Kevin Boyles

There have been some rough and some good patches in the oil and gas industry over the years, and there are potential investors who may be shying away from the sector completely, or only considering large off shore drilling companies. In recent years they have seen domestic production drop while demand has grown at amazing rates.

These investors may have fallen victim to the belief that mature fields of oil and gas are exhausted and were abandoned by the oil giants for good reason. They are looking for newly discovered proven wells as solid investment venues.

Not so, states Kevin Boyles.

“I’ve done just about everything you can imagine from drilling with the Majors “exploring” in and out of water, property acquisitions to simple developments of proven reserves. Over the last 26 years the best personal financial results I’ve achieved has been from “developing proven reserves”.

What Boyles is referring to is EOR operations taking place in domestic abandoned oil and gas lease holdings, something in which he has been heavily involved for the last few years. These proven reservoirs are far from exhausted, as primary and secondary recovery can leave as much as 70 to 80% of the oil and gas untapped. Smaller companies with lower overhead and new technologies in horizontal drilling have now found methods to access these trapped reserves.

During his time in the industry Kevin Boyles has seen three distinct cycles wherein the fossil energy fields suffered, but that is not the case today.

“The Energy Sector has outperformed nearly every sector in the investment arena over the past five years” says Boyles. “It is forecasted that the consumption of oil & gas will nearly double over the next decade, primarily because of the economic growth in China & India. It may be decades before alternative energy’s begins to substitute for our insatiable demand for oil. Until then, the most reliable source of energy is oil & gas.”

Kevin Boyles sees a strong future for niche operations and Direct Participation Programs (DPP) rather than limiting investment to buying stocks in large corporations.

“Making money in the Energy Sector is not limited to only buying oil & gas stocks. There is another niche that is available to accredited investors. I am referring to Direct Participation of domestic natural oil & gas reserves. There are two major incentives associated with Oil & Gas Direct Participation Programs (DPPs): major tax write offs and great cash flow – from the sale of the produced oil & gas.”

Before choosing an investment vehicle, investigate all the options. Domestic oil and gas is back in the race and could prove to be very lucrative for any investor.

“My formula for success…Rise early. Work late. Strike oil.”
- J. Paul Getty (1892-1976)

As an oilman, that formula for success should raise a smile on Kevin Boyles’ face. But that does not mean that his own formula for success is very different.

Mr. Boyles attributes his drive and his ability to work hard to his family and upbringing.

“Have to say that my roots and my family – that is growing up the youngest of six, whereas we would go to my grandmothers farm in Ohio and seeing the expectations my uncles placed on us when chores needed to be done. Not to mention seeing how hard my parents worked and are still working into their 70’s – not because they have to it’s because this is “what they do”. I come from the “old school” and enjoy the challenges. “

That is in sharp contrast to the way many children are raised today. It is unlikely that Kevin Boyles or his siblings are afraid of hard work. Their role models were people who believed in putting their backs into achieving their goals.

As for rising early…being in charge of a number of oil and gas recovery projects, holding a partnership in a service/management company, dedicating himself to charitable work, and having a family who lives in Ventura, California while most of his work is done in Kansas, must certainly gets Kevin Boyles out of bed at the break of dawn.

While Kevin Boyles has not yet struck oil…as in a gushing black spout…he has dedicated years to working in the oil fields. After attending Kent State University, he joined his oldest brother in his oil business. Working up from the bottom, by 1989 he had assumed the position of Vice President, overseeing the company’s daily production, and keeping a tight hand on their venture capital division. From 1999, when he married and moved to California, he served as an oil and gas consultant. In 2002 he started his own oil and gas ventures, which have grown dramatically.

While Kevin Boyles considers actually striking oil the magnitude of the Alaska find not likely, he is spearheading a number of projects in recovering oil and gas deposits still trapped underground in abandoned lease holdings. He his goal as not to make a dramatic home run, but to get to home base through solid play. Baseball, especially coaching teams for his children, is one of his great joys and stress-relievers.

Kevin Boyles is sticking to his own formula for winning, and always credits the real passions in his life for his drive and his success:

“My family, faith and work…”

The large oil giants and the smaller EOR companies seldom have a conflict of interest. As Kevin Boyles, an entrepreneur dealing with stage three oil and gas recovery in Kansas, pointed out the smaller companies have their own niche in the industry and do not directly compete with the big boys. But that may change as the industry experiences a serious shortfall in a commodity that they will both need.

The belief that severe dwindling supplies of fossil fuels will be the death of the oil and gas industry is very wrong. There are many avenues still open for companies dealing with fossil fuels to explore. The most immediate problem actually is lack of skilled workers.

Large and small oil and gas recovery companies will all be facing a challenge filling personnel requirements. Trevor Garlick, who is in charge of BP’s North Sea operations, is planning to add 150 to 300 to the project’s workforce, but anticipates some problems in accomplishing that. He thinks the largest hurtle BP faces is:

“Skills – getting hold of the right people is a real issue for us. We are hiring a lot people, but we are also an exporter of a couple of hundred people to other regions [in BP]. We are centre for recruiting elsewhere.” –The Telegraph, Finance

Jobs are being established with no one to fill them.

This was a problem that was anticipated by Kevin Boyles, and long-time administrator and owner of a number of EOR operations. Even smaller ventures such as his will be negatively impacted by the shortage of talent in the industry. Mr. Boyles explained:

“There is currently a need for “top notch worker” in the patch. I have witnessed three cycles in my career when the oil industry struggled through low commodity prices thus creating a glut of qualified field personal and professionals whereas massive layoffs were imposed. When prices rise so does the field activity and a need for these individuals are back in demand. I feel that individuals who seek a geological, geophysical and oil related engineering degree will have high paying jobs in the industry for years to come. The reason is that I do not believe the oil prices will fall to the point of a low cycle; this coupled with the fact we have many of these professionals reaching retirement age and these positions will need to be filled.”

Both Kevin Boyles and Trevor Garlick, involved in projects that are vastly different in size, are facing the same problem: not lack of oil, but lack of people to extract the oil.

According to Kevin Boyles, a long time oil man, development of oil and gas reserves within the US is vital in reducing the country’s dependence on external supplies. But there has to be more motivation to inspire investment in that sector.  Government has to create opportunities that will make the industry attractive to shareholders and backers.

There are such incentives currently in place, says Kevin Boyles:

“Oil and natural gas development from domestic reserves help to make our country more energy self-sufficient by reducing our dependence on foreign imports. In light of this, Congress has provided tax incentives to stimulate domestic production financed by private investment sources, thus enhancing the economics of a private oil or gas investment” explains Boyles.”With the passage of the Tax Reform Act of 1986, private oil and gas ventures are one of the most tax advantaged investments, providing tax benefits of up to 100% (65% to 80% of an investor’s capital investment can be written off in the first year of operations, with the balance depreciated over 5 years). The Act specifically exempts oil and gas working interests from being classified as “Passive Income” under most circumstances.”

According to Boyles, these benefits are available exclusively to individual investors, non-public corporations, and other taxable bodies placing investments in to a DPP. A DPP (Direct Participation Program) allows participants to profit from cash flow and tax benefits made available to these business ventures.

“Oil & gas DPP’s are more investor-friendly today than ever before” says Boyles. “This has benefited individual investors by opening the door to investing directly in independent oil and gas companies. DPP’s were once considered the exclusive domain of institutions and wealthy individuals, however, not anymore.”

Should Americans consider these forms of investment rather than foreign drilling? Do they invest in offshore projects because it is cost effective or provides more security for the investment? Kevin Boyles clearly feels that this is not the case.

“I don’t believe this to be a true statement that Americans investing in foreign drilling primarily due to lack of security and disclosure – maybe the large publically traded companies. The average American Investors are scared to put their money in foreign drilling – there are also no tax incentives to drill out of the US.”

Return on investment is always important, but freeing up taxable money must always be considered as a gain. That makes evaluating tax incentives so important when making investment decisions.

Kevin Boyles has headed a number of domestic EOR ventures and has over 25 years of experience in the industry.

According to Kevin Boyles, a long time oil man, development of oil and gas reserves within the US is vital in reducing the country’s dependence on external supplies. But there has to be more motivation to inspire investment in that sector.  Government has to create opportunities that will make the industry attractive to shareholders and backers.

There are such incentives currently in place, says Kevin Boyles:

“Oil and natural gas development from domestic reserves help to make our country more energy self-sufficient by reducing our dependence on foreign imports. In light of this, Congress has provided tax incentives to stimulate domestic production financed by private investment sources, thus enhancing the economics of a private oil or gas investment” explains Boyles.”With the passage of the Tax Reform Act of 1986, private oil and gas ventures are one of the most tax advantaged investments, providing tax benefits of up to 100% (65% to 80% of an investor’s capital investment can be written off in the first year of operations, with the balance depreciated over 5 years). The Act specifically exempts oil and gas working interests from being classified as “Passive Income” under most circumstances.”

According to Boyles, these benefits are available exclusively to individual investors, non-public corporations, and other taxable bodies placing investments in to a DPP. A DPP (Direct Participation Program) allows participants to profit from cash flow and tax benefits made available to these business ventures.

“Oil & gas DPP’s are more investor-friendly today than ever before” says Boyles. “This has benefited individual investors by opening the door to investing directly in independent oil and gas companies. DPP’s were once considered the exclusive domain of institutions and wealthy individuals, however, not anymore.”

Should Americans consider these forms of investment rather than foreign drilling? Do they invest in offshore projects because it is cost effective or provides more security for the investment? Kevin Boyles clearly feels that this is not the case.

“I don’t believe this to be a true statement that Americans investing in foreign drilling primarily due to lack of security and disclosure – maybe the large publically traded companies. The average American Investors are scared to put their money in foreign drilling – there are also no tax incentives to drill out of the US.”

Return on investment is always important, but freeing up taxable money must always be considered as a gain. That makes evaluating tax incentives so important when making investment decisions.

Kevin Boyles has headed a number of domestic EOR ventures and has over 25 years of experience in the industry.

President Obama has sometimes been accused of waffling or changing his opinion on important matters…whether for the good or the bad.

His original views on oil exploration were in sync with those who believed that the expansion of oil and gas production into Alaska would be a death sentence for its environment.  The ecology of the northern seas is fragile at best, and so sensitive to change that the consequences of allowing the project to proceed could be disastrous and nonreversible.

Then in March of this year, Obama changed direction completely and approved the exploration and drilling. His reasoning was fairly sound in terms of satisfying the country’s energy needs and shoring up the delicate economy, but worried many over the future of the area.

“[This is] an economy that relies so heavily on oil, rising prices at the pump affect everybody -– workers, farmers, truck drivers, restaurant owners, students who are lucky enough to have a car. Businesses see rising prices at the pump hurt their bottom line. Families feel the pinch when they fill up their tank. And for Americans that are already struggling to get by, a hike in gas prices really makes their lives that much harder… Add the turmoil in the Middle East, and it’s not surprising that oil prices are higher. And we will keep on being a victim to shifts in the oil market until we finally get serious about a long-term policy for a secure, affordable energy future.  The United States of America cannot afford to bet our long-term prosperity, our long-term security on a resource that will eventually run out, and even before it runs out will get more and more expensive to extract from the ground. We can’t afford it when the costs to our economy, our country, and our planet are so high…”

Much of the fear was generated on sound knowledge, and even more on fear in the face of the BP oil spill. We asked Kevin Boyles, someone in the “know” and oil man for many years, how he felt about this debate. Before Obama’s change in direction, Boyles said:

“I feel that the BP incident was obviously a terrible accident and may have been prevented if BP adhered to the strict drilling guidelines imposed on offshore drilling companies. There have only been a couple accidents in the Gulf over the last 3 decades (none of them this bad) because these safety / drilling guidelines are in place. I believe strongly that the President overacted when he banned new drilling because of this incident. Thousands of jobs and revenue to coastal services who benefit from this activity were lost. Rigs have moved out of the area and are now booked up oversees for years now. The Gulf production is responsible for a large supply of oil and gas which we need here in the US. Eventually, production will decline and our dependence on foreign oil will only increase unless the Government reverses their decision.”

Now that the original decision has been rescinded, Kevin Boyles further commented:

“I believe this is a step in the right direction as the president’s prior decision to slow or halt new offshore drilling would have many negative impacts. These impacts are (but not limited to) the loss of oil/gas supply to the us, jobs  both directly related to drilling and gulf coast businesses which rely on this activity as well as taxes generated for the local and federal governments.”

Kevin Boyles has been involved in the oil business for many years, and is actively involved in projects recovering oil from mature and abandoned oil fields.

Although the U.S. is heavily dependent on foreign oil, the Middle East is not their biggest supplier. Still, the war on terrorism worries many Americans. They alternately want the reign of terror to stop, holding participants in random killings accountable for their actions, and feeling they should not rock the boat too much.

The death of Bin Laden during a secret US military action sent shock waves around the world. Would it bring closure to the fear and uncertainty that his continuing existence generated, especially as the 10^th anniversary of 9/11 approached?   Or would it cause any remaining and very fragile balance in the Middle East to crumble with disastrous effects.

Kevin Boyles, the head of a number of oil recovery projects in the US, voiced the opinion of many in a recent interview:

“The death of Osama bin Laden is most welcome news by myself, the majority of the United States, our Allies, Democratic Countries and even within the Muslim Nation as the Taliban leader and his followers do not represent the Muslim faith and outlook on life. The fight against terrorists will continue unfortunately, but maybe this will send a resounding message.” hopes Boyles

From our current viewpoint, we can see that the worse of the world’s fears did not come about; a fact that many economists correctly advised consumers when they stated that there would be no substantial effect on oil prices or supply.

President Obama himself assured the American people that despite Laden’s death, he predicted that immediate fluctuations would stabilize and that there would be no important impact negative effect on oil prices.

Kevin Boyles agrees completely with the President. His perspective should hold weight as he has worked in the oil industry for years. Boyles stated:

“…I do not believe that this will have a significant impact on the oil prices as the Taliban had little to no significant impact on the global production of oil– additionally the Taliban’s main focus was bombing public markets, military posts and religious gatherings and not focused so much on targeting oil fields, pipelines or transportation tankers – as we have seen from other radical groups in the past.”

Kevin Boyles continued by making a prediction for the oil situation in the coming year:

“The oil demand continues as countries make strides towards economic recovery and with the production / output running very close coupled with the weak dollar, prices are very much likely to continue to be above $100 per barrel for 2011 and predicted to approach $125-$150 per barrel in 2012.”

Fortune telling is not his specialty, but Kevin Boyles does know the oil industry. So far he is batting a thousand.

Greg and Kevin Boyles are a good example of brothers with oil rather than blood flowing through their veins. Both have found a solid niche in the oil and gas industry in the US.

Greg was first in the field, and is now the President of Direct-Drive Drive Head in Houston, Texas. Kevin Boyles attended Kent State University in Ohio, studying business, but after graduating he followed his big brother and the lure of black gold. In 1986 he joined Greg in his business and laid the foundation of knowledge and experience that has served him well to the present time.

Coming from a hard working family, Kevin Boyles did not expect to be handed a cushy position immediately. He started at the bottom at a standard entry level job. Showing an excellent understanding of the oil industry, along with his education in business, he rose to Vice President in the space of three years. Boyles still maintained his adherence to being a team member, taking on supervision of most of the daily company activities, field drilling, and working in the venture capital department. He needed a big rack with lots of hooks for the all the hats he had to wear.

In 1999 Kevin Boyles moved to California to start a family, and became a successful oil and gas consultant. In 2002 he initiated a large project that involved Enhanced Oil Recovery in Kansas.

A good deal of the success of Greg and Kevin Boyles in the oil industry was the model that they grew up with. Kevin himself was the youngest of the six Boyles offspring. Their parents believed in working hard and keeping the bar high on their quality of performance. This model extended to all the senior generations. Kevin says:

“We would all go to my grandmother’s farm in Ohio. My uncles had great expectations when chores needed to be done. Also, what’s extremely motivating is watching how hard my parents worked and are still working well into their 70’s -not because they have to it’s because this is “what they do”.

“I come from the old school and enjoy the challenges.”

That solid base has served the two brothers well. Family, faith and work are the things that Kevin Boyles is most passionate about. But despite his hectic schedule, and a family that includes three young children, Kevin still finds time to help out in a number of charities that are important to him and his family members.

Seeing someone wearing fur in Southern California and Florida represents a loss of life for nothing. These are not northern countries, and fur is far from a necessity for preserving human life in those warm climates.

Not unlike the macho spinning of tires from rapid acceleration of a high performance car.  Each gallon of gasoline used by speeding, accelerating until your tires smoke, and leaving your car run while you bask in the a/c and damage your hearing with ear splitting music, is a waste of a non-renewable resource that too many people are sweating to keep producing.

Even failing to change a leaking gas tank or making necessary repairs to improve engine performance, is just WASTE.

People like Kevin Boyles and his company Team Resources LLC, are working to revitalize oil field that were supposedly exhausted,  to provide much need oil and natural gas to bolster domestic production, and fulfill the needs of industrial and residential areas. This is hard work. There is money that has to be invested. Team Resources man hold the leases on existing mature oil fields, but there is still a good deal of exploration and testing required in finding the untapped oil and natural gas reservoirs. New technology is necessary to access these reserves and to extract them, barrel by barrel. Team Resources and companies like them, are doing a huge service to the country in helping it to meet its energy needs with domestic resources.

Kevin Boyles, CEO of Team Resources, would like to see many cars converted to Natural Gas, of which we have large reserves and is very cleaning burning:

“I’ve been an advocate for the use of natural gas for our vehicles for years and still believe this could be a solution that could be put on the fast track.”

It should be fast tracked, so those living in the fast lance can stop blowing through whatever oil such companies such as Team Resources can recover and which should be put to better uses.

Not living in the fast lane? You still could be wasting gas unnecessarily. Fast starts, speeding, holding speed right up to a red light then braking sharply, and driving “standing still” run through that expensive commodity at an alarming rate. Did you know that idling burns the equivalent of a half mile every minute? Don’t stop at a drive through at a bank or a fast food joint. Park and go into the buildings. As money.cnn.com so succinctly says:

“You’re already paying enough for the oil in those chicken nuggets.”

The three R’s of any waste management plan are Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle.

There does not seem to be any hope of reducing the massive appetite that the US has for oil and gas, and there are no realistic renewable alternatives ready to replace that need. But some companies are making “reuse” work in their operations.

Throughout the US there are former high producing oil areas that have been abandoned by large energy companies as being no longer economically feasible. These companies invested huge amounts of money to clear the land and build the infrastructures required for their operations.

Now companies such as Team Resources are reusing those infrastructures to carry on their own oil recovery programs. The efficient exploitation of new technology is allowing them to revitalize mature wells that were previously developed and equipped.

Kevin Boyles, founder and CEO of Team Resources, has developed new strategies based on his extensive experience with conventional oil recovery, along with his own personal vision.

“Team is currently working with Well Enhancement Services “WES” and using their Radial Jet Horizontal technology.  Team is working in oil reservoirs with certain characteristics which respond well to Radial Jet Horizontal applications. According to WES, Enhanced Oil Recovery – Radial Jet Technology has been proven to enhance production 3-10 fold and is less costly than most conventional technologies. Radial Jet Enhancement is a method of “Jet Drilling” horizontal laterals using a high-pressure water jet system. Oil reserves that otherwise would have remained beyond the reach of conventional technologies can now be recovered efficiently and economically. In some cases, production recoveries are to a point equal to or exceeding that of the wells initial production.”

Radial Jet Enhancement uses very little water to create new lateral bore holes from the existing well bore. The original wells were drilled vertically and had no flexibility in recovering shallow oil deposits, or oil and gas trapped in separate pools. The new equipment is relatively small, easy to disassemble, and the whole process can take as little as two days to perform. No further clearing of land and damage to fragile wildlife need be done. The initial well had already been drilled and outfitted.

The results can be dramatic. Mature well production can be enhanced by 3 to 10 fold with this process. As Kevin Boyles states above, the output can be much greater than the primary recovery process. In many cases, only 20% of the available oil was tapped, leaving a huge reserve behind.

With a minimum impact on the surrounding areas, and with almost no potential for disaster, Team Resources is making use of an existing situation to recover a good part of that oil, showing that even the oil industry can put into practice sound waste management plans.