The University of Wyoming has tapped longtime oil and gas lobbyist Pete Obermueller to lead its School of Energy Resources — the state’s top energy research institute.
Obermueller, who has served more than seven years as president of the Petroleum Association of Wyoming, was selected in June as the school’s next executive director beginning this fall. Holly Krutka, who served as executive director for nearly six years, stepped down in November. Scott Quillinan, SER’s senior director of research, has served as acting executive director in the interim.
A 50-year-old Wyoming native, Obermueller earned a master’s degree in public policy from the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs and a bachelor’s degree in public policy from Concordia University. He served as executive director of the Congressional Western Caucus, legislative director for Cynthia Lummis during her tenure as U.S. representative and legislative assistant for former U.S. Rep. Barbara Cubin.
“I think Pete really is that good visionary leader that we really need to run the school,” UW Energy Resources Council Chairman David Emery told WyoFile. “The School of Energy Resources is such a unique animal because of the industry-driven nature of it, and the collaborative nature of it and how big of an interest it plays for the state. Having someone who’s really well-versed in all of those public venues is critical, and we’re pretty excited about having Pete in that role.”
If you’ve watched even a handful of Wyoming legislative hearings in recent years, you’ve probably seen Obermueller testify on a wide range of topics, from energy permitting and taxation to environmental regulations.
WyoFile spoke with Obermueller by phone earlier this month.
— This interview has been edited for length and clarity. -Ed
WyoFile: During your tenure at the Petroleum Association of Wyoming, what were some of the biggest School of Energy Resources initiatives that impacted the oil and gas industry?
Obermueller: They have an entire Centers of Excellence that deals with geologic research, understanding what we have in Wyoming, where it is and, really importantly, how to get it. A big part of what’s exciting about Wyoming’s resources is that Wyoming is still an exploratory state. We don’t really know the full bounds — vertically or horizontally — of what Wyoming has in relation to oil and gas. The only people who are going to find it is the industry in combination with the types of research capabilities that SER has. The SER, I think, has had measurable impacts, particularly in places like the Upper Green River Basin.
An emerging issue is: How can we extract the valuable minerals that are in [oil and gas] produced water and turn that into a valuable resource?
WyoFile: Energy is steeped in policy and politics. How will your policy and advocacy experience help guide your leadership at SER, where the mission is more focused on advancing technology?
Obermueller: SER’s mission is energy-driven economic development, and what really attracted me to it is precisely that. Everything that they work on is applied research — an attempt to try to develop new techniques, new products and new materials that can add value to what Wyoming already produces, then take it to the market so that it’s usable. What drives the political debates about energy is precisely the trade-offs of the impacts of every single energy source. Every single energy source has an impact of some kind. It’s just a trade-off.
SER’s mission is energy-driven economic development, and what really attracted me to it is precisely that.
Pete Obermueller, Petroleum Association of Wyoming
And what I like about SER is they are taking a holistic view of all sources of energy and how we can improve them, make them more efficient, make them more sustainable for the long term because — spoiler — we’re not going to reduce our demand for energy anytime soon. So a place like SER is vital to finding ways to keep moving that ball forward.
WyoFile: These days, climate change can create an awkward relationship between university research institutes and politicians. How might you navigate that?
Obermueller: SER was designed to be nimble enough to shift around to what industry and what the market wants. When I say that, I mean the market for Wyoming’s economic development shifts based on a number of factors, including the market, but also including politics.
I think SER has done a pretty good job under Dr. Holly Krutka over the past several years, and the great team that they have there have figured out how to navigate that and maintain Wyoming-specific research — no matter what that [political] climate is, and I’m just going to try to not wreck that Ferrari.
WyoFile: You have advocated on behalf of the oil and gas industry. What is your level of enthusiasm for things that are sometimes seen as a threat to that industry, like wind and other forms of renewable energy?
Obermueller: Even in my current position as president of PAW, I’ve never viewed those things as a threat. [World energy demand is skyrocketing] so all of that’s not going away, and we’re going to need it all.
You see it happening in Wyoming right now, where we’re living in this sort of resource-constrained environment, where we have the resources, but we don’t have enough power to do the kinds of projects we want to do in Wyoming. So all of these sources, if we can figure out ways to do it efficiently, do it economically, do it in a way that our friends and neighbors in Wyoming can appreciate and get on board with — heck, that’s all benefit for Wyoming.
WyoFile: What are your thoughts on the future of energy and energy innovation in Wyoming?
Obermueller: We know that technological innovation is the X-factor for every single [energy] source. We don’t know precisely which source is going to hit the next major breakthrough, but what we do know is that we have the right people in the right place at the University of Wyoming, partnered with industry. I think [partnerships are] just so important. It’s a goal of mine, and SER, to not be siloed in the university just talking to each other. The folks who are doing the work on the ground, and that collaboration [with the university], that’s really what’s going to drive major changes.
