W. Mark Meyer

Big Digital Energy co-host | Energy lifer | O&G macro, tech/AI, BTM power | Recovering PM/analyst | Baseball & music obsessed

[W. Mark Meyer @wmarkmeyer]

@WAR527 So we’re now at “Iran wants to” instead of “badly wants to”.

[W. Mark Meyer @wmarkmeyer]

@FracSlap It was amazing 30 years ago when I first experienced Emirates. Can’t imagine how much separation they’ve created now. Singapore was another frequented carrier that did it far better than all other airlines.

[W. Mark Meyer @wmarkmeyer]

Elon Musk vs Texas’ New Governor, Voters Ban Data Centers & Gas Prices Sink the GOP | BDE 11.10.26 https://t.co/4sxbdMKJqb

[W. Mark Meyer @wmarkmeyer]

https://t.co/4sxbdMKJqb

[W. Mark Meyer @wmarkmeyer]

My first OMC mention.

Another great piece. The refining analogy is brilliant in its relevance. The world today is experiencing the consequences of five decades of bad Western energy policy.

[Chuck Yates @nimblephatty]

Silicon Valley, you're about to find out what it's like to be an oil company.

Everybody wants your product cheap. Nobody wants your plant next door. Then the price goes up and you're the asshole.

Compute is the new gasoline.

Latest Old Man Coffee. Link in the first reply.

[W. Mark Meyer @wmarkmeyer]

@nimblephatty @patrickrooney The strategic, political and economic consequences of datacenter policy decisions will reverberate more than what’s been witnessed in refining over the last fifty years.

[W. Mark Meyer @wmarkmeyer]

Imagine where we (and the world) would be if the US O&G industry hadn’t added 9 MMBbl/d to domestic oil production since 2006 via the intrepid risk-taking and innovation that made the shale revolution possible. That is a Herculean result for a resource with high depletion rates. And the treadmill keeps accelerating. But sure, let’s dust off the windfall profits tax playbook in January. It’s coming. Along with other disincentives to put a bit in the ground.

Natural gas is the other US shale miracle. Look no further than US prices at $3/MMBtu (and less) while Europe and Japan pay $30/MMBtu.

[W. Mark Meyer @wmarkmeyer]

Claude gave me a list of all the terrible things datacenters do to & for humanity. Just awful stuff. @SenSanders should lead by example by abstaining from using all of these hazardous things.

Nearly every digital interaction now touches a datacenter. Here they are, grouped by area of life:

Communication

•Email, texting (iMessage, WhatsApp, RCS), voicemail
•Video calls (Zoom, Teams, FaceTime)
•Social media feeds, photo sharing, comments
•Cell network core functions: call routing, authentication, roaming

Money & Commerce

•Card swipes and tap-to-pay authorizations
•Online and mobile banking, ATMs, Venmo, Zelle, PayPal
•Fraud detection and credit scoring
•Stock trading, retirement accounts, crypto
•E-commerce, price comparison, order tracking
•Store POS systems, inventory, loyalty programs, self-checkout

Entertainment

•Streaming video and music (Netflix, YouTube, Spotify)
•Online gaming, game downloads, cloud saves
•Live sports streaming, fantasy sports, sports betting
•Recommendation algorithms
•E-books and audiobooks

Navigation & Transportation

•Maps, live traffic, ETAs, rerouting
•Rideshare and delivery dispatch (Uber, DoorDash)
•Airline booking, check-in, boarding passes, baggage tracking
•Air traffic management data systems
•Connected-car telematics and over-the-air updates
•Toll transponders, transit fare cards, parking apps
•Fleet logistics and package routing (UPS, FedEx, Amazon)

Home

•Smart thermostats, doorbells, cameras, locks
•Voice assistants (Alexa, Siri, Google)
•Security monitoring and alerts
•Smart appliances and robot vacuums
•Utility smart meters and outage reporting
•TV guides and cable/satellite DVR in the cloud

Health

•Electronic health records and patient portals
•Prescriptions sent to pharmacies, refill alerts
•Insurance claims processing
•Telehealth visits
•Medical imaging storage and AI-assisted reads
•Fitness trackers and wearables syncing
•Lab results delivery

Work & Productivity

•Cloud documents, spreadsheets, file storage (Google, Microsoft 365, Dropbox)
•Enterprise software: payroll, HR, CRM, ERP
•Calendars and scheduling
•AI assistants and chatbots
•Remote access, VPNs, corporate networks
•Software updates for phones, PCs, and apps

Information & Learning

•Web search
•News sites and apps
•Online courses, school portals, homework platforms
•Translation and speech-to-text
•Weather forecasts (supercomputer models plus app delivery)

Government & Public Safety

•911 dispatch and emergency alerts
•Tax filing (IRS e-file)
•DMV, passports, Social Security, benefits
•Voter registration systems
•Law enforcement databases and records
•Military and intelligence systems

Infrastructure & Industry

•Electric grid management, SCADA data, market operations (ERCOT, PJM)
•Oil and gas production monitoring and reservoir modeling
•Water treatment monitoring
•Factory automation and supply-chain planning
•Agriculture: precision farming, crop and weather data
•Building management systems (HVAC, elevators, access badges)

Identity & Security

•Logins, two-factor codes, password managers
•Digital IDs, mobile driver's licenses
•Background checks
•Backup and recovery of personal photos and phones

The Invisible Layer
These sit underneath everything above:

•DNS, which turns web addresses into locations
•Content delivery networks that cache video and websites near users
•Time synchronization, which banks, grids, and cell networks depend on
•Ad auctions that run in milliseconds on every page load

The short version: if it's connected, syncs, updates, gets recommended, or gets authorized, a datacenter is involved. AI is the fastest-growing layer on top of all of it.

[W. Mark Meyer @wmarkmeyer]

@nimblephatty Wonder if she speaks Mandarin?

[W. Mark Meyer @wmarkmeyer]

@lisa_hough_ I need one of those.

[W. Mark Meyer @wmarkmeyer]

Trump’s Iran Deal Talk Sinks Oil, Talarico vs. Paxton & Elon’s xAI Turbines in Court | BDE 11.03.26 https://t.co/gYR8Sz5aJh

[Chuck Yates @nimblephatty]

happy election day
https://t.co/0Uf771e9n8

[W. Mark Meyer @wmarkmeyer]

https://t.co/gYR8Sz5aJh

[W. Mark Meyer @wmarkmeyer]

@TheAstrosLocker @diesel4cy Mariners. Meyer validated. And so it is written.

[W. Mark Meyer @wmarkmeyer]

@johnarnold Permian GOR grinding ever higher.

[W. Mark Meyer @wmarkmeyer]

@ManchesterUtd81 Must have been talking about PA’s newest entrepreneur setting up shop.

[W. Mark Meyer @wmarkmeyer]

EQT Swallows Range, Rocket Fuel Is Just Gas & SpaceX Wants the Beach | BDE 10.27.26 https://t.co/9aQlKeJaZn

[Chuck Yates @nimblephatty]

this will be a good one
https://t.co/sawDkM87LQ

[W. Mark Meyer @wmarkmeyer]

@CoachMongero Two total HRs in 198 combined ABs. Love it.