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

Digital Wildcatters
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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. 2d ago

    The Tiny Material That Could Replace Sand In Fracking

    Those giant pyramids of sand at every frac site exist for one reason, and it turns out the industry might be quietly running short on the good stuff. Curtis Wilie and Josh Johnson of Superior Energy Services break down how a coal byproduct called fly ash is shaking up the proppant game, why something three times finer than sand outperforms it, and how pulling forgotten barrels from legacy wells could matter more than drilling new ones. Plenty of analogies, zero shame about the dumb questions. 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  Why there's sand everywhere on a frac site01:00  How hydraulic fracturing actually works04:00  River frac in the 1930s and the search for the right proppant06:00  The sand economy and a looming supply squeeze09:00  Where sand comes from and the Permian conveyor belt16:00  Meet EcoReach: fly ash instead of sand19:00  Lighter, stronger, finer, and how it travels farther21:00  Unlocking micro fractures and trillions of trapped barrels25:00  Sourcing ash from coal plants worldwide29:00  Walnut shells, steel balls, and other proppant experiments30:00  Skipping the blender and pumping at six barrels a minute33:00  Flowing like water and getting 90 percent of fluid back35:00  The floor jack analogy for frac initiation37:00  The godfather story and balancing the proppant triangle43:00  Who's adopting it and the case for refracshttps://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

    51 min

  2. Jun 5

    The NASA Technology Now Tracking Oilfield Methane

    Methane is invisible, odorless, and far more potent than CO2 in the short term, so how do you actually catch it leaking? Brendan Smith, CEO of SeekOps Inc., explains how technology built for the Mars Curiosity rover ended up flying on drones over oil and gas sites here on Earth. We get into spectrometers versus satellites, why offshore detection is so tricky, what EU methane rules mean for US operators in 2027, and how SeekOps turns an invisible gas into something you can finally see. 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   Setup and the Power Hour combo02:24   Crossing paths back in 201904:14   From PhD dropout to CEO05:24   JPL, the first patent, and Mars rover tech12:34   How a drone measures a methane plume13:49   Ground, drones, planes, and satellites19:00   Spinning out of JPL and the Equinor bet24:55   What methane is and why it matters29:01   Net zero and EU methane regulation32:00   LNG, coal, and offshore detection42:10   Lidar, photogrammetry, and 3D models45:36   What's overhyped and the road ahead49:24   Why Austin, and the Houston debate53:16   Wrap uphttps://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

    53 min

  3. May 29

    The Secret to Surviving Every Oilfield Downturn

    Getting laid off twice taught Yogashri Pradhan, founder of IronLady Energy Advisors, that staying visible matters as much as staying technical. She traces a career running from UT petroleum engineering to Devon, Endeavor, Coterra and Chevron, the downturns that reshaped it, and why she got married in front of a pump jack. There is also honest talk on the Diamondback merger, the wildcatters she looks up to, where AI fits in the field, life in Midland, and her new book Fueling Impact. 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 from Midland0:46 The full career timeline6:42 Studying petroleum at UT8:00 University Lands explained11:30 Devon and the Ivory Tower14:38 What a downturn really means20:00 Raising money in oil and gas22:30 The Endeavor and Diamondback merger24:35 Meeting Autry Stevens26:12 Wildcatters worth knowing27:33 Devon and Coterra coming together30:41 Inside Chevron34:24 Advice for picking the right company36:11 Going back for a master's and MBA39:00 Starting IronLady Energy Advisors43:16 Her connection to Wyoming45:52 Why she stays in Midland50:01 Working with OpsAI51:06 Where AI fits in energy54:34 Collide and the energy community56:19 The book Fueling Impact1:01:50 Sushi night with Chuckhttps://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

    1h 4m

  4. May 18

    Why AI and Oil Are Fighting Over the Same Turbines

    Micro turbines hitting 83% efficiency could replace flares and turn stranded wells into tiny neighborhood power plants. Mark Ronkin of Grid Energy Solutions came down from Edmonton to talk with Jacob and guest host Britt Breaux about jumping from five years in the Canadian Army to wireline to running his own MWD shop, then stumbling into the tech at a gas show in Milan. Plus getting sick next to a flare, the oilfield marketing problem in eastern Canada, and why a 9 to 5 and entrepreneurship can coexist. 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 FDE model at Collide5:46 Mark's path through the Canadian Army9:25 Oil and gas as a polarizing industry across Canada13:19 Louisiana refineries, Cancer Alley, and Alberta boomtowns19:08 Living downstream of a flare21:18 Military to wireline to MWD25:09 Going independent and the entrepreneurship bug28:14 Peak oil and modern directional drilling32:44 Turning your day job into your business36:54 Career advice and finding the Collide community43:14 Imposter syndrome and the entrepreneur grind45:59 Stumbling into micro turbines at Gastech Milan52:46 Commercializing the tech in Canada1:00:02 Replacing flares with neighborhood power plants1:01:29 What the next 5 to 10 years look like1:06:18 Grid Energy Solutions and what's 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

    1h 9m

  5. May 13

    The Path to Autonomous Frac

    Building software inside a frac and wireline giant is a different beast than doing it at a startup. Ben Dickinson and Raleigh Bumpers from NexTier Completion Solutions get into life under the Patterson UTI umbrella, the EOS platform, the Vertex automated pump control system, the shift from diesel to natural gas powered fleets, agentic AI in the field, and why the world genuinely stops if oil and gas stops. Plus Pittsburgh shale stories and a Colorado School of Mines reality check. 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 The NexTier 60-second pitch2:00 Why integrating every service on location wins4:30 Ben's path from Pittsburgh to wireline to digital11:15 Raleigh's jump from computer science to the Eagle Ford17:00 If oil and gas stops, the world stops19:30 Pittsburgh, the shale boom, and incoming data centers21:30 Completions 10123:30 The EOS platform and Vertex automated pump control27:00 Earning trust from veteran hands on new software32:00 Generative AI versus agentic AI in the field34:00 Diesel, natural gas, and electric frac fleets41:30 Colorado School of Mines and the next generation44:00 The road to a fully autonomous well site46:30 The 80 percent AI failure rule debatehttps://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

    53 min

  6. May 6

    The Renewable Energy Hiding 4,000 Feet Below The Ocean

    Dan Grech, Founder and CEO of Global OTEC, swung by from London to break down ocean thermal energy conversion, a technology that turns the ocean's heat into 24/7 baseload power. Jacob asks the dumb questions about warm surface water meeting cold deep water, why Jimmy Carter is the unsung hero of ocean energy, how OTEC stacks up against offshore wind and Peter Thiel's new wave bet, and why Hawaii and the Caribbean might lead the way. 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 Welcome Dan, tacos, and OTC week in Houston01:20 From luxury fashion to ocean energy08:45 What OTEC actually is12:15 Coastal versus offshore deployments16:00 From Jules Verne to Jimmy Carter19:20 Why ocean energy isn't sexy yet21:00 Peter Thiel's wave energy bet26:15 Offshore wind, solar, and dumb questions33:00 DeepStar and working with the majors35:54 Reinvented submarines and crossover tech37:00 Energy mix futures and Hawaii pilots40:25 Collaborators, no enemies42:20 Five-year ocean predictionhttps://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

    44 min

  7. Apr 27

    The World Can’t Quit Oil (No Matter What They Say)

    Three decades of front-row energy seats and takes you genuinely can't argue with. Mark Meyer gets into the Strait of Hormuz mess, Heathrow's jet fuel shortage, countries sitting on hydrocarbons while importing them, the IEA's net zero detour, BP's expensive U-turn, and why 2 billion people still cooking over dung deserves more airtime than another COP summit. Astros predictions and a Joe Rogan tangent included. 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 Intro3:21 Strait of Hormuz and energy attention spans6:23 Heathrow's jet fuel crisis8:06 Land Man tour through a barrel of oil9:55 New England's oil-fired electricity paradox14:07 Countries sitting on hydrocarbons while importing them21:39 Gas prices and the political blame game25:12 California, the Jones Act, and US shipbuilding decline28:46 ASU hackathon and hope for the next generation35:22 Chris Wright as energy secretary37:49 Advice to 2016 Jacob about the climate narrative46:28 OPEC, IEA, and the agencies shaping the conversation51:34 The IEA's Net Zero by 2050 detour and BP's pivot1:00:38 EPA rescinds the 2009 endangerment finding1:03:33 Wood pellet accounting and the China India reality1:08:20 The global South and the moral case for hydrocarbons1:14:38 Mark's daily media diet1:17:23 Price gouging vs Big Tech margins1:21:39 Joe Rogan, cable news fatigue, and Peggy Noonan1:29:01 Astros baseball predictions1:36:22 Wrap uphttps://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

    1h 37m

  8. Apr 24

    Robots Are Taking Over Oil Rigs… But Not How You Think

    Andrew Richard, CEO and Co-Founder of Automated Rig Technologies, flies in from Calgary to break down why the oilfield spent 70 years optimizing brute force instead of rethinking the process. He gets into the jointed pipe injector that strips 97% of operator input out, what rig hands call the "barbecue basket," why everyone in oil and gas wants to be first to be second, and the IKEA chatbot that accidentally solved the automation jobs debate. 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 - Calgary, metaverse throwbacks, and meet Andrew02:20 - What Automated Rig Technologies actually does05:50 - Starting in the basement in 200907:44 - The jointed pipe injector breakdown09:13 - Red zone risk and the barbecue basket17:05 - From Energy Tech Night pitch to the Bakken trial20:22 - How 15 people get in front of major operators24:14 - Marketing, trust, and selling the sizzle30:30 - The automation jobs debate, ATMs and IKEA36:03 - The dangerous jobs that shouldn't exist38:11 - Change management and first to be second42:15 - Bad data is a platform problem44:59 - What's next with AI and datahttps://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

    47 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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