Investment Banker Takeaways From The Oilfield Water Markets 2021 Conference

Jim Wicklund, Managing Director Energy Investment Banking at Stephens Inc., moderated a great panel on ESG at the Oilfield Water Markets 2021 Conference last week.

In his weekly newsletter, Things i Learned This (Last) Week, Jim led his latest edition with takeaways from the event.

With Jim’s permission, we are sharing this excerpt from his newsletter with Oilfield Water Connection readers:

“Water Water Everywhere. I had the privilege of moderating a panel at the Oilfield Water Markets conference held last week by Joseph Triepke and Peter Cook discussing the impact of ESG on the water business. Ben Schuman, a portfolio manager at the $30 billion Employee’s Retirement System of Texas, made a point that I thought was excellent. The most important letter in ESG is the “G”. I agree. Governance has the responsibility of protecting the value of shareholders. It is their fiduciary obligation. If a company does not earn its cost of capital, equity value declines. If a board of directors allows a company and its management to consistently lose money, or hopes for a price spike to save them, they are most definitely not fulfilling their fiduciary obligation. There will be increasing focus on this point. Ben said they pay increased attention to ESG and there are studies showing the better relative performance and lower cost of capital to companies that are pursuing and implementing ESG protocols. But if the equity protection of the “G” doesn’t exist, it makes the rest moot.

Jim Summer, the CEO of H2O Midstream, has a long head start in the ESG world, focusing on the “E” a great deal over a varied and interesting career. He correctly notes that the industry does a mediocre job arguing our case for the strides made and the critical nature of what we do. He is right. We are a couple of decades behind many other industries in educating our end users. We rely on incidents like the Colonial Pipeline to show people how critical but that is not constructive or effective education.

Eric Johnson, a partner at Winston Strawn, took me to task on a point. The open-ended nature of ESG in general says to identify your sins, monitor your sins over time, and have management incentives in place to reduce the sinning over time. With no boxes to check, companies will compete to be the “best”, the one who gets the best work. And this would drive our industry to “sustainability” rapidly. But Eric correctly noted that the SEC and other regulatory groups are going to institute rules and ratings, on standardized criteria, making it a much more qualitative scoring than quantitative. He is right. Though in our opinion, entrepreneurship fosters innovation, regulations push minimum compliance. The regulators are likely to end up in charge. And it will give investors a standardized ESG scorecard and boxes will be checked.

There were many observations by attendees with 350 people in a live event, complete with booth and exhibitions and a conga line lunch. Some of the themes that stuck me:

- Recycling is mainstream now. Not something you say you do to appear full service. Mainstream
- Interconnected infrastructure. Sure there will always be trucks but the interconnections drive cooperation and consolidation
- Alternative uses of treated water are being pursued
- Chemistry (organic) is becoming very important
- 12-15 year contacts – just let those words sink in
- Land owner, right-of-way, water rights are always discussed”

If you’d like to get in touch with Jim about his newsletter or Stephens investment banking services, drop us an email and we’ll be happy to make the introduction.

Monday - May 4, 2026 | Pre-Conference

Start Time	Description
10:30 am	private meeting, separate registration required
12:00 pm	private meeting, separate registration required
1:00 pm	private meeting, separate registration required
2:00 pm	in the Irving Convention Center exhibit hall (ground floor)
5:00 pm	private meeting, separate registration required
6:00 pm	Texican Court; open to all conference registrants; enjoy drinks, snacks, networking, & live entertainment (sponsorship available...)
7:30 pm
7:30 pm	Invitation only, sponsored by

Tuesday - May 5, 2026 | Conference Day 1

Start Time	Description
8:00 am	sponsorships available (sponsors have the option to serve food items from their exhibit space...)
8:45 am	(kick-off sponsorship available...) Pete Cook, Managing Partner, Oilfield Water Connection Joseph Triepke, Managing Partner, Oilfield Water Connection
9:00 am	Robert Crain, Executive Vice President, Texas Pacific Water Resources Scott Mitchell, CEO, Deep Blue Jon VandenBrand, Senior Vice President, Western Midstream
10:00 am	Ryan Hassler, Vice President, Rystad Energy
10:30 am	Kelly Bennett, Co-Founder & CEO, B3 Insight
11:00 am	exhibit hall refreshments & coffee available throughout the day; coffee & espresso station sponsorships available
11:30 am
12:00 pm
12:30 pm	different food stations set up throughout exhibit area, available until 1:30 - enjoy the variety and network over great bites! lunch sponsorships available (sponsors have the option to serve food items from their exhibit space...)
1:30 pm	Sean Puryear, CEO, Permian Oilfield Partners
2:15 pm	Robert Ballantyne, Senior Vice President, RWI Enhanced Evaporation
2:30 pm	Ted Wooten, Chief Engineer, Railroad Commission of Texas
3:15 pm	Kieron Jeffries, Director, Concept Tanks
3:30 pm	Michael Otto, President, Industrial Process Filtration
3:45 pm
4:30 pm	sponsored by
5:30 pm	practice for tomorrow's tournament, play a round, or just hang out and watch and network! the courts will be directly in the convention center this year...
6:30 pm	evening free for client dinners (many options in walking distance near the Irving Convention Center!)

Wednesday - May 6, 2026 | Conference Day 2

Start Time	Description
8:00 am	sponsorships available (sponsors have the option to serve food items from their exhibit space...)
9:00 am	(kick-off sponsorship available...) Pete Cook, Managing Partner, Oilfield Water Connection Joseph Triepke, Managing Partner, Oilfield Water Connection
9:15 am	Raymond Vaz, Energy Marketing Professional, Devon Energy Vrajesh Mehta, Water Manager, Oxy Luis Baez, Independent [Moderator]
10:00 am
10:45 am	exhibit hall refreshments & coffee available throughout the day; coffee & espresso station sponsorships available
11:00 am
11:30 am	Annan Pascoe, PE VP of Subsurface, Deep Blue Water
12:00 pm	main conference ends; post-conference pickleball tournament begins (separate tickets purchased during registration required)
12:05 pm	courts next to exhibit hall with open bar and food provided; open only to conference registrants who sign up for player or spectator passes during online registration
12:15 pm	served at the pickleball courts; open only to conference registrants who sign up for player or spectator passes during online registration
1:00 pm	next to exhibit hall with open bar and food provided; open only to conference registrants who sign up for player or spectator passes during online registration; swag and lessons included plus play for bragging rights and trophy sponsored by Texas Pacific! available sponsorships include: - paddle sponsor - ball sponsor - towel sponsor - sweatband sponsor - food and drink sponsor - hat/visor sponsor - sock sponsor
4:00 pm	trophies awarded to winners; conference adjourns

Monday - May 5, 2025 | Pre-Conference

Start Time	Description
10:30 am	Private meeting, separate registration required
12:00 pm	Private meeting, separate registration required
1:00 pm	Private meeting, separate registration required
2:00 pm	In the Irving Convention Center Ballroom
5:00 pm	Private meeting, separate registration required
6:00 pm	Open to all conference registrants; drinks, snacks, entertainment; sponsored by
7:30 pm	Invitation only, sponsored by

Tuesday - May 6, 2025 | Conference Day 1

Start Time	Description
7:30 am	In exhibit hall
8:15 am	kick-off sponsored by Pete Cook, Oilfield Water Connection Joseph Triepke, Oilfield Water Connection
8:30 am	Ryan Hassler, Rystad Energy
9:00 am	Tracee Bentley, Permian Strategic Partnership [Chair] Ray Perryman, The Perryman Group Karr Ingham, Texas Alliance of Energy Producers Kirk Edwards P.E., Latigo Petroleum
9:45 am	Kelly Bennett, B3 Insight
10:15 am	break sponsor
10:45 am	Brian Bohm, Independent [Chair] Steven Runyan, Coterra Energy John Cave, Expand Energy Chance Freeman, Civitas Resources Tyler Mitchell, Devon Energy
11:30 am	Robert Ballantyne, RWI Enhanced Evaporation
11:35 am	Bentsen Falb, Raymond James [Chair] Nick Patterson, Aris Water Solutions Jon VandenBrand, Western Midstream Zach Neal, Pilot Water Solutions
12:15 pm	With time to visit exhibit hall; Sponsorship available
1:30 pm	Tim Carroll, Alliant Insurance Services, Inc. James Brewins, Price Forbes & Partners Pete Cook, Oilfield Water Connection [Moderator]
1:50 pm	Michael Bodino, Texas Capital Bank
1:55 pm	Jason Schumacher, O’Melveny & Myers LLP
2:15 pm	3 rotations (15-minute each) to join tables hosted by E&P representatives for candid dialog The Facility Of The Future In Produced Water (Steven Runyan, Coterra Energy) Loving/Reeves County Mid- to Long-term Production Assurance & Water Disposal Plans (Kirby Lindsey, Oxy) Land & Water (Chance Freeman, Civitas Resources) Where Does Water Midstream Fit In E&P Portfolios (Tyler Mitchell, Devon Energy) Evaporators & Crystallizers (Paul Hart, Diversified) Beneficial Reuse Public-Facing Strategy (Stuart Mussler, Chevron) Water Reuse & Recycling (John Cave, Expand Energy) Nanotechnology for Subsurface Water Management (Steve Gornick, 9Band Operating)
3:00 pm	In exhibit hall
3:30 pm	Patrick Patton, B3 Insight [Chair] Ted Wooten, Railroad Commission of Texas Annan Pascoe, Deep Blue Water Taylor Sanchez, Diamondback Kirby Lindsey, Occidental Oil & Gas Corporation
4:10 pm	Kieron Jeffries, Concept Tanks
4:15 pm	Casey Lowary, Texas Capital Bank [Chair] Cory Hall, AQT Water Management Dan Montgomery, Bison Water Midstream Stan Berry, S&P Global Commodity Insights Benjamin Johnson, Texas Capital Securities
5:00 pm	Sponsored by
6:30 pm	Evening free for client dinners

Wednesday - May 7, 2025 | Conference Day 2

Start Time	Description
8:00 am	In exhibit hall
9:00 am	Pete Cook, Oilfield Water Connection Joseph Triepke, Oilfield Water Connection
9:15 am	Doug Robison, Natura Resources Justin Sink, Natura Resources Joseph Triepke, Oilfield Water Connection [Moderator]
9:45 am	Dane Broussard, CORE Linepipe [Chair] Robert Crain, Texas Pacific Water Resources Taylor Spalla, Kelly Hart & Hallman LLP Chris Harich, XRI
10:30 am	break sponsor
11:00 am	Brandon Durrett, Jackson Walker LLP [Chair] Keith Gardner, KJG Strategies David Grounds, Pilot Water Solutions Nate Alleman, Ace Energy Advisors
11:40 am	Rob Rice, Gravity Michael Anderson, Layne Water Midstream Joseph Triepke, Oilfield Water Connection (Moderator)
12:00 pm	Pete Cook, Oilfield Water Connection Joseph Triepke, Oilfield Water Connection
12:15 pm	Exhibitor breakdown; time for pickleball tournament preparation, transportation, and lunch at courts
1:00 pm	At Chicken N Pickle with open bar and food provided; open only to conference registrants who sign up for player or spectator passes during online registration; swag and pro lesson included plus play for bragging rights. title belt and trophies sponsored by paddle and ball sponsored by towels courtesy of socks courtesy of sweat bands courtesy of
4:00 pm	Conference adjourns