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Dick Cheney?
- Thread starter BJC
- Start date
Asmodeanreborn
Well-known member
Not sure about Cheney, but doubt he'd be interested unless he made more money off of it.
As for other companies, I'm sure it wasn't free to get "Jonah Field" written on our turf.
As for other companies, I'm sure it wasn't free to get "Jonah Field" written on our turf.
Jonah field makes me all kinds of money to! Those oil field boys sure love to buy Ram TrucksAsmodeanreborn said:Not sure about Cheney, but doubt he'd be interested unless he made more money off of it.
As for other companies, I'm sure it wasn't free to get "Jonah Field" written on our turf.
OrediggerPoke
Well-known member
Asmodeanreborn said:Not sure about Cheney, but doubt he'd be interested unless he made more money off of it.
As for other companies, I'm sure it wasn't free to get "Jonah Field" written on our turf.
With the recent sale of the Jonah Field I believe that a lot of confusion will be created. I believe the field at the stadium was named after "Jonah Bank" which is the bank of the initial founders of the Jonah Gas Field (the McMurrays). Encana acquired much of the Jonah gas field from the McMurrays but just sold all of its interest in the field in March to a newly created company out of Texas called "Jonah Energy."
http://jonahenergy.com/about-us" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Now that will make your head spin. It seems to be that "Jonah Energy" may infringe upon the trademark of "Jonah Bank" ; but, apparently not.
Asmodeanreborn
Well-known member
Trademark infringement is generally only an issue if the two parties compete in the same sphere. The company I work for received a C&D from SPARC International because their expensive lawyers felt we were competition.
After half the Internet called them retarded (and a few people apparently called in death threats to the law firm), somebody up high at SPARC caught wind of the thing and said they had no problem with us, since we're not in the market of selling top of the line server hardware, and we signed a Co-existence Agreement with them.
Sometimes lawyers do their best to create work for themselves, even when there are no legitimate problems.
After half the Internet called them retarded (and a few people apparently called in death threats to the law firm), somebody up high at SPARC caught wind of the thing and said they had no problem with us, since we're not in the market of selling top of the line server hardware, and we signed a Co-existence Agreement with them.
Sometimes lawyers do their best to create work for themselves, even when there are no legitimate problems.
Asmodeanreborn
Well-known member
Should probably mention that the company I work for is called SparkFun Electronics... so it was the SPARC vs Spark that the lawyers felt was a trademark violation.
Hayduke
Well-known member
BJC said:
I know he does. Not sure about athletics though.
http://www.pinedalewyoming.com/news/2007/07/CheneysdonatetoUWstu.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
I know they have named areas of the campus after him. Dick and Lynn Cheney Plaza on the SW corner of Prexy's right next to the International Center building ($3.2 million from the Cheney's for construction/renovation).
Politics aside, it was good for UW to get this money.
OrediggerPoke
Well-known member
Asmodeanreborn said:
I was more or less just pointing out the name of "Jonah" and who is supporting UW athletics and not so much pointing of the liklihood of any trademark infringment claims. Now that "Jonah Energy" is a major player in Wyoming, it would be nice to get them on board with a relationship with the University; however, to my knowledge Jonah Energy has yet to actually drill a well on their own.
However, Jonah Bank is still involved in the oil and gas industry and trademark dilution (and subsequent loss of trademark rights) is a valid concern of any company that owns intellectual property. Hell, for all I know Jonah Bank may have licensed the name to "Jonah Energy".
TheCup
Well-known member
Linn Energy bought a position in the Jonah Field previously held by BP America. It was about 750 wells.
Encana operated the bulk of the field and had maybe about 1,500 active wells. That position was bought out by a venture capital firm called TPG Capital who was in the process of standing up an energy business. TPG Capital has about $60 billion in assets and hired some ex-El Paso and Chesapeake execs to run their new Jonah Energy business.
This is sort of untold history, but as Wyoming was entering the last gas boom in the mid-00's, Gov. Freudenthal hauled in the execs from the major oil and gas players and laid down the law that they were expected to make significant community investment contributions (cash donations to non-profits) in the communities near their operations. That's why Encana was giving out almost $2 million/year to various Sublette County charities and did something like $7 million to the university. BP, Anadarko, Devon, etc. were all similarly involved in communities around their bases of operations.
The loss of Encana as a player in Wyoming is going to be felt for a while. My guess is that TPG Capital could give a duck's fart about community relations in Pinedale or Wyoming as a whole. I don't know that, but that's my guess.
All of this is a long way to say that the Jonah Field at War Memorial name will never change even though Encana is now long gone. McMurry, who sold/leased the bulk of Jonah to Encana, bought the naming rights and that's what he chose for the field. I'm pretty sure that deal is for perpetuity.
Encana operated the bulk of the field and had maybe about 1,500 active wells. That position was bought out by a venture capital firm called TPG Capital who was in the process of standing up an energy business. TPG Capital has about $60 billion in assets and hired some ex-El Paso and Chesapeake execs to run their new Jonah Energy business.
This is sort of untold history, but as Wyoming was entering the last gas boom in the mid-00's, Gov. Freudenthal hauled in the execs from the major oil and gas players and laid down the law that they were expected to make significant community investment contributions (cash donations to non-profits) in the communities near their operations. That's why Encana was giving out almost $2 million/year to various Sublette County charities and did something like $7 million to the university. BP, Anadarko, Devon, etc. were all similarly involved in communities around their bases of operations.
The loss of Encana as a player in Wyoming is going to be felt for a while. My guess is that TPG Capital could give a duck's fart about community relations in Pinedale or Wyoming as a whole. I don't know that, but that's my guess.
All of this is a long way to say that the Jonah Field at War Memorial name will never change even though Encana is now long gone. McMurry, who sold/leased the bulk of Jonah to Encana, bought the naming rights and that's what he chose for the field. I'm pretty sure that deal is for perpetuity.
OrediggerPoke
Well-known member
TheCup said:
Spot on. This is why I don't really like TPG Capital's choice of "Jonah Energy." Some people may incorrectly believe that "Jonah Energy" is some way associated with the naming rights to Jonah Field at War Memorial and/or associated with Jonah Bank of Wyoming.
Encana leaving also worries me from the standpoint of development of the NPL field (right next to the Jonah). A lot of Wyoming jobs in that area of the State are dependent on the continued development of those fields. "Jonah Energy" may just decide to sit back and only operate the existing wells. Although, if gas prices ever rebound to about $7/MMBTU, it would be crazy not to develop.
