Up until the last two months, this page was faithfully written by our veteran Contributing Editor, Jim Redden, with an unmatched style, wit and pursuit of accuracy. He was due to contribute another piece for this month’s issue. Instead, we are saddened to report that Jim passed away in Houston, Texas, on March 9, 2024, after a valiant battle with a two-month illness. He was 72. Jim owned and operated Houston-based Point Blank Communications, specializing in complex stories, communications and marketing services for upstream operators and service/supply companies, as well as contributing to World Oil and other industry publications.
Born on Sept. 7, 1951, in Beckley, W.Va., Jim attended Shady Spring High School, in Shady Spring, W.Va., a suburb of Beckley. Graduating from Shady Spring H.S. in 1969, Jim went on to attend Marshall University (Huntington, W.Va.) from 1970 forward, earning a BA degree in Journalism in 1973.
Initial newspaper career. His first newspaper job after graduation from Marshall was as a reporter for The Ironton Tribune, in Ironton, Ohio, about 20 mi northwest of Huntington. He spent two years at that paper, building up his experience. After that, he was an award-winning reporter and Boca Raton bureau chief for the Sun Sentinel, the main newspaper in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. It’s estimated that Jim spent about a year-and-a-half at the Sun Sentinel until one day when, according to a close, long-time friend who worked with him at that paper, he decided to leave Florida and literally picked the Amarillo Globe-Times out of a newspaper directory. He literally phoned up the editor of the paper and wound up being offered a job there.
It was during his one-and-a-half-year stint as a senior staff writer for the Globe-Times that Jim was first exposed to the oil and gas industry in the Texas Panhandle, particularly on the upstream end. In short order, he began developing his expertise, skills and knowledge as an oil and gas journalist.
Oil and gas industry service. Thus, in the late 1970s, Jim headed southeast to Houston, where he began working in The Woodlands, Texas (north of Houston), for Hughes Christensen, a division of Baker Hughes. World Oil spoke with a former supervisor of Jim’s, who said he specialized in writing company brochures, as well as other marketing communications tasks.
Later on, Jim served in a senior communications supervisory role for M-I Drilling Fluids, which eventually became M-I SWACO. In this new position, he continued writing and developing brochures while also buying ads in industry publications and fulfilling additional marketing communications functions. This position also afforded Jim the opportunity to travel throughout the world, observing and writing about various operator projects and activities in major industry provinces, as related to his firm’s role in them.
A new era. In 2008, having tired of traveling and looking for new challenges, Jim launched Point Blank Communications. He began reporting and writing about the oil and gas industry for a variety of magazines and publications, but also composing and developing numerous brochures and other communications tools for a number of significant operators and service/supply firms.
His first column for World Oil was in October 2009, and thus began a close relationship with us for more than 14 years. In addition to authoring the Drilling Advances column, Jim wrote a number of shale play and regional reports, both in the U.S. and abroad. He also was the guiding force behind special annual supplements to World Oil on the large industry supply hub, Port Fourchon, in far southern Louisiana, during the 2012-2018 period. Jim was known for his "aw-shucks" style, ever-present sense of wry humor, and his ability to regale a room with his compelling storytelling, some of the latter derived from his travel experiences overseas. He also was known for his passion for college (Longhorns) and pro (Houston Oilers and Texans) football. Indeed, he was a season ticketholder for both the Oilers and Texans. Jim also enjoyed throwing some ribs on the grill and had a passion for Southern classic rock bands, including such stalwarts as Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Allman Brothers, The Marshall Tucker Band, etc., as well as that great practitioner of country/calypso rock, Jimmy Buffett.
Jim had an unwavering commitment to values-based journalism, freedom of the press and the public's right to know about their government, institutions and public servants. In my considerable work with him on dozens of articles and columns, I found Jim to be the consummate writer, always concerned with accuracy and getting the story right. He had a real flair for making dry technical subjects sound far more interesting and appealing than they might otherwise have been. And his work was always the easiest to edit, as it almost always was already in nearly pristine shape. Jim always respected and adhered to deadlines—no need to worry about him sending in his pieces late! And through it all, he was an incredibly effective advocate for the upstream oil and gas industry. Accordingly, he had the respect of many professionals in the industry and was well-liked.
Family matters. Jim is survived by his wife, Karen Laufman Redden; his stepsons, Riley Crane and Casey Crane; brother, Edsel Redden; brother, Gary Redden and wife Lori Redden and children, Parker and Paxton. He is preceded in death by his sister, Sharon Buskus; his father, Lloyd Redden; and his mother, Geneva Redden.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to the National Press Club Journalism Institute, online: https://shorturl.at/joqtx and select "I'd like to dedicate this gift" box and enter Jim Redden in the space provided. A memorial service is pending.
All of us at World Oil and Gulf Energy Information will miss Jim’s fine writing, great humor, support of the industry and adherence to the finest journalistic standards. For me personally, I will miss his friendship, forthright personality and dependability as a valued associate. WO
Kurt Abraham, Editor-in-Chief