Guice to California Dept. of Conservation: End Virtue Signaling, Liberate Oil and Gas

By Rod Guice -- August 23, 2024

Ed. Note: William R. Guice speaks energy truth to California. MasterResource is pleased to reproduce his August 6th letter to the California Department of Conservation, Geologic Energy Management Division, Central District. The letter first appeared at LinkedIn.

“California suffers from revenue losses for many critical services, has a massive budget deficit, is increasing its dependence on foreign oil, and has the 3^rd highest energy prices in the US.  These results are shameful.”

At LinkedIn, Rod Guice shared a letter he wrote “to protest what I believe is blatant state sponsored virtue-signaling.” He explained:

I’m weary of the ridiculous anti-Oil & Gas bias I see everywhere here and am sick of the unnecessary over-regulation of California’s honorable Oil & Gas Industry. The state clearly intends to destroy the Industry, as well as the jobs and livelihoods of Californians who depend on it. We’re already seeing the shameful results of this as California suffers from revenue losses for many critical services, has a massive budget deficit, is increasing its dependence on foreign oil, and has the 3rd highest energy prices in the US.

Since when can an American government attack a whole American industry, wipe out jobs, and hurt the lives of its citizens and communities? State government under Newsom has brought us to this. How long will we tolerate it? It’s up to us to change the course of California, but we have to stand together to do it. Let’s vote like we mean it! I hope you will take a few minutes to read the letter.

The letter follows:

This past Thursday (8/1/24) I was running some errands in the California/Mohawk area in Bakersfield, and noticed CalGEM’s P&A operation in the parking lot of the Stockdale Tower Building.  I thought to myself, “They’re Plugging & Abandoning the old well in the parking lot that’s been there forever,” and swung by for a closer look.  I then saw the signs that the State had hung on fences around the work site.

I was shocked by the message on the signs; please be advised that the message is insulting (I’m not the only one who thinks so) and with respect to the good people working at CalGEM, I’m demanding that these signs be removed from further public display.  There are at least five reasons for this:

First, the message “No drilling here” is not only applicable merely to the work site, it’s analogous to the broader condition of California’s Oil & Gas Industry, which has been severely damaged by ever-increasing regulation and anti-oil bias.

Second, the message is boastful and disrespectful to those here who are still employed in the Oil Industry, as well as those who aren’t; CalGEM should have more respect for people who have lost their jobs in an industry that’s shrinking due to over-regulation and anti-oil bias.

Third, the message “No drilling here” should be a humiliation for every Californian: Most other States with Oil & Gas Reserves are drilling and frac’g, and US Production is at an all-time high. Since 2015 however, California’s oil production has declined 41%, and Oil & Gas jobs are declining with it. This is not something to be proud of.

Fourth, due in part to the production decline, California suffers from revenue losses for many critical services, has a massive budget deficit, is increasing its dependence on foreign oil, and has the 3^rd highest energy prices in the US.  These results are shameful.

Fifth, I’m also troubled by last part of the message, “The work at this site is to seal old hazardous oil wells, part of a statewide project to protect public health, safety, and the environment.” I have no issues with plugging orphan wells, especially like this one (in parking lots, with zero likelihood that any Operator would ever try to return it to production) and I oppose any Operator who would just walk away from a well and leave it orphan. However, I know that this particular well, K.C.L. #A74 (0402908240) was drilled in 1951.

It’s been sitting there for 73 years. So, what is it about the well that makes it hazardous now?  Why is it only now, a threat to “public health, safety, and environment?” If the well is so hazardous, why wasn’t it plugged 40-years ago?  I suspect the real answer is something like this: It wasn’t on anyone’s radar. No one cared. No one noticed. It wasn’t hazardous. Correct me, if I’m wrong! The message reminds me of signs at Caltrans construction sites that say, “Your Tax Dollars at Work”.  Only it’s not tax dollars. Its dollars from per-barrel fees paid by Oil & Gas Operators that fund CalGEM; and CalGEM is using the funds to aid and abet those who are destroying our honorable Industry. The sign is merely state sponsored virtue-signaling. 

The next time I see signs like this one, I’ll consider doing some of my own virtue-signaling and may place signs like those below, adjacent to the State’s signs in protest.  The only appropriate signs for these kinds of operations are, “No Admittance – Authorized Personnel Only.”

I feel for people who work at CalGEM, many of whom I know personally. I know it must be hard to have backgrounds in Oil & Gas and put on positive faces from day-to-day, all while working for the current State government; it must seem hypocritical and it cannot be easy.  But try walking in someone else’s shoes.  Imagine you’re an ethical employee, working for an honorable company, as part of an industry that has helped provide the fuel and energy that lifted the developed world to its current high quality of life. And knowing that reliable energy from Fossil Fuel has greatly benefitted 100% of everyone who’s ever been around it, then imagine that you’ve seen your work and industry defamed and blamed for the ills of the world, accused of greed, and of profiting by selling humanity down the river; and you watch as a government destroys your industry and your job. This is what it’s like working here in Oil & Gas now.

Is this even America anymore? Since when can an American government attack a whole American industry, wipe out jobs, and hurt the lives of its citizens and communities? Please bear in mind that it’s not just our livelihoods that are on the State chopping block. When the Oil & Gas industry is dead here, and there’s nothing to regulate, your livelihoods will be next.  I wish for you and yours, only the best!

Sincerely and Respectfully,                                                  – William R. Guice, Veer Energy, Inc