It has been an honor to serve as president of ETGS these past two years.  I have enjoyed getting to know so many of you.  We really have a fun group. 

In this era of disturbing news, it occurred to me that in 30+ years that I have worked in the oil field, I have never had a “#MeToo” moment.  I have often been the only woman on an oil rig, on a field trip, or in a meeting, and I can honestly say I never felt harassed or endangered.  This is not to disparage those that are true victims.  However, I have had the good fortune to work for and with people of integrity.  Others may have had a different experience, but it appears to me that the oil field is a safer place for a woman to work than Hollywood.  Who would have guessed?  Some companies may still hesitate to hire a woman to work out in the field.  My generation benefitted from government pressure on companies to have diversity in the employees they hired.   I recently read in an article in AAPG Explorer that even Saudi Aramco sees the value in diversity.  I am so grateful for the opportunities that I have had in this industry.

Spring is in full bloom here in East Texas.  It is my favorite time of year with our amazing azaleas, dogwoods, and beautifully landscaped homes.  It also feels like a kind of spring in the oil field, as though it is starting to come alive in our area after a rather long winter.   That was the sentiment I heard at our Tech and Prospect Expo last week.  Once again Matt Bailey, our Expo chairman, and Barbara Cade did a great job organizing the event.  In addition to thanking them, I would like to thank Carl Gray for a fun icebreaker, our two keynote speakers, everyone that got a booth, and the Stephen F Austin University students for sharing their projects with us.  It was so good to see so many old friends and new faces from out of town.  Please send us your pictures if you have any, we will put them up on our website for members to see.

Rusty Jackson and Al Jasper have organized something special this month that should be a lot of fun.  We will have a DINNER meeting instead of a luncheon and it is open to family and friends.  On April 18th 6:00 pm, Cascades Country Club, William Ambrose will present “Giant Impacts in the First Billion Years of the Solar System”.   Bill is a Research Scientist at the Bureau of Economic Geology in Austin.  He is currently Vice-Chair of the Astrogeology Committee of AAPG, having served as Co-Chair with geologist and former shuttle astronaut Jim Reilly. His research interests in planetary geology include energy resources in the Solar System and lunar geology.  It is sure to be a fascinating talk, as Astrogeology is a growing field.  We will have a social hour from 6-7 pm where you can purchase a drink from the bar upstairs and bring it down to the room where we normally meet.  Dinner will be served at 7pm (regular cost of $20 per person) and then the talk.

Could the price of oil and gas actually be relatively stable for the next few years? That would just feel strange, as most of us are used to volatility in our industry. The US Energy Information Administration has indicated that the Brent spot price for oil will average $60/bbl this year and $61/bbl in 2019, with WTI being $4 lower for the next two years.   Hopefully with the new LNG ports coming on line, the natural gas prices will rise. EIA forecasts $3.20/MMBtu for the rest of 2018 and $3.08/MMBtu for 2019. Let's hope it happens as predicted.
      
Thanks to Rusty Jackson for arranging our half day seminar with Dr. Stephen Sonnenberg on Mudrocks.  It was so interesting and applicable.  Rusty has done a great job finding speakers for our society this year.

Instead of our luncheon this month we decided to focus on our Tech and Prospect Expo, Tuesday, March 27th, from 8:30-3:30 at Harvey Hall Convention Center.  We have two excellent speakers lined up.