1 00:00:00,280 --> 00:00:05,960 Speaker 1: A global pandemic, over sixteen thousand Americans dead, and over 2 00:00:06,040 --> 00:00:10,240 Speaker 1: seventeen million Americans have lost their job and global energy 3 00:00:10,280 --> 00:00:16,079 Speaker 1: markets crushed by collapsing oil prices. These are extraordinary times 4 00:00:16,079 --> 00:00:19,560 Speaker 1: in which we live. This is Verdict with Ted Cruz. 5 00:00:27,160 --> 00:00:30,480 Speaker 1: Welcome back to Verdict with Ted Cruz. I'm Michael Knowles, Senator. 6 00:00:30,560 --> 00:00:32,400 Speaker 1: You're starting us off on a little bit of a 7 00:00:32,440 --> 00:00:35,839 Speaker 1: downer there, but I guess we're living in fairly down times. 8 00:00:36,000 --> 00:00:37,960 Speaker 1: I want to focus in on something you said there 9 00:00:38,200 --> 00:00:41,839 Speaker 1: about the energy markets, because last I checked, oil was 10 00:00:41,840 --> 00:00:44,560 Speaker 1: trading at something like twenty two dollars a barrel. It 11 00:00:44,640 --> 00:00:47,080 Speaker 1: is very, very low, and I think for most people 12 00:00:47,240 --> 00:00:50,200 Speaker 1: the interaction we have with the oil industry is when 13 00:00:50,200 --> 00:00:53,080 Speaker 1: we fill up our gas tanks. So low oil prices 14 00:00:53,120 --> 00:00:55,880 Speaker 1: are not necessarily a bad thing when we look at it. 15 00:00:55,880 --> 00:00:57,800 Speaker 1: What are we missing here? Well, I think right now 16 00:00:57,840 --> 00:01:01,200 Speaker 1: we're facing three different crises all the same time. We've 17 00:01:01,240 --> 00:01:04,360 Speaker 1: got a global pandemic, the Corona virus crisis. We're all 18 00:01:04,400 --> 00:01:07,800 Speaker 1: familiar with the cases, the deaths, and we're taking extraordinary 19 00:01:07,800 --> 00:01:10,440 Speaker 1: steps to try to stop the spread of that virus. 20 00:01:11,000 --> 00:01:14,959 Speaker 1: There's an economic crisis, say a disaster seventeen million people 21 00:01:15,000 --> 00:01:17,959 Speaker 1: in last three weeks have filed for unemployment. We've seen 22 00:01:18,120 --> 00:01:22,560 Speaker 1: entire industries decimated and that's producing enormous damage. But at 23 00:01:22,560 --> 00:01:25,679 Speaker 1: the same time, you've got energy markets, and in particular, 24 00:01:25,760 --> 00:01:29,920 Speaker 1: the global price of oil has dropped more than in half, 25 00:01:30,560 --> 00:01:35,720 Speaker 1: and the consequence of that is it potentially risk bankrupting most, 26 00:01:35,760 --> 00:01:38,920 Speaker 1: if not every, American energy producer, and particularly in my 27 00:01:39,200 --> 00:01:42,640 Speaker 1: home state of Texas. That's devastating. But if you end 28 00:01:42,760 --> 00:01:46,360 Speaker 1: up seeing American energy producers driven out of business, that 29 00:01:46,480 --> 00:01:49,280 Speaker 1: also has massive implications in terms of you and me 30 00:01:49,640 --> 00:01:52,440 Speaker 1: paying higher prices at the pump in years to come, 31 00:01:52,920 --> 00:01:57,400 Speaker 1: and also geopolitically making us dependent on foreign countries in 32 00:01:57,400 --> 00:02:00,520 Speaker 1: a way that we just now managed to yet free 33 00:02:00,520 --> 00:02:02,920 Speaker 1: and independent front. So what you're saying is we shouldn't 34 00:02:02,960 --> 00:02:05,800 Speaker 1: be celebrating maybe a little dip in the gas prices 35 00:02:05,880 --> 00:02:08,680 Speaker 1: right now because in the long term, financially, that could 36 00:02:08,680 --> 00:02:11,600 Speaker 1: really hurt us. And also it has these national security 37 00:02:11,639 --> 00:02:14,440 Speaker 1: implications that look pretty bad down the road. I just 38 00:02:14,480 --> 00:02:16,160 Speaker 1: want to point out something you said center. You said 39 00:02:16,200 --> 00:02:18,400 Speaker 1: you flew out and met with the president. You met 40 00:02:18,440 --> 00:02:22,040 Speaker 1: with the president specifically because of this energy crisis that's 41 00:02:22,040 --> 00:02:25,360 Speaker 1: how bad it's gotten. No, that's exactly right. On Friday, 42 00:02:25,400 --> 00:02:28,600 Speaker 1: I got on a plane on a United commercial flight 43 00:02:28,680 --> 00:02:30,760 Speaker 1: that was practically empty. They were there, only maybe ten 44 00:02:30,840 --> 00:02:34,000 Speaker 1: fifteen of us on it. Flew up to Dcent, went 45 00:02:34,040 --> 00:02:36,280 Speaker 1: to the White House, had a two hour meeting, and 46 00:02:36,320 --> 00:02:38,919 Speaker 1: we're all from states that are big energy producers. And 47 00:02:39,760 --> 00:02:42,359 Speaker 1: we started by writing a letter to the Saudi ambassador. 48 00:02:42,800 --> 00:02:44,520 Speaker 1: Then a couple of weeks ago we did a conference 49 00:02:44,520 --> 00:02:47,440 Speaker 1: call with the Saudi ambassador, nine of us. I gotta 50 00:02:47,440 --> 00:02:50,880 Speaker 1: tell you it was the most bare knuckled, candid conversation 51 00:02:51,120 --> 00:02:53,760 Speaker 1: really I've ever had with a foreign leader in eight 52 00:02:53,840 --> 00:02:58,080 Speaker 1: years in the Senate. Can get cursior, I can. So 53 00:02:58,120 --> 00:03:00,920 Speaker 1: we're on a conference call with the ambassador. Here's what 54 00:03:00,960 --> 00:03:03,080 Speaker 1: I said. I said, Listen, no state in the Union 55 00:03:03,120 --> 00:03:06,560 Speaker 1: does more business with Saudi Arabia than Texas. And right 56 00:03:06,560 --> 00:03:10,680 Speaker 1: now you're taking advantage of a global health pandemic to 57 00:03:10,720 --> 00:03:16,200 Speaker 1: try to screw and bankrupt people across Texas. And it 58 00:03:16,400 --> 00:03:20,040 Speaker 1: is devastating. And the thirteen of us who signed on 59 00:03:20,080 --> 00:03:22,440 Speaker 1: to the letter is a matter of national security, have 60 00:03:23,000 --> 00:03:26,280 Speaker 1: consistently been allies of the Saudi Saudia is an important 61 00:03:26,320 --> 00:03:29,800 Speaker 1: counterpart to Iran. Iran and the Ayatola are really dangerous 62 00:03:29,800 --> 00:03:33,480 Speaker 1: for national security. But I said, listen, you know we've 63 00:03:33,560 --> 00:03:36,520 Speaker 1: we've been with you, but you're now trying to bankrupt 64 00:03:36,600 --> 00:03:40,120 Speaker 1: people in my state and that is not going to stand. Now, 65 00:03:40,280 --> 00:03:45,160 Speaker 1: here's the Saudi ambassador's defense. But Russia. But Russia, And 66 00:03:45,280 --> 00:03:47,480 Speaker 1: it sounds like three media for the last three years. 67 00:03:48,640 --> 00:03:52,640 Speaker 1: Well they do they And I said, listen, Russia is 68 00:03:52,680 --> 00:03:55,920 Speaker 1: our enemy. We know that they behave like our enemy. 69 00:03:55,960 --> 00:03:58,920 Speaker 1: We treat him as our enemy. You're supposed to be 70 00:03:58,920 --> 00:04:01,880 Speaker 1: our friend. You want us to treat you like Russia? Fine, 71 00:04:02,000 --> 00:04:04,080 Speaker 1: you want to be our enemy, how about we pull 72 00:04:04,160 --> 00:04:06,760 Speaker 1: up all our soldiers out of Saudi Arabia, we pull 73 00:04:06,760 --> 00:04:09,640 Speaker 1: our Patriot missiles out there. Because every time someone screws 74 00:04:09,640 --> 00:04:11,520 Speaker 1: with you in the Middle East, you pick up the 75 00:04:11,520 --> 00:04:16,000 Speaker 1: phone to call the American military and say save our asses. Well, 76 00:04:16,000 --> 00:04:19,480 Speaker 1: then don't bankrupt people in my state. And I was pissed. Yeah, 77 00:04:19,800 --> 00:04:24,000 Speaker 1: I gotta tell you it was interesting that call. I 78 00:04:24,040 --> 00:04:25,800 Speaker 1: think it got the e fact, I know it got 79 00:04:25,800 --> 00:04:28,479 Speaker 1: their attention. So you and I we've invited a guest. 80 00:04:28,480 --> 00:04:30,719 Speaker 1: It's it's a long time friend of mine, will Van Lowe. 81 00:04:31,520 --> 00:04:34,680 Speaker 1: Will is the CEO of Quantum Energy Partners Now that 82 00:04:34,800 --> 00:04:40,039 Speaker 1: is an eighteen billion dollar private equity energy fund. Quantum 83 00:04:40,279 --> 00:04:43,719 Speaker 1: is the third largest driller in North America. And I 84 00:04:43,720 --> 00:04:46,360 Speaker 1: gotta tell you Will is someone who knows the energy 85 00:04:46,440 --> 00:04:49,560 Speaker 1: markets as well, if not better than anyone I know. 86 00:04:49,640 --> 00:04:52,000 Speaker 1: And so in the last couple of weeks, as I 87 00:04:52,040 --> 00:04:54,760 Speaker 1: went up to meet with the president major energy CEO's 88 00:04:54,839 --> 00:04:58,000 Speaker 1: last week, Will was someone we literally spent probably six 89 00:04:58,040 --> 00:05:00,839 Speaker 1: seven hours on the phone trying to unders and what's 90 00:05:00,880 --> 00:05:05,359 Speaker 1: happening here and the real threat to jobs and energy 91 00:05:05,400 --> 00:05:07,680 Speaker 1: security O country, and so well, welcome to verdict Will. 92 00:05:07,720 --> 00:05:09,919 Speaker 1: For so many years we complained about how we're dependent 93 00:05:09,960 --> 00:05:13,440 Speaker 1: on the Middle East for energy, we are totally trapped 94 00:05:13,760 --> 00:05:18,000 Speaker 1: for energy, and yet this technology helped to lead us 95 00:05:18,000 --> 00:05:19,840 Speaker 1: away from that and get us to what I guess 96 00:05:19,880 --> 00:05:23,599 Speaker 1: we'd call energy independence until maybe five minutes ago, that's right, 97 00:05:24,120 --> 00:05:26,120 Speaker 1: And I think that is a huge when you think 98 00:05:26,160 --> 00:05:29,719 Speaker 1: about the United States has had more wells drilled in 99 00:05:29,760 --> 00:05:31,760 Speaker 1: it than the rest of the world combined. That's a 100 00:05:31,800 --> 00:05:35,000 Speaker 1: pretty amazing statistic to think about. When it comes to shale. 101 00:05:35,000 --> 00:05:36,800 Speaker 1: Do we have a lot of it here? Yeah? Oh? Well, 102 00:05:36,960 --> 00:05:41,360 Speaker 1: for sure. Probably ninety five percent of all shale production 103 00:05:41,440 --> 00:05:43,920 Speaker 1: in the world is in United States. Part of that's 104 00:05:43,960 --> 00:05:47,640 Speaker 1: due to our geology, right, so they've tried it. For example, 105 00:05:47,640 --> 00:05:50,120 Speaker 1: in Europe, they don't have the same rocks over there. 106 00:05:50,279 --> 00:05:51,960 Speaker 1: Now there's other parts of the world where there's a 107 00:05:52,000 --> 00:05:54,279 Speaker 1: lot of shale, but those are parts of the world 108 00:05:54,320 --> 00:05:57,279 Speaker 1: that typically have a lot of conventional oil and gas 109 00:05:57,279 --> 00:05:59,719 Speaker 1: as well. And if you don't need to drill, it 110 00:05:59,760 --> 00:06:03,480 Speaker 1: calls more money to drill wells unconventionally horizontally and put 111 00:06:03,520 --> 00:06:05,719 Speaker 1: the big fracts on them. So places like in the 112 00:06:05,720 --> 00:06:08,120 Speaker 1: Middle East where they have a lot of conventional production, 113 00:06:08,440 --> 00:06:12,640 Speaker 1: they don't need to drill horizontal wells. So last ten 114 00:06:12,720 --> 00:06:16,839 Speaker 1: years we have this technological innovation. We discover how to 115 00:06:16,920 --> 00:06:20,520 Speaker 1: access massive reserves that were there but we didn't know 116 00:06:20,520 --> 00:06:24,560 Speaker 1: how to get to it right. And suddenly America passes everybody. 117 00:06:24,600 --> 00:06:27,039 Speaker 1: We pass Audi Arabia, we pass Russia, We become the 118 00:06:27,080 --> 00:06:31,560 Speaker 1: top producer in the world. Who is it that drove that? 119 00:06:31,800 --> 00:06:35,160 Speaker 1: And is the energy industry? Look, I think a lot 120 00:06:35,160 --> 00:06:37,240 Speaker 1: of people think of energy and they think of big oil. 121 00:06:37,279 --> 00:06:39,480 Speaker 1: They think of a couple of you know, giant companies 122 00:06:39,680 --> 00:06:42,040 Speaker 1: Xon and Shell, and you know these giant companies, is 123 00:06:42,440 --> 00:06:44,640 Speaker 1: that who did this innovation? No, And that's you know, 124 00:06:44,680 --> 00:06:47,280 Speaker 1: that's the interesting thing because so much the dialogue right 125 00:06:47,279 --> 00:06:51,080 Speaker 1: now in Washington is involving the Xons and the Chevrons 126 00:06:51,080 --> 00:06:53,880 Speaker 1: of the world. And there're certainly big players in Shell today, 127 00:06:54,120 --> 00:06:56,640 Speaker 1: but they didn't drive the innovation. It was actually the 128 00:06:56,640 --> 00:06:59,360 Speaker 1: independence that drove that innovation in the United States. So 129 00:06:59,440 --> 00:07:03,159 Speaker 1: what's an UM. Well, an independent is basically an oil 130 00:07:03,200 --> 00:07:05,760 Speaker 1: and gas company that's not a major. So the majors 131 00:07:05,760 --> 00:07:09,560 Speaker 1: are typically integrated companies. They're the largest companies in the 132 00:07:09,600 --> 00:07:14,480 Speaker 1: world in terms of publicly or privately owned outside of 133 00:07:14,480 --> 00:07:17,760 Speaker 1: government owned oil companies. And these majors, I mean, they're 134 00:07:17,840 --> 00:07:20,400 Speaker 1: they're massive. I mean some of them they have GDPs 135 00:07:20,440 --> 00:07:22,480 Speaker 1: that rival company so well they do like that's on 136 00:07:22,600 --> 00:07:25,440 Speaker 1: for example, they produce over four million barrels a day. Right, 137 00:07:25,960 --> 00:07:28,280 Speaker 1: there's only a couple, there's only a handful of countries 138 00:07:28,280 --> 00:07:30,880 Speaker 1: in the world that produce over four million barrels a day. 139 00:07:30,960 --> 00:07:36,520 Speaker 1: But the shale revolution was started and driven by independence 140 00:07:36,560 --> 00:07:39,080 Speaker 1: and independence you're talking. You and I both spent a 141 00:07:39,080 --> 00:07:42,120 Speaker 1: lot of time out in Midland, Texas. You're talking sometimes 142 00:07:43,000 --> 00:07:47,160 Speaker 1: five ten twenty guys in a little office who were 143 00:07:47,200 --> 00:07:51,120 Speaker 1: raising some money and going out and drilling holes and innovating. 144 00:07:52,360 --> 00:07:56,960 Speaker 1: That's what drove this entire revolution and change the entire geopolitics. 145 00:07:57,080 --> 00:08:00,120 Speaker 1: It did. And to be fair that the technology is 146 00:08:00,160 --> 00:08:04,680 Speaker 1: probably driven more by the larger public independence companies like Chesapeake, 147 00:08:04,720 --> 00:08:09,280 Speaker 1: companies like Pioneer, those types. They drove the technology, but 148 00:08:09,440 --> 00:08:13,440 Speaker 1: the smaller independence were very quick to get in and 149 00:08:13,520 --> 00:08:17,200 Speaker 1: really take that and they're much more nimble than the 150 00:08:17,200 --> 00:08:22,120 Speaker 1: public companies. So they take the big, the big technology revolutions, 151 00:08:22,440 --> 00:08:26,200 Speaker 1: and they do a lot of evolutionary changes in that technology, 152 00:08:26,640 --> 00:08:29,120 Speaker 1: and they get it out there very quick. They're and 153 00:08:29,120 --> 00:08:31,960 Speaker 1: they're able to access large amounts of land. And so 154 00:08:32,040 --> 00:08:35,079 Speaker 1: the independence, both the public, the larger public independence as 155 00:08:35,080 --> 00:08:38,240 Speaker 1: well as the thousands of smaller kind of mom and 156 00:08:38,280 --> 00:08:41,320 Speaker 1: pop independence, they're really the ones that have made this 157 00:08:42,400 --> 00:08:45,679 Speaker 1: independence of energy possible as well. I don't want to 158 00:08:45,679 --> 00:08:49,000 Speaker 1: reign on your parade here, but this sounds too good. 159 00:08:49,280 --> 00:08:51,800 Speaker 1: This sounds too good to be true right now because 160 00:08:52,040 --> 00:08:55,800 Speaker 1: you've you've got this great energy revolution here, you're empowering 161 00:08:55,840 --> 00:09:00,280 Speaker 1: so many people American ingenuity, and then the prices all 162 00:09:00,320 --> 00:09:04,320 Speaker 1: plummets so I understand how it worked out. So well, 163 00:09:04,960 --> 00:09:09,120 Speaker 1: what went wrong? Well, let's back up a little bit 164 00:09:09,160 --> 00:09:12,240 Speaker 1: and you think about prices plummeting. Prices plummeted from about 165 00:09:12,280 --> 00:09:14,280 Speaker 1: sixty dollars a barrel at the beginning of the year 166 00:09:14,679 --> 00:09:16,839 Speaker 1: down about twenty dollars a barrel a few weeks ago. 167 00:09:16,920 --> 00:09:18,920 Speaker 1: Now they're up in the mid to high twenties now. 168 00:09:19,760 --> 00:09:23,000 Speaker 1: But let's not forget before the shell revolution started in 169 00:09:23,040 --> 00:09:25,000 Speaker 1: two thousand and eight, Well, it was one hundred and 170 00:09:25,000 --> 00:09:27,839 Speaker 1: forty seven dollars a barrel. Okay, wow, so hold on, 171 00:09:27,880 --> 00:09:29,959 Speaker 1: hold on a second, one hundred and forty seven dollars 172 00:09:29,960 --> 00:09:32,960 Speaker 1: a barrel, and then it came down to fifty sixty 173 00:09:33,000 --> 00:09:35,880 Speaker 1: dollars a barrel. And now it's plummeted to the twenties 174 00:09:36,000 --> 00:09:40,240 Speaker 1: right right, And through American innovation and ingenuity, we were 175 00:09:40,240 --> 00:09:43,079 Speaker 1: able to get the cost. Initially, these shell wells were 176 00:09:43,160 --> 00:09:45,960 Speaker 1: very expensive and you didn't recover a lot of hydrocarbon. 177 00:09:46,240 --> 00:09:48,320 Speaker 1: And through a lot of science, through a lot of 178 00:09:48,320 --> 00:09:51,120 Speaker 1: just innovation and trial and error, we were able to 179 00:09:51,360 --> 00:09:54,360 Speaker 1: meaningfully perfect, if you will, the way we drilled and 180 00:09:54,360 --> 00:09:57,440 Speaker 1: completed these wells, and we got the cost down to 181 00:09:57,480 --> 00:10:00,880 Speaker 1: a level where at fifty to sixty dollars, the US 182 00:10:01,080 --> 00:10:06,240 Speaker 1: on gas companies can make a respectable profit, and the 183 00:10:06,280 --> 00:10:08,600 Speaker 1: industry for the last four or five years has been 184 00:10:08,679 --> 00:10:11,079 Speaker 1: chugging along. And fifty to sixty dollars. Look, most of 185 00:10:11,120 --> 00:10:13,480 Speaker 1: us don't buy a barrel of oil, so that number 186 00:10:13,520 --> 00:10:16,440 Speaker 1: doesn't mean anything to us. What does that mean fifty 187 00:10:16,480 --> 00:10:19,040 Speaker 1: sixty oil? What does that mean in terms of a 188 00:10:19,040 --> 00:10:22,520 Speaker 1: gallon of gas? Gas? And understanding a lot of the 189 00:10:22,559 --> 00:10:26,360 Speaker 1: cost of gas is actually taxes, right, and those don't change. 190 00:10:27,400 --> 00:10:30,240 Speaker 1: So three three to four dollars, depending on the state 191 00:10:30,440 --> 00:10:32,880 Speaker 1: and city you live in, is what fifty to sixty 192 00:10:32,920 --> 00:10:34,720 Speaker 1: dollars oil. So Michael will pay a lot more in 193 00:10:34,760 --> 00:10:39,439 Speaker 1: California than dollars. He will absolutely pay more. Although I 194 00:10:39,480 --> 00:10:41,600 Speaker 1: don't know that you need to fill your electric scooter, Michael, 195 00:10:41,640 --> 00:10:43,840 Speaker 1: so that hell, that's the thing. We actually just run 196 00:10:43,880 --> 00:10:46,440 Speaker 1: on moonbeams out here, so we don't need any sort 197 00:10:46,480 --> 00:10:49,600 Speaker 1: of energy. So what I'm hearing though, is you don't 198 00:10:49,640 --> 00:10:51,560 Speaker 1: want the price of oil to be so expensive that 199 00:10:51,600 --> 00:10:53,400 Speaker 1: it's going to kill us all at the pump. But 200 00:10:53,480 --> 00:10:55,200 Speaker 1: you also don't want the price of oil to be 201 00:10:55,240 --> 00:10:57,520 Speaker 1: so low that you put all of these companies out 202 00:10:57,520 --> 00:11:00,199 Speaker 1: of business. You want there to be some meat m 203 00:11:00,240 --> 00:11:02,599 Speaker 1: in there. What are the odds that we're going to 204 00:11:02,640 --> 00:11:04,480 Speaker 1: be able to get back to that before the American 205 00:11:04,559 --> 00:11:08,760 Speaker 1: energy industry is just destroyed. Yeah, you know, right now 206 00:11:08,760 --> 00:11:11,720 Speaker 1: it's not looking good. It's not looking good for two reasons. 207 00:11:11,800 --> 00:11:15,040 Speaker 1: One was Saudi and Russia have decided they we're going 208 00:11:15,120 --> 00:11:18,520 Speaker 1: to basically launch a market share war on the US. 209 00:11:18,720 --> 00:11:21,680 Speaker 1: And as Senator Crew said a minute ago, you know, 210 00:11:21,720 --> 00:11:24,440 Speaker 1: the US went from being a huge energy importer. You know, 211 00:11:24,480 --> 00:11:27,600 Speaker 1: we imported more than twelve million barrels a day less 212 00:11:27,600 --> 00:11:31,079 Speaker 1: than a decade ago to literally over the last six 213 00:11:31,120 --> 00:11:33,880 Speaker 1: months or so, we given on any given week, we 214 00:11:33,960 --> 00:11:36,960 Speaker 1: will export or import a few hundred thous you know, 215 00:11:36,960 --> 00:11:38,559 Speaker 1: so we'll be a net export or a net import 216 00:11:38,640 --> 00:11:40,800 Speaker 1: or maybe one hundred or two hundred thousand barrels, right, 217 00:11:41,200 --> 00:11:43,559 Speaker 1: And so that if you think about that and you 218 00:11:43,600 --> 00:11:46,480 Speaker 1: think about the impact on our economy. That's depending on 219 00:11:46,520 --> 00:11:48,400 Speaker 1: the price of oil. But say at fifty dollars oil, 220 00:11:48,640 --> 00:11:51,760 Speaker 1: that's about two hundred and fifty billion dollars a year 221 00:11:52,280 --> 00:11:55,160 Speaker 1: that stays here in the US. That US oil and 222 00:11:55,240 --> 00:11:58,160 Speaker 1: gas industry has created additional revenue. The taxes that come 223 00:11:58,160 --> 00:12:01,200 Speaker 1: off of that, the millions of jobs were created. What 224 00:12:01,240 --> 00:12:04,200 Speaker 1: does that mean for jobs? How does that Whose jobs 225 00:12:04,200 --> 00:12:08,120 Speaker 1: are we talking about here? Well, we're talking about very 226 00:12:08,240 --> 00:12:11,800 Speaker 1: high paying middle and upper middle class jobs. We're talking 227 00:12:11,840 --> 00:12:17,600 Speaker 1: about engineers, geologist, geophysicist, production engineers. We're talking about a 228 00:12:17,600 --> 00:12:21,120 Speaker 1: lot of jobs out in the field, so for both 229 00:12:21,320 --> 00:12:23,760 Speaker 1: lots of of blue collar job but also a lot 230 00:12:23,800 --> 00:12:29,160 Speaker 1: of white collar jobs. So if we lose American energy production, 231 00:12:29,160 --> 00:12:34,400 Speaker 1: if these companies go bankrupt, we're still going to need 232 00:12:34,480 --> 00:12:37,400 Speaker 1: energy when the economy comes back, right, We're still going 233 00:12:37,440 --> 00:12:39,600 Speaker 1: to drive our cars, We're gonna fly airplanes. And so 234 00:12:39,840 --> 00:12:43,679 Speaker 1: if the American companies are bankrupt, where are we going 235 00:12:43,720 --> 00:12:45,640 Speaker 1: to get our energy? We're going to get it where 236 00:12:45,640 --> 00:12:48,160 Speaker 1: we used to get it, and that's from foreign sources 237 00:12:48,200 --> 00:12:52,880 Speaker 1: like the Middle East, like Russia. And that's really to me, Senator, 238 00:12:52,960 --> 00:12:55,480 Speaker 1: that the key question the US has to ask itself 239 00:12:55,640 --> 00:12:58,800 Speaker 1: is do we want to be energy independent or not? 240 00:12:59,320 --> 00:13:02,839 Speaker 1: In the answer to that question, all policy will flow 241 00:13:02,920 --> 00:13:06,080 Speaker 1: from whether the answer is yes or no. Sorry to interrupt, 242 00:13:06,120 --> 00:13:09,079 Speaker 1: will because most people, I think want that energy independence. 243 00:13:09,200 --> 00:13:11,840 Speaker 1: That's what we always hear our politicians talking about. Certainly, 244 00:13:11,840 --> 00:13:14,200 Speaker 1: what I want for US, But what you're describing is 245 00:13:14,200 --> 00:13:16,120 Speaker 1: the problem here. I just assumed it was all the 246 00:13:16,160 --> 00:13:19,480 Speaker 1: coronavirus that's upsetting all the global markets. You're saying there's 247 00:13:19,480 --> 00:13:23,600 Speaker 1: something else in play, which is this price war between 248 00:13:23,800 --> 00:13:27,120 Speaker 1: Russia and Saudi Arabia going after the United States. What 249 00:13:27,559 --> 00:13:28,959 Speaker 1: does that mean? I mean, is that related to the 250 00:13:29,040 --> 00:13:32,200 Speaker 1: virus or is that a totally separate issue. Totally separate, 251 00:13:32,240 --> 00:13:36,040 Speaker 1: and to be fair, the demand destruction that's associated with 252 00:13:36,080 --> 00:13:40,160 Speaker 1: coronavirus is a much bigger issue today in the near term, 253 00:13:40,440 --> 00:13:43,680 Speaker 1: if I understand it. Globally, the demand for oil in 254 00:13:43,800 --> 00:13:47,680 Speaker 1: normal times four months ago was between ninety five and 255 00:13:47,720 --> 00:13:49,760 Speaker 1: one hundred million barrels a day, about one hundred million 256 00:13:49,760 --> 00:13:54,600 Speaker 1: barrels a day. As a result of the economy slowing 257 00:13:54,679 --> 00:13:57,959 Speaker 1: down and grinding to a halt in the US and globally, 258 00:13:58,760 --> 00:14:01,760 Speaker 1: it's dropped to about what about seventy million barrels a day. 259 00:14:01,880 --> 00:14:04,000 Speaker 1: There's a lot of different estimates out there, but I'd 260 00:14:04,000 --> 00:14:06,719 Speaker 1: say they range anywhere from a twenty to as much 261 00:14:06,720 --> 00:14:09,440 Speaker 1: as probably thirty five million barrel a day demand destruction, 262 00:14:09,520 --> 00:14:12,360 Speaker 1: So that would say somewhere between sixty five and eighty 263 00:14:12,360 --> 00:14:14,959 Speaker 1: million barrels a day is currently what the globe is 264 00:14:15,040 --> 00:14:18,320 Speaker 1: using today. So that had a big negative impact on price. 265 00:14:18,360 --> 00:14:22,280 Speaker 1: When when when a third or more of the demand disappears, right, 266 00:14:23,120 --> 00:14:27,520 Speaker 1: that it's never happened. That that's it's it's beyond without precedent. 267 00:14:27,680 --> 00:14:30,160 Speaker 1: That is, well, that's everybody's car sitting in their driveways 268 00:14:30,160 --> 00:14:32,840 Speaker 1: and everyone's airplane staying parked at the hangar and nobody 269 00:14:32,960 --> 00:14:35,920 Speaker 1: nobody flying, and very few people drop. And to put 270 00:14:35,960 --> 00:14:39,600 Speaker 1: that into context, during the Great Financial Crisis, total global 271 00:14:39,640 --> 00:14:41,520 Speaker 1: demand dropped by only about two and a half to 272 00:14:41,560 --> 00:14:45,280 Speaker 1: three million barrels a day. Wow, so we're looking at 273 00:14:45,320 --> 00:14:49,000 Speaker 1: ten times as much reduction in demand now as as 274 00:14:49,120 --> 00:14:52,880 Speaker 1: during the financial meltdown. That's exactly right. So but then 275 00:14:52,920 --> 00:14:55,120 Speaker 1: you've got a second component, which is you have the 276 00:14:55,160 --> 00:14:58,960 Speaker 1: Saudis and the Russians right as coronavirus is breaking. Yes, 277 00:14:59,400 --> 00:15:04,560 Speaker 1: decide this is a great opportunity to screw the Americans, 278 00:15:04,600 --> 00:15:08,720 Speaker 1: to bankrupt the American energy business. And listen what you're 279 00:15:08,760 --> 00:15:12,880 Speaker 1: doing drilling in in West Texas shale. The Saudis and 280 00:15:12,960 --> 00:15:16,480 Speaker 1: Russians have hated it because you pass them up with 281 00:15:16,560 --> 00:15:19,240 Speaker 1: America as the top producer and so they're sitting there. 282 00:15:19,240 --> 00:15:21,720 Speaker 1: If I understand this right, they're taking this as an opportunity. 283 00:15:21,760 --> 00:15:24,560 Speaker 1: All right, we've got a crisis. Let's put these guys 284 00:15:24,560 --> 00:15:27,520 Speaker 1: out of business. Let's bankrupt them so that when all 285 00:15:27,640 --> 00:15:30,160 Speaker 1: is said and done, we're the only players left in 286 00:15:30,200 --> 00:15:32,440 Speaker 1: the game. Senator, if you think back to when the 287 00:15:32,520 --> 00:15:36,480 Speaker 1: oil shell revolution started and you look at total global 288 00:15:36,560 --> 00:15:39,200 Speaker 1: supply growth since then, about eight or nine years ago, 289 00:15:40,200 --> 00:15:43,840 Speaker 1: eighty percent of total global supply growth has come from 290 00:15:43,840 --> 00:15:46,800 Speaker 1: the United States of America. Okay, that's a country that 291 00:15:46,920 --> 00:15:51,160 Speaker 1: today produces about thirteen fourteen percent, maybe fifteen if you 292 00:15:51,200 --> 00:15:53,560 Speaker 1: had in all the NGLs and other liquids. What's an 293 00:15:54,000 --> 00:15:57,120 Speaker 1: I'm sorry, natural gas liquids. But let's say the US 294 00:15:57,200 --> 00:16:01,600 Speaker 1: today produces about fifteen percent of global liquid supply. Yet 295 00:16:01,640 --> 00:16:06,080 Speaker 1: we've accounted for eighty percent of total global liquids growth 296 00:16:06,480 --> 00:16:11,880 Speaker 1: over the last decade. That's extraordinary, and that challenged OPEC supremacy, 297 00:16:11,920 --> 00:16:15,240 Speaker 1: and it challenged russ A supremacy. And it also helped, 298 00:16:15,280 --> 00:16:18,720 Speaker 1: if I understand right, drive the price down quite a bit, 299 00:16:18,760 --> 00:16:21,920 Speaker 1: by two thirds. It drove prices. If had the US 300 00:16:22,000 --> 00:16:25,280 Speaker 1: share revolution not happened, think about we were one hundred 301 00:16:25,320 --> 00:16:27,320 Speaker 1: and forty seven dollars a barrel, and that was pre 302 00:16:27,720 --> 00:16:30,720 Speaker 1: oil shells. Prices probably would have gone a lot higher 303 00:16:30,720 --> 00:16:34,560 Speaker 1: from there, and so that that huge drop. And what 304 00:16:34,720 --> 00:16:38,720 Speaker 1: Russian Saudi I actually think that they may not have 305 00:16:38,800 --> 00:16:40,760 Speaker 1: chosen to launch this price war had it not been 306 00:16:40,800 --> 00:16:44,640 Speaker 1: for coronavirus, because both countries if you look at their 307 00:16:44,680 --> 00:16:47,960 Speaker 1: ability to how long can they go and with low 308 00:16:48,000 --> 00:16:52,360 Speaker 1: oil prices, you know, Saudi today is much worse equipped 309 00:16:52,640 --> 00:16:55,160 Speaker 1: for a long price war than they were back in 310 00:16:55,200 --> 00:16:58,760 Speaker 1: twenty fourteen during the last big collapse in prices, right, 311 00:16:58,800 --> 00:17:00,920 Speaker 1: because they've they've deployed needed a lot of their sovereign 312 00:17:00,960 --> 00:17:04,719 Speaker 1: wealth funds and their their break even costs today is 313 00:17:05,200 --> 00:17:07,880 Speaker 1: probably eighty dollars a barrel. And what I mean by 314 00:17:07,880 --> 00:17:09,840 Speaker 1: that is they fund their entire government out of their 315 00:17:09,840 --> 00:17:13,480 Speaker 1: oil revenues, whereas Russia's is only about forty to forty 316 00:17:13,480 --> 00:17:16,320 Speaker 1: five dollars a barrel. So Russia, but they're doing it 317 00:17:17,040 --> 00:17:19,000 Speaker 1: used to be what we would call an antitrust law 318 00:17:19,040 --> 00:17:23,240 Speaker 1: predatory pricing, right, and that they're when they flooded the 319 00:17:23,280 --> 00:17:25,080 Speaker 1: market with oil and they announced they were going to 320 00:17:25,160 --> 00:17:28,520 Speaker 1: do that and drove the prices way down, they were 321 00:17:28,560 --> 00:17:30,639 Speaker 1: taking a big hit themselves, but they were doing it 322 00:17:30,680 --> 00:17:34,440 Speaker 1: to bankrupt their competitors and then sweep in and dominate 323 00:17:34,480 --> 00:17:37,960 Speaker 1: the market. That's right. Let me let me pause for 324 00:17:38,000 --> 00:17:40,880 Speaker 1: a second and kind of play Devil's advocate. You mentioned 325 00:17:40,920 --> 00:17:45,479 Speaker 1: two technological innovations that helped us access all these massive 326 00:17:45,480 --> 00:17:48,800 Speaker 1: shale reserves. One was horizontal drilling, but it was combining 327 00:17:48,920 --> 00:17:53,439 Speaker 1: that with hydraulic fracturing fracking. Look, fracking, I've heard a 328 00:17:53,440 --> 00:17:55,800 Speaker 1: lot of scary things on the internet about that. I've 329 00:17:55,880 --> 00:17:58,520 Speaker 1: heard it messes with the water table. You can light 330 00:17:58,560 --> 00:18:01,399 Speaker 1: the water on fire, that's what they say. So is 331 00:18:01,480 --> 00:18:03,920 Speaker 1: that is that for real? Should I be worried that 332 00:18:04,320 --> 00:18:08,760 Speaker 1: fracking makes it dangerous to drink the water? No? You know, 333 00:18:09,520 --> 00:18:12,480 Speaker 1: there's probably not a bigger set of environmentalists in terms 334 00:18:12,520 --> 00:18:14,879 Speaker 1: of people that like the outdoors, that like the water, 335 00:18:15,000 --> 00:18:17,760 Speaker 1: that are you know, really love the earth than people 336 00:18:17,800 --> 00:18:19,920 Speaker 1: the good people you'll find any on gas business, right, 337 00:18:20,400 --> 00:18:23,440 Speaker 1: and I think there is. Uh. You gotta remember, when 338 00:18:23,440 --> 00:18:26,800 Speaker 1: we frack a well, these wells are anywhere between eight 339 00:18:26,840 --> 00:18:30,480 Speaker 1: and fifteen thousand feet below the air's surface. The surface 340 00:18:30,520 --> 00:18:33,720 Speaker 1: water that people drink is anywhere from fifty feet to 341 00:18:33,800 --> 00:18:36,159 Speaker 1: maybe three or four hundred feet below. So let me 342 00:18:36,160 --> 00:18:38,919 Speaker 1: make sure I understand that you got the surface fifty 343 00:18:38,920 --> 00:18:41,000 Speaker 1: to three hundred feet down. That's not that far down. 344 00:18:41,840 --> 00:18:43,919 Speaker 1: That's the water table. That's where the water is that 345 00:18:43,920 --> 00:18:46,119 Speaker 1: we get our drinking one. That's correct. So that's not 346 00:18:46,160 --> 00:18:49,960 Speaker 1: where you're fracking. No, you're fracking ten thousand feet below 347 00:18:50,000 --> 00:18:52,119 Speaker 1: that and ten thousand feet if my math is right, 348 00:18:52,119 --> 00:18:55,720 Speaker 1: that's two miles two miles of rock downlow. So where 349 00:18:55,760 --> 00:19:00,560 Speaker 1: you're doing this is two miles away from the water, right. Um, 350 00:19:01,160 --> 00:19:03,320 Speaker 1: let me ask a different question. So my daughter Caroline, 351 00:19:03,320 --> 00:19:05,399 Speaker 1: you know Caroline, she's eleven. She actually said to me 352 00:19:05,520 --> 00:19:09,240 Speaker 1: last night, she said, you know, everything that's that's happened 353 00:19:09,240 --> 00:19:11,280 Speaker 1: in this crisis has been really good for the environment. 354 00:19:11,320 --> 00:19:14,480 Speaker 1: The environment is cleaning up right, And listen, it is 355 00:19:14,520 --> 00:19:18,040 Speaker 1: true if we have no production, if if all human 356 00:19:18,080 --> 00:19:21,880 Speaker 1: activity stops, that would be good for the environment. It's 357 00:19:21,920 --> 00:19:24,359 Speaker 1: just not very good for people, It's right. Let me 358 00:19:24,359 --> 00:19:30,480 Speaker 1: ask you something. What happens if all these independent energy 359 00:19:30,480 --> 00:19:35,720 Speaker 1: producers go out of business, the economy gets going again 360 00:19:35,760 --> 00:19:40,439 Speaker 1: after the crisis, and we're dependent once again on the 361 00:19:40,480 --> 00:19:42,919 Speaker 1: Middle East for oil. Is that good or bad for 362 00:19:42,960 --> 00:19:46,040 Speaker 1: the environment? You know, it's a great question because I 363 00:19:46,040 --> 00:19:48,760 Speaker 1: think so many people think, you know, hey, let's let's 364 00:19:48,800 --> 00:19:51,080 Speaker 1: put the US on gas producer out of business, and 365 00:19:51,640 --> 00:19:54,119 Speaker 1: because oil and gas is bad for the environment. But 366 00:19:54,240 --> 00:19:56,480 Speaker 1: that doesn't mean people are going to stop driving your cars. 367 00:19:56,520 --> 00:19:58,720 Speaker 1: It doesn't mean people are going to stop flying in airplanes. 368 00:19:58,720 --> 00:20:01,040 Speaker 1: It doesn't mean people are going to stop buying iPhones, which, 369 00:20:01,080 --> 00:20:05,000 Speaker 1: by the way, take hydrocarbon energy and the plastics, a 370 00:20:05,000 --> 00:20:07,600 Speaker 1: lot of the parts everything we have in our modern life, 371 00:20:07,600 --> 00:20:11,520 Speaker 1: Senator is revolves around hydrocarbons in some form or fashion. 372 00:20:11,880 --> 00:20:14,159 Speaker 1: So they're not the need. Form is not going to 373 00:20:14,240 --> 00:20:17,040 Speaker 1: go away. We will just shift the source where we 374 00:20:17,080 --> 00:20:19,040 Speaker 1: secure those from, and we'll go back to where we 375 00:20:19,040 --> 00:20:21,920 Speaker 1: were a decade ago, which is sending hundreds of billions 376 00:20:21,960 --> 00:20:25,480 Speaker 1: of dollars overseas to people that quite frankly don't like 377 00:20:25,600 --> 00:20:29,880 Speaker 1: us very much. We will lose significant geopolitical and if 378 00:20:29,920 --> 00:20:31,639 Speaker 1: I remember right, an awful lot of the nine to 379 00:20:31,680 --> 00:20:35,440 Speaker 1: eleven terrorists who attacked us, we're from Saudi Arabia. They've 380 00:20:35,480 --> 00:20:38,560 Speaker 1: had their funding stores from there, and so fueling the 381 00:20:38,600 --> 00:20:42,359 Speaker 1: Middle East with billions of American dollars is not good 382 00:20:42,400 --> 00:20:44,680 Speaker 1: for keeping America say it's not, and it will also 383 00:20:44,760 --> 00:20:47,520 Speaker 1: cause the loss. If you think about the biggest growth 384 00:20:47,560 --> 00:20:50,040 Speaker 1: engine in US jobs coming out of the Great Financial 385 00:20:50,040 --> 00:20:54,480 Speaker 1: Crisis was the energy industry and the tens, if not 386 00:20:54,600 --> 00:20:57,320 Speaker 1: hundreds of billions of dollars in taxes that the energy 387 00:20:57,320 --> 00:21:03,000 Speaker 1: industry pays every year to school districts, to other municipalities, hospitals, 388 00:21:03,600 --> 00:21:08,960 Speaker 1: building roads, bridges, infrastructure. Right there. But this is just Texas, right, 389 00:21:09,000 --> 00:21:11,639 Speaker 1: I mean, we're only talking Texas jobs. There's none anywhere 390 00:21:11,640 --> 00:21:13,600 Speaker 1: else in the cold There's there's a number of other 391 00:21:13,640 --> 00:21:17,119 Speaker 1: places throughout the United States, both like where Uh, well, 392 00:21:17,160 --> 00:21:20,240 Speaker 1: you've got the baking it's in North Dakota. Uh, You've 393 00:21:20,240 --> 00:21:24,320 Speaker 1: got the dj that's in Colorado, the powder that's in Wyoming. 394 00:21:24,400 --> 00:21:27,800 Speaker 1: You've got the Permian which is New Mexico. You've got 395 00:21:27,880 --> 00:21:31,480 Speaker 1: several plays in the scoop stack in Oklahoma. That's just 396 00:21:31,560 --> 00:21:33,560 Speaker 1: on the all side. In Pennsylvania, as I say, on 397 00:21:33,600 --> 00:21:36,240 Speaker 1: the gas side, the largest gas field in the United States, 398 00:21:36,359 --> 00:21:38,399 Speaker 1: really one of the largest, maybe the largest in the 399 00:21:38,440 --> 00:21:43,000 Speaker 1: world sits under Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, and New York. 400 00:21:43,160 --> 00:21:46,479 Speaker 1: So California. California is a huge producer, right, they are 401 00:21:46,480 --> 00:21:49,280 Speaker 1: a huge producer in many ways. I can speak to California. 402 00:21:49,280 --> 00:21:51,960 Speaker 1: It's a completely lost cause. But of course we don't 403 00:21:51,960 --> 00:21:54,560 Speaker 1: want the industry to go out here. I just I 404 00:21:54,600 --> 00:21:56,879 Speaker 1: see will your point that this is all over the 405 00:21:56,960 --> 00:21:59,480 Speaker 1: United States, that we're talking about a lot of jobs 406 00:21:59,480 --> 00:22:01,560 Speaker 1: and a lot of history all over the place. So 407 00:22:01,640 --> 00:22:04,120 Speaker 1: what do we do now? I mean, looking down at 408 00:22:04,119 --> 00:22:08,280 Speaker 1: this crisis, you've got the markets collapsing. Rather, how do 409 00:22:08,359 --> 00:22:11,840 Speaker 1: we fix it? What are our options before it's too late? Well, 410 00:22:12,240 --> 00:22:13,800 Speaker 1: you know, I think we have again we have to 411 00:22:13,800 --> 00:22:16,320 Speaker 1: start with. We got to decide we want to fix it, 412 00:22:16,400 --> 00:22:19,119 Speaker 1: because that is part of part of the issue is 413 00:22:19,160 --> 00:22:21,840 Speaker 1: obviously the Saudian Russian what they've done and tried to 414 00:22:21,920 --> 00:22:25,760 Speaker 1: flood the market with additional barrels um to drive down prices. 415 00:22:26,040 --> 00:22:27,840 Speaker 1: But the other, but the much bigger issue in the 416 00:22:27,880 --> 00:22:32,320 Speaker 1: short term is obviously demand destruction associated with coronavirus. And 417 00:22:32,400 --> 00:22:36,639 Speaker 1: so you know, at these prices, the US independent cannot 418 00:22:36,640 --> 00:22:39,280 Speaker 1: make money. Okay, they just flat can't make money. So 419 00:22:39,320 --> 00:22:41,800 Speaker 1: there's there is there is that fact they're just revenues 420 00:22:41,840 --> 00:22:45,560 Speaker 1: will not exceed their their expenses UM. But the other 421 00:22:45,560 --> 00:22:47,600 Speaker 1: thing we have to also look at as an industry 422 00:22:47,720 --> 00:22:50,760 Speaker 1: is and that's just simple math that that that that 423 00:22:50,800 --> 00:22:53,760 Speaker 1: it costs a US producer, what about forty dollars a 424 00:22:53,800 --> 00:22:56,919 Speaker 1: barrel to produce, and so twenty dollars a barrel. It 425 00:22:56,960 --> 00:22:58,840 Speaker 1: doesn't work. If it costs twice as much as the 426 00:22:58,880 --> 00:23:01,280 Speaker 1: price to produce, you're out of business at these prices. 427 00:23:01,320 --> 00:23:04,840 Speaker 1: There's not probably you know, less than five percent of 428 00:23:04,880 --> 00:23:09,880 Speaker 1: all locations in the United States are economic at these prices. Okay, 429 00:23:10,520 --> 00:23:13,200 Speaker 1: that's uh, well, Michael, you know one of the things 430 00:23:13,280 --> 00:23:15,159 Speaker 1: I mean, you asked, what do we do about it? 431 00:23:15,600 --> 00:23:19,040 Speaker 1: There's there's both a component of it we get our 432 00:23:19,080 --> 00:23:22,439 Speaker 1: economy going again, but there's also a component of it, 433 00:23:22,480 --> 00:23:24,639 Speaker 1: the foreign policy component. I'll tell you, and you and 434 00:23:24,720 --> 00:23:27,680 Speaker 1: I have talked about this. That's something I've been really 435 00:23:27,680 --> 00:23:30,520 Speaker 1: active in is taking on the Saudis. In my office, 436 00:23:30,560 --> 00:23:33,040 Speaker 1: I brought my national security team in. I said, all right, 437 00:23:33,119 --> 00:23:35,639 Speaker 1: I want a list of steps we can take to 438 00:23:35,840 --> 00:23:38,160 Speaker 1: ratchet up heat on the Saudis to make it more 439 00:23:38,160 --> 00:23:41,040 Speaker 1: and more painful. We looked at things like sanctions on 440 00:23:41,160 --> 00:23:46,680 Speaker 1: individual officials in the Saudi government that had directly targeted 441 00:23:46,720 --> 00:23:49,160 Speaker 1: American businesses and said, if you're going to weighe economic 442 00:23:49,200 --> 00:23:52,119 Speaker 1: warfare on us. Well, well, welcome to the game, and 443 00:23:52,520 --> 00:23:56,240 Speaker 1: you better be prepared for the consequences. Rewind it last 444 00:23:56,240 --> 00:23:59,639 Speaker 1: week Friday in the Oval Office meeting with the President. 445 00:23:59,720 --> 00:24:02,480 Speaker 1: The President had spoken in the preceding week both to 446 00:24:02,520 --> 00:24:05,920 Speaker 1: Putin and MBS, the head of Saudi's. He had leaned 447 00:24:05,920 --> 00:24:09,440 Speaker 1: in hard, and it's interesting the President didn't start out 448 00:24:09,440 --> 00:24:10,840 Speaker 1: that way. I talked to the President a couple of 449 00:24:10,880 --> 00:24:13,960 Speaker 1: weeks ago, and his instinct is actually where you started 450 00:24:14,000 --> 00:24:16,639 Speaker 1: this show, Michael. He was like, well, you know, aren't 451 00:24:16,320 --> 00:24:18,320 Speaker 1: low oil price is good? And then a good thing? 452 00:24:18,440 --> 00:24:20,080 Speaker 1: He was thinking of it. He's a real estate guy 453 00:24:20,200 --> 00:24:24,960 Speaker 1: from a consumer's perspective. Until I and others started explaining, Listen, 454 00:24:25,000 --> 00:24:27,760 Speaker 1: we're looking at millions of jobs that go away, and 455 00:24:27,760 --> 00:24:32,160 Speaker 1: if we destroy America's producing capability, it makes the bad 456 00:24:32,200 --> 00:24:34,920 Speaker 1: guys who hate us more powerful. Yes, and it makes 457 00:24:34,960 --> 00:24:38,800 Speaker 1: America weeker. That's a bad outcome. Well, what the President 458 00:24:38,920 --> 00:24:43,960 Speaker 1: said is that MBS at Putin had agreed to stop 459 00:24:44,080 --> 00:24:48,520 Speaker 1: flooding the market to reduce their production. He tweeted out 460 00:24:48,600 --> 00:24:51,399 Speaker 1: two weeks ago they were reducing their production ten million 461 00:24:51,440 --> 00:24:55,879 Speaker 1: barrels a day. That resulted in oil, just that announcement 462 00:24:55,920 --> 00:24:59,000 Speaker 1: going from twenty bucks a barrel to twenty seven in 463 00:24:59,080 --> 00:25:01,480 Speaker 1: the White House, what he told us is he said 464 00:25:01,480 --> 00:25:03,920 Speaker 1: it's actually going to be more more than ten. It's 465 00:25:03,960 --> 00:25:07,359 Speaker 1: going to be more like fifteen million. And just today 466 00:25:07,400 --> 00:25:11,280 Speaker 1: the news broke that they're talking about twenty million. Now 467 00:25:11,560 --> 00:25:13,239 Speaker 1: the proof is in the pudding, and we'll see if 468 00:25:13,240 --> 00:25:16,360 Speaker 1: they actually do it. Yeah, but if they stop flooding 469 00:25:16,400 --> 00:25:19,080 Speaker 1: the market, if they pull back, that will help. It 470 00:25:19,119 --> 00:25:22,560 Speaker 1: won't solve the problem. Problem won't get solved until the 471 00:25:22,560 --> 00:25:24,840 Speaker 1: economy comes back and people are able to drive their 472 00:25:24,840 --> 00:25:28,200 Speaker 1: cars and fly airplanes. But but but if Russia and 473 00:25:28,640 --> 00:25:32,280 Speaker 1: the Saudis follow through and stop flooding the market, stop 474 00:25:32,320 --> 00:25:35,760 Speaker 1: taking advantage in the meantime before the economy comes back. 475 00:25:36,000 --> 00:25:40,560 Speaker 1: If they're talking about cutting daily production by twenty million barrels, okay, 476 00:25:40,600 --> 00:25:43,960 Speaker 1: that's great. How much do we need to actually see 477 00:25:43,960 --> 00:25:47,720 Speaker 1: an impact on the American energy sector? Right? So, you know, 478 00:25:47,800 --> 00:25:50,440 Speaker 1: going back again, I think there's somewhere between twenty five 479 00:25:51,000 --> 00:25:54,800 Speaker 1: and forty million barrels of demand destruction right now. And 480 00:25:55,000 --> 00:25:58,600 Speaker 1: so look, is ten or fifteen or twenty million barrels 481 00:25:58,640 --> 00:26:01,760 Speaker 1: a lot? It is? It's nowhere close to what we 482 00:26:01,800 --> 00:26:05,480 Speaker 1: need to really balance supply and demand. And the fact 483 00:26:05,680 --> 00:26:10,200 Speaker 1: is is prices were cratering long before this. You know, 484 00:26:10,280 --> 00:26:13,399 Speaker 1: it became apparent of how bad because most of the 485 00:26:13,440 --> 00:26:16,320 Speaker 1: price drop happened when people were thinking demand destruction was 486 00:26:16,359 --> 00:26:19,760 Speaker 1: three to five million barrels a day. Historically, if a 487 00:26:19,840 --> 00:26:22,520 Speaker 1: producer like if Opec were to flood the market, even 488 00:26:22,520 --> 00:26:24,639 Speaker 1: with a couple million barrels a day of excess supply, 489 00:26:25,040 --> 00:26:27,119 Speaker 1: meaning only a million or two million barrels difference in 490 00:26:27,160 --> 00:26:30,840 Speaker 1: supply and demand, prices would drop in half. Okay, So 491 00:26:31,359 --> 00:26:34,359 Speaker 1: what we're talking about here is it's it's a number 492 00:26:34,400 --> 00:26:38,320 Speaker 1: that's really irrelevant. Number one. Number two, there's a conditionality 493 00:26:38,640 --> 00:26:42,200 Speaker 1: on everything Saudi, and Saudi and Russia both have said 494 00:26:42,560 --> 00:26:44,600 Speaker 1: in order to enact these cuts, So for the ECON 495 00:26:44,760 --> 00:26:48,880 Speaker 1: walks out there, there's high price elasticity. There's very high 496 00:26:48,880 --> 00:26:52,960 Speaker 1: price elasticity. And and if you and Saudi and Russia 497 00:26:53,000 --> 00:26:55,080 Speaker 1: both said, if if we're going to do these cuts, 498 00:26:55,480 --> 00:26:59,359 Speaker 1: we want contributions from all the major exporting countries in 499 00:26:59,359 --> 00:27:04,280 Speaker 1: the world, including the US, including Norway, including Mexico. So 500 00:27:04,400 --> 00:27:06,840 Speaker 1: there's all these other countries that they want to participate 501 00:27:06,840 --> 00:27:08,280 Speaker 1: in this and I think the President has been very 502 00:27:08,320 --> 00:27:12,200 Speaker 1: clear the US is not going to deliver a production cut. Now. 503 00:27:12,520 --> 00:27:15,320 Speaker 1: He has talked about there's going to be natural shut 504 00:27:15,359 --> 00:27:17,520 Speaker 1: ins and declines, and that is going to be the case. 505 00:27:17,560 --> 00:27:19,880 Speaker 1: The question is is that going to be good enough 506 00:27:20,160 --> 00:27:22,239 Speaker 1: for the Saudis and for the Russians. The other thing, though, 507 00:27:22,280 --> 00:27:25,520 Speaker 1: to keep in mind is every time or OPEC plus 508 00:27:25,560 --> 00:27:29,000 Speaker 1: has said we're going to make a cut, there's generally 509 00:27:29,000 --> 00:27:31,840 Speaker 1: speaking not great adherence to those cuts. So they may 510 00:27:31,880 --> 00:27:33,920 Speaker 1: say they're going to make a cut, but the actual 511 00:27:33,920 --> 00:27:37,000 Speaker 1: cuts usually are much less. To trust, but verify, and 512 00:27:37,040 --> 00:27:40,000 Speaker 1: maybe even don't trust. Let me bring out one other issue, 513 00:27:40,000 --> 00:27:44,000 Speaker 1: because it's an important issue to understand, and this is 514 00:27:44,040 --> 00:27:45,600 Speaker 1: something you and I have talked a lot about it 515 00:27:45,600 --> 00:27:47,359 Speaker 1: and it was the one deliverable that came out of 516 00:27:47,359 --> 00:27:49,840 Speaker 1: the White House meeting last week. So we spent two 517 00:27:49,840 --> 00:27:53,080 Speaker 1: hours talking about energy. We talked about pressuring the Saudis 518 00:27:53,080 --> 00:27:55,720 Speaker 1: and Russians that seems to have produce some results, But 519 00:27:55,800 --> 00:27:58,480 Speaker 1: we also talked about access to capital. And this is 520 00:27:58,480 --> 00:28:00,360 Speaker 1: a piece where I think a lot of people don't 521 00:28:00,440 --> 00:28:04,720 Speaker 1: understand what's going on, but it's really important. Wall Street. 522 00:28:04,760 --> 00:28:07,400 Speaker 1: The last couple of years has been cutting off more 523 00:28:07,440 --> 00:28:10,680 Speaker 1: and more capital to energy. There's a movement called the 524 00:28:10,840 --> 00:28:13,240 Speaker 1: SG movement, which you're putting pressure on Wall Street to 525 00:28:13,280 --> 00:28:17,960 Speaker 1: say we're not going to fund American energy producers, and 526 00:28:18,040 --> 00:28:23,160 Speaker 1: the consequence of that has been really significant. So, well, 527 00:28:23,400 --> 00:28:25,919 Speaker 1: I want us to understand it. Let's say you're a 528 00:28:26,119 --> 00:28:30,680 Speaker 1: small independent producer. You're in West Texas, you're in New Mexico, 529 00:28:30,720 --> 00:28:37,480 Speaker 1: you're in Colorado, and you're in Pennsylvania, and the banks 530 00:28:37,760 --> 00:28:39,960 Speaker 1: decide to cut off your capital. How does that happen, 531 00:28:40,000 --> 00:28:42,320 Speaker 1: How does that work? Why, why does capital matter? And 532 00:28:42,400 --> 00:28:45,640 Speaker 1: what would that how would that impact you? So in 533 00:28:45,760 --> 00:28:50,160 Speaker 1: any only gas business companies obtain capital from banks and 534 00:28:50,200 --> 00:28:54,160 Speaker 1: what's called rbl's reserve based loans, and those rbls are 535 00:28:54,160 --> 00:28:58,840 Speaker 1: redetermined every six months. Okay, so think about public companies. 536 00:28:58,840 --> 00:29:01,760 Speaker 1: They go issue debt and it's fifteen twenty year debt. 537 00:29:02,040 --> 00:29:04,280 Speaker 1: They don't have to think about refinancing or having that 538 00:29:04,360 --> 00:29:08,040 Speaker 1: debt called for a very long time. The independent producers 539 00:29:08,040 --> 00:29:10,760 Speaker 1: in this country, the vast majority of them, can't access 540 00:29:10,880 --> 00:29:13,160 Speaker 1: that kind of public capital to turn out their debt, 541 00:29:13,440 --> 00:29:15,640 Speaker 1: and so they go to banks and the bank loans 542 00:29:15,840 --> 00:29:18,880 Speaker 1: if they get redetermined every six months. So historically it's 543 00:29:18,880 --> 00:29:21,680 Speaker 1: been a very symbiotic system, and the banks understand the 544 00:29:21,720 --> 00:29:24,320 Speaker 1: importance of the business and they understand, you know, they 545 00:29:24,440 --> 00:29:26,080 Speaker 1: loan companies money, and they're not going to change it 546 00:29:26,080 --> 00:29:29,000 Speaker 1: a lot quickly in terms of the amount they're loaning them. Well, 547 00:29:29,040 --> 00:29:32,600 Speaker 1: what's happening now, Because prices have dropped so much and 548 00:29:32,680 --> 00:29:37,040 Speaker 1: the banks have actually had some significant losses on those rbls, 549 00:29:37,440 --> 00:29:39,920 Speaker 1: they've made the decision they are going to significantly tighten 550 00:29:39,960 --> 00:29:42,200 Speaker 1: the amount of credit to the sector. But they had 551 00:29:42,200 --> 00:29:45,160 Speaker 1: made that decision really before this price drop. They'd made that. 552 00:29:45,280 --> 00:29:47,560 Speaker 1: To your point, they've been getting a lot of pressure 553 00:29:47,920 --> 00:29:51,640 Speaker 1: from you know, esg centric groups. So the pressure is 554 00:29:52,080 --> 00:29:55,640 Speaker 1: energy is bad, it's you know, the killing the climate, 555 00:29:56,080 --> 00:29:59,440 Speaker 1: and so don't invest in energy companies. Here's the fallacy 556 00:29:59,480 --> 00:30:03,120 Speaker 1: of that, Senator, is, as we said earlier, unless people 557 00:30:03,120 --> 00:30:05,680 Speaker 1: are going to quit driving cars and flying in airplanes 558 00:30:05,680 --> 00:30:09,200 Speaker 1: and buying products, they're going to keep consuming the energy. 559 00:30:09,880 --> 00:30:12,640 Speaker 1: You were talking about reserve base lending. And I want 560 00:30:12,640 --> 00:30:15,440 Speaker 1: to make an analogy to to say a home mortgage. 561 00:30:16,440 --> 00:30:19,160 Speaker 1: Let's say you've got a home that's valued at four 562 00:30:19,240 --> 00:30:23,080 Speaker 1: hundred thousand dollars. So you get a mortgage, let's say 563 00:30:23,120 --> 00:30:25,800 Speaker 1: for three hundred and fifty thousand dollars, you're paying your mortgage, 564 00:30:26,040 --> 00:30:28,440 Speaker 1: and it's based on the value of the home. Now, 565 00:30:28,840 --> 00:30:31,720 Speaker 1: drawing that analogy too, if you get an energy producer, 566 00:30:31,840 --> 00:30:34,640 Speaker 1: they get a loan based on the value of their reserves, 567 00:30:34,640 --> 00:30:37,800 Speaker 1: the reserves that they're they're producing and going to produce. 568 00:30:38,640 --> 00:30:41,560 Speaker 1: But you said in the energy business, every six months 569 00:30:41,560 --> 00:30:44,280 Speaker 1: they come readeterminate. So what that would mean if you 570 00:30:44,320 --> 00:30:46,840 Speaker 1: think about your home mortgage. You got a three hundred 571 00:30:46,840 --> 00:30:48,840 Speaker 1: fifty thousand dollars mortgage on what you think is a 572 00:30:48,840 --> 00:30:52,880 Speaker 1: four hundred thousand dollar house. Suddenly the bank comes to 573 00:30:52,920 --> 00:30:55,200 Speaker 1: you six months later and says, Michael, you're four hundred 574 00:30:55,200 --> 00:30:57,760 Speaker 1: though thousand dollars house we now think is a two 575 00:30:57,880 --> 00:31:01,400 Speaker 1: hundred thousand dollar house. You borrow three hundred and fifty thousand, 576 00:31:01,440 --> 00:31:03,200 Speaker 1: so write me a check for one hundred and fifty 577 00:31:03,200 --> 00:31:06,200 Speaker 1: thousand now. And that's what's happening, Senator. That is literally 578 00:31:06,200 --> 00:31:10,400 Speaker 1: we're hearing stories now every single day about banks going 579 00:31:10,480 --> 00:31:14,120 Speaker 1: to companies and saying you need to put equity in 580 00:31:14,400 --> 00:31:16,480 Speaker 1: and pay down this loan or we're going to throw 581 00:31:16,520 --> 00:31:18,920 Speaker 1: your loan over to the workout group. And so in 582 00:31:19,000 --> 00:31:21,560 Speaker 1: terms of deliverables from the White House meeting, what I 583 00:31:21,640 --> 00:31:24,560 Speaker 1: suggested to the President on Friday, said, mister President, there 584 00:31:24,640 --> 00:31:28,360 Speaker 1: is a real problem with the banks cutting off capital 585 00:31:28,440 --> 00:31:32,000 Speaker 1: to these American energy producers and ending American energy production, 586 00:31:32,600 --> 00:31:35,680 Speaker 1: and we need to make sure that that energy is 587 00:31:35,720 --> 00:31:39,000 Speaker 1: not discriminated against. And so I suggested to him, as 588 00:31:39,040 --> 00:31:42,720 Speaker 1: to President, you should ask the Energy Secretary, Dan Bryette, 589 00:31:42,720 --> 00:31:45,360 Speaker 1: who is a Texan and a good friend, ask him 590 00:31:45,400 --> 00:31:48,800 Speaker 1: to work with Stephen Manuche, the Treasury Secretary, to work 591 00:31:48,840 --> 00:31:52,640 Speaker 1: with the bank regulators to make sure that the banks 592 00:31:53,160 --> 00:31:57,480 Speaker 1: are not discriminating and bankrupting these energy companies in America 593 00:31:57,600 --> 00:31:59,640 Speaker 1: and causing millions of people to lose their jobs. And 594 00:31:59,680 --> 00:32:02,720 Speaker 1: the and said, I'll do it. He directed Dan, Dan 595 00:32:02,840 --> 00:32:05,160 Speaker 1: was sitting in the meeting, make it happen. I can 596 00:32:05,160 --> 00:32:08,560 Speaker 1: tell you I've spoken with Dan almost every single day 597 00:32:09,040 --> 00:32:12,840 Speaker 1: since then in order to make sure that we just 598 00:32:13,000 --> 00:32:15,680 Speaker 1: have the capital so these guys can survive. Well, that's 599 00:32:15,680 --> 00:32:18,200 Speaker 1: great news, because it does seem from what I'm hearing 600 00:32:18,280 --> 00:32:21,760 Speaker 1: like it's one damn thing after another that the American 601 00:32:21,840 --> 00:32:25,080 Speaker 1: energy industry has to face and This leads to my 602 00:32:25,160 --> 00:32:27,680 Speaker 1: last question. We're running out of time here, but I 603 00:32:27,720 --> 00:32:30,440 Speaker 1: suspect we're running out of time to solve this problem. 604 00:32:30,680 --> 00:32:33,360 Speaker 1: Will do you have any sense of the timeline here 605 00:32:33,400 --> 00:32:35,640 Speaker 1: before we reach a point at which we can't turn 606 00:32:35,680 --> 00:32:38,680 Speaker 1: this around anymore. Well, if you think about the amount 607 00:32:38,720 --> 00:32:42,120 Speaker 1: of capital that it took to basically get the show 608 00:32:42,200 --> 00:32:44,760 Speaker 1: revolution to where it is today, it's about a trillion 609 00:32:44,800 --> 00:32:49,280 Speaker 1: and a half dollars, okay, And that capital, a lot 610 00:32:49,280 --> 00:32:53,760 Speaker 1: of it was not spent very efficiently, and public investors 611 00:32:53,800 --> 00:32:55,959 Speaker 1: lost a lot of money over the last decade on 612 00:32:56,000 --> 00:32:59,320 Speaker 1: their investments in energy space. The problem is today is 613 00:32:59,640 --> 00:33:02,440 Speaker 1: that magnitude of capital will never come back to our 614 00:33:02,480 --> 00:33:05,520 Speaker 1: sector again. And so if we lose the momentum. The 615 00:33:05,600 --> 00:33:09,719 Speaker 1: problem with shale wells is they come on at prolific rates, 616 00:33:10,080 --> 00:33:12,960 Speaker 1: but they decline very rapidly. And so what's going to 617 00:33:13,040 --> 00:33:16,400 Speaker 1: happen over the next twelve to eighteen months is US 618 00:33:16,520 --> 00:33:20,480 Speaker 1: production will decline probably two to two and a half 619 00:33:20,560 --> 00:33:23,040 Speaker 1: million barrels a day. Okay, that's off a base of 620 00:33:23,080 --> 00:33:26,600 Speaker 1: thirteen million barrels. That's very significant, and we'll never be 621 00:33:26,600 --> 00:33:28,840 Speaker 1: able to recover that. And if you shut in those wells, 622 00:33:28,880 --> 00:33:30,719 Speaker 1: we don't know if you could open up again. Well, 623 00:33:30,800 --> 00:33:32,960 Speaker 1: you'll open them up, but there's a big chance you've 624 00:33:33,040 --> 00:33:36,880 Speaker 1: damaged the reservoirs. Okay, so they'll come back on less productive. 625 00:33:37,320 --> 00:33:41,120 Speaker 1: But the bigger problem is is that in shale is 626 00:33:41,240 --> 00:33:44,880 Speaker 1: very expensive to develop. It's like a treadmill, and the 627 00:33:44,960 --> 00:33:48,400 Speaker 1: more you produce, the faster the treadmill goes. And you've 628 00:33:48,400 --> 00:33:51,479 Speaker 1: got to keep reinvesting and reinvesting and reinvesting. And as 629 00:33:51,520 --> 00:33:54,280 Speaker 1: soon as you break that cycle of reinvestment, you can 630 00:33:54,320 --> 00:33:56,640 Speaker 1: never get back up unless you put a lot of 631 00:33:57,280 --> 00:34:00,440 Speaker 1: outside capital back into the system. Again. So for every 632 00:34:00,440 --> 00:34:02,920 Speaker 1: dollar that came in the door, the energy industry was 633 00:34:03,360 --> 00:34:06,080 Speaker 1: spending about a dollar fifty. Okay, that's how we grew 634 00:34:06,160 --> 00:34:09,279 Speaker 1: production from five million barrels a day in twenty ten 635 00:34:09,880 --> 00:34:15,120 Speaker 1: to thirteen million barrels a day this month. But now 636 00:34:15,160 --> 00:34:17,880 Speaker 1: that that cycle has been broken to thirteen million in 637 00:34:18,320 --> 00:34:21,040 Speaker 1: ten years. Ten years. But now that cycle has been broken. 638 00:34:21,040 --> 00:34:22,759 Speaker 1: So you asked the question, how much time do we have? 639 00:34:22,920 --> 00:34:25,880 Speaker 1: Not much? And that's that really is the critical, critical 640 00:34:25,960 --> 00:34:29,160 Speaker 1: question in terms of this crisis that's hitting the energy 641 00:34:29,200 --> 00:34:32,400 Speaker 1: sector and the American energy producers. I gotta tell you 642 00:34:32,560 --> 00:34:37,640 Speaker 1: for me. This is very personal and real. As you know. 643 00:34:37,680 --> 00:34:41,160 Speaker 1: I grew up in Houston. Houston's my hometown. When I 644 00:34:41,200 --> 00:34:43,759 Speaker 1: was a kid, my parents owned a small business and 645 00:34:43,840 --> 00:34:46,560 Speaker 1: it was in the oil services world. It was a 646 00:34:46,600 --> 00:34:49,959 Speaker 1: seismic data processing company. So my parents are both mathematicians, 647 00:34:49,960 --> 00:34:55,080 Speaker 1: computer programmers. And in nineteen eighty six oil collapsed. It 648 00:34:55,200 --> 00:34:58,680 Speaker 1: dropped to seven dollars a barrel. Texas went into a 649 00:34:58,719 --> 00:35:01,480 Speaker 1: full on depression a high school at the time, and 650 00:35:01,840 --> 00:35:04,359 Speaker 1: I still remember my dad. It was one Monday. Now 651 00:35:04,400 --> 00:35:06,200 Speaker 1: this was his was a small, small business. He had 652 00:35:06,239 --> 00:35:10,440 Speaker 1: twenty five employees. I still remember the Monday where he 653 00:35:10,480 --> 00:35:13,200 Speaker 1: had to layoff nineteen of the twenty five employees. He 654 00:35:13,280 --> 00:35:19,239 Speaker 1: came home. I've never seen my father look as unhappy. 655 00:35:19,320 --> 00:35:20,960 Speaker 1: He looked like he'd been beaten with a stick, and 656 00:35:21,040 --> 00:35:23,880 Speaker 1: he had employees arguing with him, going Raphael, I'm not 657 00:35:23,920 --> 00:35:27,120 Speaker 1: gonna leave. No, I'm gonna stay that. This company is 658 00:35:27,160 --> 00:35:29,799 Speaker 1: my home. And he said, look, I don't have the 659 00:35:29,840 --> 00:35:33,160 Speaker 1: money to pay you. You have a family. And so 660 00:35:33,239 --> 00:35:38,440 Speaker 1: my parents went bankrupt. We lost the company, We lost 661 00:35:38,480 --> 00:35:41,879 Speaker 1: our home, the home I grew up in. And it's look, 662 00:35:41,880 --> 00:35:44,680 Speaker 1: I've lived through that firsthand. Well, you know, it really 663 00:35:45,040 --> 00:35:47,840 Speaker 1: shows you that in the price of oil, there is 664 00:35:47,880 --> 00:35:50,080 Speaker 1: a whole lot more going on. There are a lot 665 00:35:50,080 --> 00:35:52,359 Speaker 1: of jobs, there are a lot of families, There's an 666 00:35:52,480 --> 00:35:55,680 Speaker 1: entire sector of the American economy that's being destroyed. It 667 00:35:55,680 --> 00:35:58,319 Speaker 1: has implications for national security. There's so much more to 668 00:35:58,320 --> 00:36:00,600 Speaker 1: talk about. Unfortunately we were at a time, but thank 669 00:36:00,640 --> 00:36:03,240 Speaker 1: you will thank you so much for giving your insight 670 00:36:03,280 --> 00:36:05,520 Speaker 1: and Senator I had never heard that story. I mean, 671 00:36:05,560 --> 00:36:08,120 Speaker 1: it really brings it home on a personal level, and 672 00:36:08,200 --> 00:36:10,640 Speaker 1: we'll see. Thank you by the way for your leadership 673 00:36:10,640 --> 00:36:12,680 Speaker 1: and going to the president trying to turn this around. 674 00:36:12,880 --> 00:36:14,520 Speaker 1: We will just have to wait and see in the 675 00:36:14,560 --> 00:36:17,239 Speaker 1: coming days. Hopefully we turn it around before it's too late. 676 00:36:17,480 --> 00:36:20,359 Speaker 1: In the meantime, I'm Michael Knowles. This is Verdict with 677 00:36:20,400 --> 00:36:31,360 Speaker 1: Ted Cruz. This episode of Verdict with Ted Cruz is 678 00:36:31,400 --> 00:36:34,239 Speaker 1: being brought to you by Jobs, Freedom and Security Pack, 679 00:36:34,440 --> 00:36:39,240 Speaker 1: a political action committee dedicated to supporting conservative causes, organizations, 680 00:36:39,320 --> 00:36:42,920 Speaker 1: and candidates across the country. In twenty twenty two, Jobs 681 00:36:42,920 --> 00:36:46,440 Speaker 1: Freedom and Security Pack plans to donate to conservative candidates 682 00:36:46,520 --> 00:36:49,840 Speaker 1: running for Congress and help the Republican Party across the 683 00:36:49,960 --> 00:36:50,280 Speaker 1: nation