Episode 1 · September 15, 2025
Rise of Automation in Oil & Gas – A Talk w/ Robert Wichert
In our first episode of Wisdom at the Wellhead, hosts Jeff Dyk and Kevin Fischer sit down with Robert Wichert, CEO of Cougar Energy, to talk about building a truly automated oil company from the ground up.
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Written from this episode
What Happens When Geography, Politics, or a Roadblock Stands Between You and Your Wells
Why the Best Time to Build Right Is Before You Build at All
Why the Best Field Visit Is the One You Don’t Have to Make
There Are Barrels Sitting in the Ground That Nobody Is Even Looking For
What Happens When Capital Returns and You’ve Been Stacking Opportunities for Six Years
Why the Smartest AI in Oil and Gas Won’t Come from Silicon Valley
The Fastest Way to Multiply Capital Is to Prove What Works Before the Budget Cycle Ends
Every Well You Drill Is Built on a Guess. The Question Is How Fast You Replace That Guess with the Truth.
You Can’t Fix What Happened Sixty Days Ago. But You Can Fix What’s Happening Right Now.
An 80 to 90 Percent Reduction in Invoice Work Isn’t a Projection. It’s What Happens When the Vendor Chain Is Connected.
When Every Function in Your Company Speaks the Same Language, the Whole Operation Changes
Forty-Two Years of Upstream Experience, and We’re Finally at the Point Where All of It Connects
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