Photo: Benjamin Lowy/Getty Images
If you’re thinking, “What the heck is a landman?” you’re not alone.
Landmen are a part of a geographically niche industry that might ring a bell if you’re from an oil-rich part of America. But today, as oil demand cools and renewables heat up, these workers are facing new challenges.
Traditionally, landmen track down landowners whose properties sit on oil-rich land and offer them payments for drilling rights.
As recently as 2018, rights were going for $17k per acre — and landmen were rewarded with 6-figure paychecks for their work.
But a swift shift toward renewables — and a pandemic — dropped the price of shale acreage by 70%+.
Low demand means low prices. As a result:
Between 2010 and today, the combined market caps of Exxon, Shell, BP, and Chevron (the “oil majors”) dropped from $893.9B to ~$671B. By contrast, NextEra, Enel, and Iberdrola (the “green majors”) jumped from $111.3B to ~$330B.
For landmen, a new gig platform Energy Freelance offers tech to identify previously hard-to-find contract opportunities.
And while drilling might be on the way out, deals for wind and solar are in.
Today, solar makes up just under 2% of the Texas electric grid. Translation: There’s quite a bit of room for growth.