R?on Whitmire is a native Texan who has been around the oil field a few times. He moved to Bartlesville, Oklahoma, when his father was transferred there with Phillips Petroleum Corp., and he attended the University of Oklahoma, receiving a degree in journalism and public relations.


He first went to work at a Gannett newspaper in Muskogee, Oklahoma, and then joined the National Ocean Industries Association trade lobbying association in Washington doing media relations. On occasion, Whitmire would also do some lobbying for the organization. After a few years with NOIA, Whitmire joined the Independent Petroleum Association of America, doing fund-raising and recruiting members. He eventually rose to vice president, membership and marketing.


After spending about 10 years in Washington, Whitmire joined Parker Drilling Co. in Houston as director of public relations. He became director of contracts and marketing for South American operations.


Whitmire had met EnerVest Ltd. president and chief executive John Walker while working for IPAA, and they discussed him joining the company. Whitmire wanted to work with Walker’s team and joined EnerVest, where he is manager of business development.


A man who enjoys drumming up business for his company as well as the joys of fly-fishing, Whitmire spoke with Oil and Gas Investor about his experiences with Washington lobbying, his work with Walker and what it’s like to be a corporate bird dog.


Investor What were some energy issues you tackled in Washington?


Whitmire Something that was controversial then and still is today, and has made its way into the presidential campaign, was access to offshore acreage. Wetlands were a big issue in Congress too. We had the Energy Policy Act of 1992. Most of the oil and gas provisions got thrown out, but that’s what brought us the low-flow showerheads and things like that.
Later, when I was at IPAA, a big issue for the industry was an attempt to get the federal government to take its royalty in-kind—in actual production, as opposed to cash.


Investor Was it hard to influence Washington, particularly on pro-U.S. energy matters?
Whitmire How anyone can think they can come up with recycling the idea of a windfall-profits tax, I don’t even know. They make the claim it will reduce prices for consumers when history clearly shows it will have the opposite effect.
The jobs that IPAA and NOIA and other groups in Washington are doing are so critical for our industry, trying to get Congress to understand that this is an energy crisis. It’s not an issue that they need to make a one-liner for on the 10 o’clock news.


Investor How did you end up at Parker Drilling?
Whitmire After 10 years in Washington, I decided it was time to come back to where I grew up. Parker was moving their headquarters from Tulsa to Houston, and they needed to bring some staff on. I did some PR work for them in the beginning of my career and quickly switched over to sales and marketing and contracts. South America was my territory, so I was responsible for getting work for our rigs.


Investor What did you do there, besides meet your wife Carolina?
Whitmire My job took me around South America on a continuous basis to call on potential customers. There was a lot of travel in that job. I also had the opportunity to visit many other places: Kazakhstan, Russia, Turkmenistan. It was great work and fascinating travel.


Investor Tell me about rig availability and service costs.
Whitmire Here in the U.S., at the beginning of this year, the rig market loosened up a little bit. But as we’ve progressed through the year, things have really tightened back up. I’m sure it varies from basin to basin, but in some places, like East Texas, rigs are hard to find, which means costs and dayrates are going up. The cost of steel has just gone up incredibly.


Investor How does EnerVest compare with working at Parker?
Whitmire It’s very different trying to get rigs put to work for a service company than it is trying to source deals for an acquisition on the E&P side. But the common theme I’ve seen in my entire career, even when I was a newspaper reporter, is that the jobs I’ve had have been all about building and maintaining relationships. Now at EnerVest, I’m trying to get people to engage with us to buy their properties.


Investor How do you do that?
Whitmire A colleague at another company said, “Well you’re nothing but a bird dog.” You just go out and point. If it’s good, then great, if not, then they kick you in the back side and tell you to go find the next one. It might not be flattering, but it’s pretty accurate.


Investor Do you work for both EnerVest and EV Energy Partners, the MLP?
Whitmire The short answer is yes. My main job is with EnerVest, the institutional business. But EnerVest also is the managing general partner of EV Energy.


Investor Who has had the greatest influence on you in the business?
Whitmire If there were ever two people for me to learn from in terms of building relationships and how to make win-win propositions for yourself and your counterparts, they are Phil DeLozier (vice president of acquisitions and divestitures) and John.