The inspiration for this cartoon is from the recent OPEC decision to not cut production, but to keep the market saturated with cut rate oil. Some analysts claim that OPEC is trying to take the shale gas out of market. It is an interesting concept. OPEC’s primary focus is to drive U.S. oil out of the U.S. domestic market. It is not like we are exporting our oil on the world market and keeping them from reaping profits from other countries. It is our own profit they are looking to knock out. It is my belief that they have greatly underestimated the strength of our petroleum industry.
I think we have had enough people in the industry that have known that this could be a possible scenario all along. I know there has been a development of sonic fracking that will revolutionize the industry. I also know that it has been tested in the field. I expect the industry to tighten its belt and cut costs, but I think we will also see a much more efficient revolution of extracting the shale oil that will keep the domestic petroleum industry as strong, if not stronger, than it has ever been before. It is also evident that OPEC is not concerned with all its members.
The cut rate price they are keeping on the market is going to greatly dismantle more of its own member’s economies than the U.S. This situation looks like more of an opportunity to start a new world power structure in the petroleum industry and finally put the old OPEC powers out to pasture.
Recently, I was informed that my cartoons were too “redneck.” The person that was enlightening me just happened to have moved to the U.S. from the Middle East to open a fracking business. One point that I longed to make was that this person came to “my culture” and decides to comment on my work being redneck? However, my Texas ethics kept me from making several comments that I should have made. While I admit that I have been known to be a redneck and quite proud of it, I wanted to make the point that his definition of a redneck was only something he had heard jokes about or seen on YouTube.
If he really wants to be able to judge my culture, he needs to become a part of it, get a firsthand view, which you do not get from a fancy office in Houston or by zipping around in a corporate jet. Get out on the interstate and have your Mercedes break down at the side of the road. That person that stops to put your alternator belt on for you is that redneck that you like to look down your nose at.
This person also commented that some of the 2015 CRUDE Calendar Cartoons were an example of my “redneck” humor. He said the June cartoon about the, cartel’s casa el burton mud delivery would offend his friends in Mexico. If a cartoon about the Mexican Cartel offends your friends, then buddy, your profit margin in Mexico has nothing to do with fracking. My Mexican and Hispanic friends hate the cartel just as much as everybody and see no offense in a cartoon that shows them to be stupid and inept. He also said the April 2015 cartoon about Baku Gas Detectors would offend his Russian friends. (Oh gee, there go all my Russian sales.)
I guess all along the joke was on this old dumb redneck, because you see this fracking investor was looking for more cartoons about fracking so he could print up his own calendar. He had already downloaded a few of mine from the internet but wanted a few more to make his own fracking calendar. Too bad I just did not have enough time to whip him out a few more, but I have a 60 hp Johnson I need to finish putting a head gasket on.
May your boots be dry, your coffee fresh, and your gloves new. Kybree
Steve Burnett has been working in the oil industry since the age of 16. He started out working construction on a pipeline crew and after retirement, finishes his career as a Pipeline Safety Compliance Inspector. He has a degree in art and watched oil and art collide in his career to form the “Crude Oil Calendars.” He also taught in the same two fields and believes that while technology has advanced, the valuable people at the core of the industry and the attributes they encompass, remain the same. With a humorist for a father, he also learned that a dose of comedy makes everything better. The major influences on his cartooning style were the Ace Reid Cowpokes cartoons, the Dirk West sports cartoons and V.T. Hamlin's Alley Oop comic.
- Steve Burnetthttps://energiesmedia.com/author/steve-burnett/
- Steve Burnetthttps://energiesmedia.com/author/steve-burnett/
- Steve Burnetthttps://energiesmedia.com/author/steve-burnett/
- Steve Burnetthttps://energiesmedia.com/author/steve-burnett/
- Steve Burnetthttps://energiesmedia.com/author/steve-burnett/
- Steve Burnetthttps://energiesmedia.com/author/steve-burnett/
Oil and gas operations are commonly found in remote locations far from company headquarters. Now, it's possible to monitor pump operations, collate and analyze seismic data, and track employees around the world from almost anywhere. Whether employees are in the office or in the field, the internet and related applications enable a greater multidirectional flow of information – and control – than ever before.