Upstream & Drilling (shale, offshore, exploration)
Mike Miller
Senior Upstream & Drilling Correspondent
Mike Miller spent ten years working drilling operations before he became a reporter, and it shows in his upstream coverage. For 12 years he has covered the drillbit end of the business: Permian shale economics, deepwater project sanctioning, rig counts, and the occasional exploration well that still surprises people. He can read a frac design and knows when the productivity claims outrun the geology.
Contact: mike.miller@theoilslick.com
Career
- Senior Upstream & Drilling Correspondent, The Oil Slick (2018-present)Leads shale, offshore, and exploration coverage from Houston.
- Upstream Reporter, Upstream / NHST Media Group (2013-2018)Covered global E&P, deepwater sanctions, and North American unconventionals.
- Drilling & Completions Reporter, Oil & Gas Journal (2010-2013)Reported on rig technology, well design, and the service sector.
- Drilling Engineer and Field Supervisor, offshore and Permian operations (2003-2010)Ten years in the field before moving into journalism.
Notable coverage
- Documented the Permian's productivity gains from longer laterals and heavier proppant loadings, and the parent-child interference that started to cap them.
- Reported a Gulf of Mexico deepwater final investment decision, tracing the breakeven math that got a stalled project sanctioned.
- Followed the U.S. rig count through several boom-bust cycles and tied drilling activity to the forward supply picture.
Education
B.Sc., Petroleum Engineering, Texas A&M University.
Awards & recognition
Jesse H. Neal Award for technical trade coverage (2016)Houston Press Club Lone Star Award for energy reporting (2019)
Recent articles
Auto-populated once the newsroom bot is live — every story Mike files will list here.