How One Mapping Tool Powers Oil Rigs, Armies, and Starbucks

How One Mapping Tool Powers Oil Rigs, Armies, and Starbucks

Maps quietly run the entire oil and gas world, you just never noticed. This one breaks down GIS without the jargon, from Google Earth doodles to the software that decides exactly where to drill. Richard Webb and Zach Harlan of Exprodat explain how mapping tech places wells, dodges the neighbor's boundary, and powers everything from Zillow to the military. Plus drilling on Mars, conspiracy toll roads, and why there are no dumb questions when the whole planet is your dataset. Click here to watch a video of this episode. [https://app.collide.io/content/kkBBCrJ] 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 [http://collide.io/] Click here to view the episode transcript. [https://share.transistor.fm/s/73b689c0/transcript] 00:00 What URTeC is and why mapping matters 03:40 Life as a map and rock guy 06:42 What GIS means and the old guesswork days 08:40 The pro software behind the maps 10:29 Who uses these tools and how they learn 14:40 Placing wells and the horizontal revolution 19:11 Customizing every answer for the customer 24:19 Data overload and the days before GIS 29:45 Famous drilling mistakes and how basins differ 34:20 Finding things in an ocean of blue 38:26 AI, Collide, and toll road conspiracies 42:44 GIS everywhere, from the military to Starbucks 44:53 Mapping the sky and outer space 48:21 Breaking into GIS and drilling on Mars https://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

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. [https://app.collide.io/content/4o6hUML] 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 [http://collide.io/] Click here to view the episode transcript. [https://share.transistor.fm/s/08b5f694/transcript] 00:00  Why there's sand everywhere on a frac site 01:00  How hydraulic fracturing actually works 04:00  River frac in the 1930s and the search for the right proppant 06:00  The sand economy and a looming supply squeeze 09:00  Where sand comes from and the Permian conveyor belt 16:00  Meet EcoReach: fly ash instead of sand 19:00  Lighter, stronger, finer, and how it travels farther 21:00  Unlocking micro fractures and trillions of trapped barrels 25:00  Sourcing ash from coal plants worldwide 29:00  Walnut shells, steel balls, and other proppant experiments 30:00  Skipping the blender and pumping at six barrels a minute 33:00  Flowing like water and getting 90 percent of fluid back 35:00  The floor jack analogy for frac initiation 37:00  The godfather story and balancing the proppant triangle 43:00  Who's adopting it and the case for refracs https://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

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. [https://app.collide.io/content/aBoGQYm] 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 [http://collide.io/] Click here to view the episode transcript. [https://share.transistor.fm/s/401cfb14/transcript] 00:00   Setup and the Power Hour combo 02:24   Crossing paths back in 2019 04:14   From PhD dropout to CEO 05:24   JPL, the first patent, and Mars rover tech 12:34   How a drone measures a methane plume 13:49   Ground, drones, planes, and satellites 19:00   Spinning out of JPL and the Equinor bet 24:55   What methane is and why it matters 29:01   Net zero and EU methane regulation 32:00   LNG, coal, and offshore detection 42:10   Lidar, photogrammetry, and 3D models 45:36   What's overhyped and the road ahead 49:24   Why Austin, and the Houston debate 53:16   Wrap up https://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

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. [https://app.collide.io/content/evs7sce%20] 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 [http://collide.io/] Click here to view the episode transcript. [https://share.transistor.fm/s/bfd8f963/transcript] 0:00 Intro from Midland 0:46 The full career timeline 6:42 Studying petroleum at UT 8:00 University Lands explained 11:30 Devon and the Ivory Tower 14:38 What a downturn really means 20:00 Raising money in oil and gas 22:30 The Endeavor and Diamondback merger 24:35 Meeting Autry Stevens 26:12 Wildcatters worth knowing 27:33 Devon and Coterra coming together 30:41 Inside Chevron 34:24 Advice for picking the right company 36:11 Going back for a master's and MBA 39:00 Starting IronLady Energy Advisors 43:16 Her connection to Wyoming 45:52 Why she stays in Midland 50:01 Working with OpsAI 51:06 Where AI fits in energy 54:34 Collide and the energy community 56:19 The book Fueling Impact 1:01:50 Sushi night with Chuck https://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

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. [https://app.collide.io/content/KzpCLLk] 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 [http://collide.io/] Click here to view the episode transcript. [https://share.transistor.fm/s/18fb2bab/transcript] 0:00 Intro and the FDE model at Collide 5:46 Mark's path through the Canadian Army 9:25 Oil and gas as a polarizing industry across Canada 13:19 Louisiana refineries, Cancer Alley, and Alberta boomtowns 19:08 Living downstream of a flare 21:18 Military to wireline to MWD 25:09 Going independent and the entrepreneurship bug 28:14 Peak oil and modern directional drilling 32:44 Turning your day job into your business 36:54 Career advice and finding the Collide community 43:14 Imposter syndrome and the entrepreneur grind 45:59 Stumbling into micro turbines at Gastech Milan 52:46 Commercializing the tech in Canada 1:00:02 Replacing flares with neighborhood power plants 1:01:29 What the next 5 to 10 years look like 1:06:18 Grid Energy Solutions and what's next https://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