CDOA – Celebrating Certified Career Excellence for 30 Years In honor of the 30th Anniversary of the CDOA program there will be special recognition at this year’s Institute for all CDOAs in attendance. You don’t want to miss this NADOA milestone! Calling all CDOAs: NADOA wants to recognize you for your achievement and would love to have a picture of you, whether you are attending Institute or not. Please send photos to Chris Tucker at administrator@nadoa.org
I am proud to have followed in the footsteps of my mother, Kathy Brewer. If you have been in the industry for more than 25 years, you may even remember her. Kathy was one of the first Certification Committee members, and edited the first CDOA manual along with the first supplement. As a child of the business, I have begun to realize with all of the changes to our beloved industry, much of the Division Order Analyst’s work is still the same as it was 30 years ago. In days gone by, Divisions of Interest (“DOI”) were fairly straightforward and were for vertical wells with only a few tracts. The formulas would be written out by hand and added up on a 10-key calculator. The paper would be taped on the DOI, and it was a nightmare if you had to start all over because it added up to a little over or a little under 1.0000000. Today, we have excel and thanks to horizontal drilling in subdivisions, our DOI can have over 1,000 tracts. But when we discuss the principles of the work itself, it’s not all that different. Likewise, when we discuss the Certification Committee, she laughs about how we are still facing the same questions as were debated in its early stages. What is a Division Order Analyst and how do the job duties vary between small and large companies? What value should the CDOA designation have? She and I have the same thoughts. The CDOA sets the standard. It is akin to being a CPA or passing the Bar for our field. Attaining this designation is something for which every analyst should strive, but it should not indicate what job duties an analyst currently has. Rather, the CDOA signifies that the individual has a broad knowledge of the industry. This person can step into any role and learn the intricacies for a specific geographic area. In her and my opinion, the CDOA should understand the basics of Division Order work. This person should be able to identify the different interest types and be able CDOA – A family legacy By: Eli Murray, CDOA
to properly calculate the interests. The CDOA should understand that title and unitization standards differ on a state-by-state basis, but they should learn the minutiae for the area they are working. Also, the CDOA should be able to use their designation to build relationships with peers at other companies and to gain confidence from other departments within their own company. The CDOA label also helps validate the ethical standards and ensures our reputation as Division Order Analysts is above reproach. In addition to having her as a wonderful mother, she has been an incredible mentor. She ingrained two points in my head and I want to pass these on to our organization. The first, never stop learning. One of the brilliant points of certification is it forces an individual to receive constant exposure to new issues within the industry. The second, fractions tell a story. Even though we predominantly use decimal interests, I can look at a fraction and tell you that 1/2*1/3*1/2 is probably an heirship interest where the original owner had two kids, one of whom had three kids, and my owner is one of two. It’s not always accurate, but start looking at the attorney’s fractions and see if you can piece together the story. The one point I would pass on, learn to hand write and calculate formulas. Today, we have lost the true art of calculations thanks to “Mr. Excel”. We put a lot of trust in the technology of today, our excel spreadsheet. While excel is an excellent tool, I give a word of caution, if our successors don’t learn where to gather the necessary information for a calculation, we may end up with bad formulas and bad decimals. The CDOA is stronger today than it was yesterday and its importance will only grow in years to come. I don’t know that my two red-headed boys will enter the oil and gas industry or attain the CDOA designation, but I certainly hope this legacy will continue.
18
N a t i o n a l A s s o c i a t i o n o f D i v i s i o n O r d e r A n a l y s t s
Made with FlippingBook Online document