Episode Four with Mike Umbro

Mike Umbro is an entrepreneur and investor in the oil and gas industry, and environmental entrepreneur, and a principal at FieldView Capital, a boutique investment bank providing specialized services to clients in the energy sector. He is also the vice president of corporate development at RL Environmental Inc. provides full-spectrum liquid waste processing to oil and gas operators. Mike joins us to discuss the state of the oil and gas industry in California, opportunities to invest, and lots of advice for those who want to get started in the industry.

 

Timestamps

 

[01:25] Mike Umbro’s background

[03:33] How are California’s regulations on the industry

[05:36] Production stats

[07:39] About FieldView Capital

[08:43] Selling produced water in California

[12:23] Opportunities to invest in oil and gas

[15:25] Umbro’s business model

[16:37] Advice from Mexican Gas Association

[18:03] Timing the exit and entry right

[20:38] Advice for startups

[23:10] California’s oil and gas landscape

[32:50] Bill Gate’s Report and predictions of the industry

[36:49] Water beneficial re-use

[42:53] Connect with Mike Umbro

Notable Quotes From The Episode

• What we’re seeing from the federal government now, I feel like the Californian playbook is going to impact those in West Texas.
• If I didn’t have this oil field project with my partner and I wasn’t so excited about that, I think now would be a really interesting time for raising funds to go after certain things that are long-term.
• Don’t put any money into it that you can’t afford to never see again.
• I found value in focusing on my projects in addition to different agreements with different environmental service companies that I work for on other consulting agreements.

Resources

Connect With Mike Umbro

Mike Umbro | LinkedIn

California’s Oil & Gas Industry is a Gem of Opportunities

While Texas is known to be the major player in the oil and gas industry in United States, entrepreneurs and investors in other states have seized the vast opportunities lying in other states as well. We interviewed Mike Umbro about the state of the oil and gas industry in California, the regulations and how they impact the players, and different opportunities to invest.

 

Mike Umbro is an entrepreneur and investor in the oil and gas industry, an environmental entrepreneur, and a Principal at FieldView Capital. FieldView Capital is a boutique investment bank that provides specialized services to customers in the energy sector. The company has partnered with entrepreneurs to provide business strategy and corporate development to assist in growing and creating long-term value by supporting clients’ business strategies and advising clients on general financial matters.

Mike Umbro’s Background

Born and raised in San Diego, Mike came into the oil and gas industry in 2006, working for a by-side magazine acquisition firm. His job was to dial for production, sourcing, upstream assets all over Texas and Oklahoma.

When the 2014-16 downturn hit, he went back to further his study in Energy Business.

California’s oil and gas industry state

Mike says a lot of oil fields in California were discovered in the 1890s. 10-20% of the state’s production is from hydraulically fractured wells. The governor is now going after steam injections to cut a lot of production, a move that may affect those in West Texas.

 

“What we’re seeing from the federal government now, I feel like the Californian playbook is going to impact those in West Texas.”

 

Mike says they are targeting a zone about 1200 feet for steam flood or have 120 producers and 70 injection steam. They are also looking forward to doing some shallow wells like 800 feet.

The Opportunities

For many years, producers have been selling produced water back to water districts to use in farming and agriculture. However, the exciting part is that California’s water can’t be cleaned up for use in agriculture or water banking to help alleviate the drought situation in the state.

The flip side is, you could probably make the argument that the volume of produced water is fairly small. So, with the super dry climate (6 inches of rain), you can use the produced water for dust control.

 

“In the long term, there’s a lot of opportunity to use produced water in California.”

 

Mike also says there’s a huge opportunity to do better in terms of waste handling and recycling to minimize oil going to the land.

 

Mike’s big Advice

Having worked with the Mexican Gas Association, Mike says one big takeaway from them is that when it’s really good, don’t buy anything unless it’s with cash. There’s no need to put yourself into debt.

He also advises investors and entrepreneurs to never put any money into something that they can’t afford to never see again.

 

He advises startups to continue betting on themselves and learn a new skill set when they have the opportunity.

 

Listen to the whole episode and connect with Mike Umbro on LinkedIn:

Connect With Mike Umbro

Mike Umbro | LinkedIn

About the show

On Coffee & Liquidity, our mission is to give some perspective and context to those that may not have the tools at their disposal, whether income or acumen, to become a full-time entrepreneur but can still leverage their networks, etc., to build passive revenue streams or wealth in other ways. The American dream can be reached through multiple paths. It’s time we talk about it!

 

YouTube

Alderaan Ventures

Follow Ben on Twitter

Alderaan Ventures Substack

 

SHOW SPONSORS: Alderaan Ventures Affiliate Partners

 

Please subscribe to the podcast and drop us a five-star review. We appreciate you, and your support enables us to keep bringing you the goods on the show!