Employee engagement is an issue for many industries that rely on frontline workers. But energy and utility companies face unique challenges when it comes to connecting with workers. A widening skills gap and a growing labor shortage are adding up to a disconnected workforce.
In fact, only 52% of utility...
The Influence of Big Money in Anti-Oil and Gas CampaignsThere has been a massive increase in the size and scope of opposition to oil and gas in recent years.The calls for a fracking Organizations ban have come from every part of the left — from Bernie Sanders’ bill in...
The DOL’s Proposed Rule: Broadening Workers’ Classification as Independent Contractors in the Oil and Gas Industry
Introduction
Independent contractors have long been a mainstay in the oil and gas industry. Given the ebbs and flows of the industry, contractors allow for much-needed flexibility. But, using contractors can sometimes create risk, particularly...
Natural gas, a mixture comprising primarily methane and similar light hydrocarbon components, provides a relatively clean energy source for the United States. Thanks to widespread deployment of horizontal-drilling and hydraulic-fracturing technologies in recent years, natural gas is recovered abundantly, so much so that the U.S. now exports its excess...
Would you like to see a wine list? Not a list of wines, but a list of Texas counties where you’ll find the best wines. Oil isn’t the only thing flowing in the Lone Star State. Austin happens to be home to some of the top wine counties outside...
The business impact and long-lasting benefits drones offer have put them on a clear path to becoming an industry standard. Automated drones have been tapped as one of the next game-changing innovations for the oil and gas industry, largely because of the substantial cost savings they offer. Additionally, drone...
There’s nothing like shale for resiliency. It has, time and again, prevailed over supposed deaths of its future. Indeed, from the very moment of its initial success, supposed “experts” have been predicting it was but a passing fad, a money pit or a disaster waiting to happen. Ian Urbina...
Jane GimlerCompany name: ABC Texas Coastal Bend ChapterTitle: PresidentSHALE: Tell me about your company.ABC Texas Coastal Bend Chapter is the leading association providing the most valuable resources for the Coastal Bend construction industry, dedicated to our members’ prosperity and promoting the free enterprise system. We are the construction industry...
After thirty years in practice with two law firms, an oil-and-gas company, and my own firm, there were two aspects that made the offer to become a law-school professor at Texas Tech in 2014 intriguing to me: one was the law school’s emphasis on wanting to hire a practitioner,...
The COVID-19 pandemic has created a “new normal” for employers operating in these uncertain times. In the realm of employer-provided medical plans (“plans”), several COVID-related mandates apply, and opportunities are available for employers to expand coverage and provide cost-saving opportunities to employees. If not done already, employers should work...
