first-of-a-kind project results28:41 - Field operations walkthrough32:10 - Hydrogen use cases and volumes36:01 - Cost parity with natural gas38:07 - Data centers solve the transport problem43:03 - Path to commercial scale by 2028https://twitter.com/collide_io https://www.tiktok.com/@collide.io https://www.facebook.com/collide.io https://www.instagram.com/collide.io https://www.youtube.com/@collide_io https://bsky.app/profile/digitalwildcatters.bsky.social https://www.linkedin.com/company/collide-digital-wildcatters

    46 min

  8. 12 FEB

    The Insane Engineering of Deepwater Oil Production

    Austin Draughon spent nine years at BP keeping Gulf of Mexico wells producing tens of thousands of barrels per day from floating platforms in 6,000+ feet of water. He breaks down why offshore is ten times more expensive, takes ten times longer, and involves ten times more people than onshore drilling, from robots tightening bolts on the seafloor to the ice problem that can kill a well in eight hours. Jacob and Julie learn why you can't just build 6,000-foot concrete pillars, how Christmas trees got their name, and what happens when asphalt buildup shuts down a 10,000 barrel per day well worth the energy consumption of Montana. Plus: helicopter crash training, North Slope darkness, and why AI's best trick is turning 35-page documents into the one sentence you actually needed. Join the conversation shaping the future of energy.Collide is the community where oil & gas professionals connect, share insights, and solve real-world problems together. No noise. No fluff. Just the discussions that move our industry forward.Apply today at collide.io Click here to view the episode transcript. 00:00 - Gulf of America officially renamed01:41 - Nine years producing offshore Gulf of Mexico wells02:59 - North Slope Alaska: darkness and extreme cold survival05:06 - Production engineer managing 12 high-stakes offshore wells07:11 - Asphalt buildup can kill a 10,000 barrel per day well09:13 - Building technology to predict well failures early11:03 - From Excel spreadsheets to cloud-deployed Python scripts12:07 - Dry tree versus wet tree subsea completions explained18:19 - Wildcat exploration: finding elephants to justify $30B platforms20:09 - Blowout preventers and seafloor robots with little hands23:11 - Five-mile flowlines connecting subsea wells to platforms24:23 - Onshore takes weeks, offshore takes 90+ days minimum26:29 - Automation levels on offshore drill ships29:00 - 300+ people living on floating production facilities32:06 - ROV operators controlling robots like video games34:16 - Why offshore wells produce 1,000x more than stripper wells36:16 - Pushing spaghetti four miles to hit a four-foot target37:47 - Hydrate ice problem: eight-hour clock before well dies39:08 - North Sea waves versus Gulf of America conditions41:15 - Helicopter crash training at the YMCA pool44:17 - AI's killer use case: many to one summarization46:26 - Narrative layers surface buried statistics automaticallyhttps://twitter.com/collide_io https://www.tiktok.com/@collide.io https://www.facebook.com/collide.io https://www.instagram.com/collide.io https://www.youtube.com/@collide_io https://bsky.app/profile/digitalwildcatters.bsky.social https://www.linkedin.com/company/collide-digital-wildcatters

    49 min
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Welcome to Energy 101 with Julie McLelland and Jacob Stiller. Join us on our mission to help raise the world's energy IQ.

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