Cody Campbell is Co-Chief Executive Officer of Double Eagle Energy Holdings III LLC, a partnership formed with Apollo Global Management and co-founder of Double Eagle Development.
Campbell began his business career as a student at Texas Tech University, where he and John Sellers founded a successful commercial real estate development firm. He graduated with honors with a Bachelor’s in finance and economics and a master’s in finance. After graduation, he played offensive guard for the Indianapolis Colts.
On this episode, Chris and Cody discuss the early days of building Double Eagle, the state of oil & gas and its opportunities and challenges ahead, what things might look like under a Biden administration, how they were able to partner with Apollo, and much more. Enjoy!
(02:15) - Cody’s Background and Business Career to Date
(11:12) - What’s an option of a lease?
(13:45) - How long would you anticipate you’d have to sit on a lease before it sells?
(15:57) - When did you formalize that Double Eagle would be your full-time job?
(18:39) - When did you partner with Apollo? How did that relationship start?
(23:31) - What was it like working with Aubrey McClendon?
(25:45) - Was Double Eagle #2 similar to Double Eagle #1?
(28:00) - How long did Double Eagle #2 take from start to finish?
(28:50) - When were you able to get away from the scrutiny of being able to purchase deals?
(29:43) - Why did you choose the Midland over the Delaware? Are there major differences between them?
(31:09) - How many transactions does it take to put together 70,000 acres in the Midland?
(31:55) - When you’re buying thousands of leases, how often are you committing to a lease that you know still needs some work?
(33:47) - What’s the minimum amount of acreage needed to be able to drill?
(35:01) - You’ve sold Double Eagle #2, so what does Double Eagle #3 look like?
(37:32) - With today’s technology, how many drilling sites could you have? How much oil can you get from these 96,000 acres?
(39:06) - Do you hedge your oil? Are you able to decide that or does Apollo choose?
(39:42) - Do you put the hedge in before you drill a well or during?
(40:29) - How big is your team now?
(40:48) - How do you see where we are today vs. previous downturns? What's different this time?
(41:47) - What gives people a reason to think that the industry wouldn’t exist in the future?
(43:35) - What does ESG mean?
(50:40) - Is there any light at the end of the tunnel to get us past this?
(52:50) - Is it a good thing for oil prices to go back up?
(55:25) - Do you have any comments on our relationship with other oil-producing countries?
(56:03) - What happens if we don’t keep drilling?
(57:36) - Have we found all the energy in the world?
(58:06) - Is there any technology on the horizon to get more out of the ground?
(58:51) - What are your thoughts on the new presidential administration's impact on the industry?
(1:00:21) - How long is a drilling permit good for?
(1:01:22) - Why is the Permian Basin the most prolific in the country?
(1:02:02) - How are things valued deal to deal?
(1:02:46) - What was it like to host POTUS at one of your wells?
(Originally Aired on 12/07/2020)
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