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Mark LaCour

Editor-in-Chief & Co-Founder, Oil and Gas Global Network (OGGN)

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Mark LaCour is the Editor-in-Chief and Co-Founder of the Oil and Gas Global Network (OGGN), the world's largest podcast network dedicated to the oil, gas, and energy industry. Based in the greater Houston area, LaCour has built one of the most influential independent media companies in the energy sector — a network that now spans more than 30 active shows, reaches listeners in every country on the planet, and has accumulated over 2.7 million downloads from professionals, executives, and engineers across all segments of the energy value chain. His journey from US Marine and wildlife biologist to industry media pioneer is one of the most distinctive and unlikely origin stories in the modern energy media landscape. LaCour's entry into the oil and gas world was not by design. A former Marine from North Louisiana, he served four years before enrolling at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, where he earned a Bachelor of Science in Wildlife Management. Unable to find corporate employment with that degree, he took a chance on a startup called Cellular One at the dawn of the mobile era, then moved to BellSouth where he was assigned every oil and gas account in his territory — accounts other salespeople avoided because the companies were too complex, too demanding, and too slow to move. LaCour took them because he needed the job. Within years, he had developed a fluency with the industry's culture, buying processes, and decision-making hierarchies that would prove foundational to everything that followed. After nearly a decade managing oil and gas accounts at BellSouth and AT&T, LaCour moved into the analyst and research side of the industry, serving as Key Account Director for Oil & Gas at Forrester Research, and later founding his own global sales enablement firm, Modalpoint, LLC. Through Modalpoint, he worked directly with technology companies trying to penetrate the oil and gas market — determining exactly who in these organizations would buy, what problems they were trying to solve, and how to get in front of them at scale. His reputation as an industry 'insider' and independent third-party researcher grew steadily. By the time a marketing colleague suggested starting a podcast in October 2014, LaCour had already logged over 2,200 face-to-face meetings with oil and gas decision-makers across the globe and closed more than $305 million in deals — all on handshakes and honesty. He famously called the podcast idea stupid. Three months later, Redwing Boots became the first paid sponsor of an oil and gas podcast, and OGGN was born. From a single show — Oil and Gas This Week, co-hosted with Paige Wilson — the network has grown into a 30-plus podcast operation with dedicated programming covering upstream, midstream, downstream, HSE, legal, supply chain, energy transition, mining, digital transformation, and more. OGGN is recognized across the industry as the definitive voice of the people who actually work in energy — not the policy commentators or the environmental advocates, but the engineers, executives, entrepreneurs, and innovators doing the work every day. LaCour has been listed on speakers bureaus including Speakers.com and Executive Speakers Bureau, and frequently addresses major energy conferences on topics ranging from the future of the oil and gas industry to how hydrocarbons actually work. Beyond media, LaCour sits on multiple oil and gas advisory boards — including RealWear, Sonim Technologies, RuggedEdge, and Acceleration Energy — and serves as a board member and Director of Public Relations for the Houston chapter of the American Petroleum Institute, the largest API chapter in the world. He is an author, a published contributor to energy trade publications, a mentor to students through STEM outreach programs, and a long-standing member of both the Society of Petroleum Engineers and the Independent Petroleum Association of America. His professional identity is inseparable from a deeply held conviction that the oil and gas industry is profoundly misunderstood by the general public — and that it is his mission to close that gap through honest, high-integrity storytelling at scale. LaCour's personal philosophy — shaped by Marine Corps discipline, decades of field sales experience, and a genuine love for the people of his industry — is that character is the only currency that lasts. He famously closed hundreds of millions in deals without a contract in hand. He is a practitioner of grappling martial arts, a gym devotee who trains at least four days a week, and a man who admits freely that the best decision he ever made was joining the Marine Corps, despite the fact that four years of cold, wet, and difficult taught him it was not a permanent career. He carries all of that into every conversation about an industry that, in his view, powers modern civilization and deserves a far better story than the one being told about it.

Center Stage Oil and gas industry education and public perception Podcast network building and energy media B2B technology sales into the oil and gas sector Energy industry conservatism and risk culture Hydrocarbon science and natural formation Global energy food security (natural gas and fertilizer)Sales enablement for energy technology companies ESG and DEI debates in the energy sector Environmental stewardship in upstream oil and gas Marine Corps discipline and leadership philosophy Grappling martial arts and the mental game of competition New media and the future of energy industry communications

In their own words

The accidental founding of OGGN

In October of 2014, my marketing guy came to me and said, 'We need to start a podcast.' To which I quickly replied, 'That's a stupid idea.' Fast forward — it turned into the largest oil and gas podcast network on the planet.

LaCour recounting the origin moment of OGGN — a dismissal that became a defining pivot. The story illustrates his willingness to be wrong in service of what works, and the unexpected nature of industry disruption when someone with genuine credibility enters a space nobody else was willing to claim.

The organic, natural origins of hydrocarbons

It is literally made by plants in the ocean — plankton and zooplankton — through a long process. It is a legacy sunlight. So the plants were using photosynthesis in the past to create sugars. And when those plants and animals sink in our world's oceans and get buried with a layer of sediment over millions of years, it causes heat and pressure which removes the oxygen molecule from the carbon and the hydrogen which is left. What is left is the hydrocarbon.

LaCour offering a precise, science-grounded explanation of how hydrocarbons are formed — pushing back on the misconception that oil is a pollutant separate from nature. His wildlife management background gives him both the vocabulary and the authority to make this argument without sounding like an industry apologist.

Dismantling peak oil theory

The old thing about running out of oil — peak oil — will never happen. Our sun will run out of hydrogen before we run out of crude oil.

LaCour challenging peak oil theory by grounding his argument in the ongoing, active natural formation of hydrocarbons — a point almost never made in mainstream energy discussions. He combines scientific literacy with industry experience to dismantle one of the most persistent public myths about fossil fuels.

The industry's untold environmental stewardship

ExxonMobil, when they built their headquarters, when they cleared all the scrub trees — not the pretty trees you would buy at a nursery, but the ones that were there natively — they spent millions of dollars putting them in cold storage, and they kept a team of tree doctors to keep those trees alive for three years while they built the corporate campus. And when they finished, they replanted the trees. And I asked ExxonMobil corporate comms, 'Why don't y'all tell this story?' And they go, 'We don't brag.'

LaCour illustrating the cultural conservatism of the oil and gas industry — companies doing meaningful environmental and community work in silence, leaving a damaging public perception vacuum that bad actors and media critics are happy to fill. He uses this story to explain why his media work exists: to tell the stories the industry refuses to tell about itself.

Why oil and gas is the world's most conservative industry — and why that's rational

In my world, if we make a mistake, people die instantly. And you can have an environmental catastrophe which can destroy a company literally overnight. We don't like risk, and anything that is a change is a risk.

LaCour explaining the structural conservatism of the oil and gas industry — not as a defense of resistance to innovation, but as a rational response to operating in an environment where the cost of failure is catastrophic. This frames why technology adoption, marketing, and media are slow to take hold in the sector, and why trust is the only real currency.

The role of natural gas in global food security

About 70% of the people in the world are fed with fertilizer made from natural gas. We're going to hit 10 billion people in the future and the only reason we're able to feed that many people is because of the oil and gas industry.

LaCour making the food security argument for hydrocarbons — an argument almost never heard in climate conversations. He traces the agricultural revolution of the 20th century directly to the discovery that ammonia could be stripped from natural gas, connecting the industry to the survival of billions of people.

OGGN's culture of giving back and values-first hiring

Are you naturally a type of person that has empathy? Can you, for a second, put yourself in shoes that maybe doesn't have shoes or maybe doesn't have food? Can you spend a dollar or 30 minutes trying to make the world a little bit better? And if you're that person, that's one of the first things we look for.

LaCour describing the OGGN hiring philosophy — a values-first approach that filters for character before capability. This reflects his broader conviction that the industry can and should model something different: prosperity combined with genuine care for the world outside the wellhead.

Grappling, patience, and the mental game of business

The thing I love about the grappling arts is you're not really competing against the other person. You're really competing against yourself. If you're strategic and if you pay attention and if you've practiced, you can dominate almost anybody if they make a mistake — and you just got to wait for that mistake. So really it's a head game more than a physical game.

LaCour drawing a direct parallel between his lifelong practice of martial arts — wrestling, judo, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, sambo — and his philosophy of business and patience. The patience to wait for the moment, the discipline to prepare for it, and the self-awareness to know the real competition is internal.

Appearances & videos

The Truth About Oil & Gas Nobody Tells You with Mark LaCour | Center Stage #2256

Original interview details

The Truth About Oil & Gas Nobody Tells You

Episode #CS-002

Center Stage

Mornings in the Lab · Center StageMarch 3, 2026Watch →

From the interview

My marketing guy called it a stupid idea. Three months later, Redwing Boots became the first paid sponsor of an oil and gas podcast. Turns out I was wrong.

Our sun will run out of hydrogen before we run out of crude oil.

I've sold over $300 million in deals on nothing but handshakes and honesty — and every single client paid.

Questions & answers

What is OGGN and how did it start?

OGGN — the Oil and Gas Global Network — is the world's largest podcast network dedicated to the oil, gas, and energy industry. It was founded by Mark LaCour in 2014 after his marketing colleague suggested starting a podcast — an idea LaCour initially dismissed as stupid. Three months after launching, Redwing Boots became the first paid sponsor of an oil and gas podcast. The network has since grown to more than 30 active shows, reaching listeners in all 208 countries, with over 2.7 million total downloads from professionals across every segment of the energy industry. OGGN's flagship show, Oil and Gas This Week, is co-hosted by LaCour and Paige Wilson and remains the number-one oil and gas podcast in the world.

Why does LaCour say the oil and gas industry is massively misunderstood?

LaCour argues that the industry's conservatism — rooted in the genuine life-or-death stakes of its operations — creates a perception vacuum. Because major oil companies rarely speak publicly, because any statement can affect shareholder value, and because the industry's culture discourages bragging, the stories that would change public perception never get told. He points to examples like ExxonMobil's multi-million-dollar native tree preservation program, BP's voluntary billions spent on Gulf cleanup and restitution, and the fact that 70% of the global population is fed with fertilizer derived from natural gas — none of which are part of mainstream public consciousness. His entire media enterprise exists to close that gap.

How did Mark LaCour come to sell over $300 million to oil and gas companies?

LaCour's entry into oil and gas was accidental. After leaving the Marines and getting a wildlife management degree, nobody would hire him except for a startup called Cellular One, which led him to BellSouth, which assigned him all the oil and gas accounts nobody else wanted. He took those accounts because he needed work — not because he had a strategy. Over nearly nine years at BellSouth and AT&T, he logged more than 2,200 face-to-face meetings with oil and gas executives across the US, North Sea, Middle East, Mexico, Canada, Norway, Scotland, and Brazil. He built trust the old-fashioned way: showing up, telling the truth, and doing what he said he'd do. The $305 million in closed deals includes post-Hurricane Katrina handshake transactions worth millions — every one of which was honored.

What is Modalpoint and how does it relate to OGGN?

Modalpoint, LLC is LaCour's global sales enablement company, which he continues to run alongside OGGN. Modalpoint works with technology companies trying to penetrate the oil and gas industry, helping them answer the fundamental questions: who will buy your product, what problem does it solve, who in the industry has that problem, and how do you get your message in front of those people at scale. It was LaCour's success at Modalpoint — and his reputation as an independent industry 'insider' — that gave OGGN its credibility from day one. The two businesses are complementary: OGGN builds audience and brand trust across the industry, while Modalpoint converts that trust into client revenue through targeted sales and marketing strategy.

What boards and industry organizations is Mark LaCour affiliated with?

LaCour sits on multiple advisory and corporate boards across the energy and technology sectors. He is a board member at RuggedEdge and Acceleration Energy, Inc., and serves on the advisory boards of RealWear and Sonim Technologies. He is a Director of Public Relations for the Houston chapter of the American Petroleum Institute — the largest API chapter in the world — a position he has held since 2007. He is also a member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (and official mentor), the Independent Petroleum Association of America, and has been a published contributor to energy trade publications including the Bakken Business Journal.

How does LaCour approach health and fitness, and how does it connect to his philosophy?

LaCour has practiced martial arts since high school — starting with wrestling, then judo, then Brazilian jiu-jitsu, and sambo. He lifts weights at least four days a week and describes the gym as his 'church.' At 60, following multiple orthopedic surgeries on both knees, both shoulders, and his elbow — largely the result of heavy lifting habits from his younger years — he has consciously shifted toward injury avoidance and longevity over ego-driven performance. He draws a direct parallel to how he runs his business: strategic patience, self-awareness over performance metrics, and the understanding that the mental game is where the real competition happens.

The full conversation

Read the transcript

Have you ever dismissed an idea and then watched it change everything or felt stuck inside an industry that seems too old, too rigid, too impossible to move? Today's guest knows that feeling. When someone pitched him podcasting, he called it a stupid idea. 3 months later, Redwing Boots became the first paid sponsor of an oil and gas podcast. That podcast didn't just survive, it became OGGN, now the world's largest oil and gas podcast network. Mark is editor-in-chief and co-founder. And he built it after 25 years selling into the toughest rooms in energy. He sat through more than 2,000 meetings across the globe, face to face with the biggest names in oil and gas. That's real reps. He helps technology companies earn trust with energy giants, turning brand exposure into faster, easier sales. After Hurricane Katrina, he made handshake deals worth millions to help companies recover and every client paid. He's a former US Marine from North Louisiana who believes people stories matter more than spreadsheets. He challenges the idea that oil and gas only cares about profit, embedding giving back into OGGN's culture. From fighting human trafficking with Red M to spotlighting diversity and energy, he's building something bigger than media. Mark, welcome to the big show. What would you do if a marketing guy came to you with an idea and you thought to yourself, 'It was so dumb, you only said yes just to shut him up.' Well, today's guest did exactly that. And that one stupid idea turned into the largest oil and gas podcast network on the planet. And oh, before all that, he was a United States Marine who went on to sell over $300 million worth of deals on nothing but handshakes and honesty. [Mark LaCour]: What's up, guys? First thing — I love your production quality already, guys. And the sizzle reel you made for me is better than one my own people made for me. [Host]: So, Mark — you're a marine guy, cold, wet, getting shot at as you described it. But now you're in oil and gas. Are you a marketing guy, sales guy? Tell us about that journey. [Mark LaCour]: Yeah. So I wanted to serve my country. Also, my parents couldn't afford to send me to school. So the choice was to join the armed forces. I joined the Marines because I wanted to be the best of the best. And then after four years of being cold and wet and shot at, I decided that maybe was not the best career choice for me — although it was the best choice I ever made in my entire life. So I went to college and I got a degree in wildlife management. I wanted to save the planet. And the environmentalists hate me now because they can't fool me.

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Guest gallery

Announcement card · Pre-show shareable graphic generated by the Authority Page Builder.

The organic, natural origins of hydrocarbons

The industry's untold environmental stewardship

Why oil and gas is the world's most conservative industry — and why that's rational

The role of natural gas in global food security

OGGN's culture of giving back and values-first hiring

Grappling, patience, and the mental game of business

Conversation topics

Center Stage introduction and sizzle reel · ~3 minutes · The hosts introduce Mark LaCour with a pre-produced sizzle reel covering his Marine background, $300 million in sales, the 'stupid idea' that became OGGN, and his culture of giving back. LaCour opens with characteristic warmth, complimenting the production quality and acknowledging he had stood up the show the previous week to close a major deal. · From Marines to wildlife to oil and gas: the unlikely origin story · ~5 minutes · LaCour traces his path from Marine Corps service through a wildlife management degree at UL Lafayette to his accidental entry into oil and gas via Cellular One and BellSouth. He explains how taking the accounts nobody wanted became the foundation of everything — and how his wildlife background gives him unique credibility with people who try to argue that the industry is destroying the planet. · OGGN's founding: the 'stupid idea' that changed everything · ~4 minutes · LaCour tells the story of October 2014, when his marketing colleague suggested starting a podcast and he refused. He describes the moment he agreed just to shut the conversation down, the launch, Redwing Boots becoming the first paid oil and gas podcast sponsor, and the network's growth to 30+ shows with listeners in every country. He also shares the Toronto context — attending PDAC, the world's largest mining conference, to launch OGGN's first mining podcast, with 2,500 downloads in the first two days. · The oil and gas industry's public perception problem · ~6 minutes · LaCour presents a structured, evidence-based case for why oil and gas is misunderstood. He covers the organic, natural formation of hydrocarbons through photosynthesis and sedimentary process; the ongoing creation of new oil (dismantling peak oil theory); the cultural conservatism that keeps good stories untold; and ExxonMobil's native tree preservation during campus construction as a specific, vivid example of the kind of environmental stewardship the public never hears about. · The BP Deepwater Horizon response and industry accountability · ~4 minutes · LaCour addresses BP's Deepwater Horizon disaster head-on, acknowledging it as one of the worst environmental incidents ever recorded — while also making the case that BP's voluntary cleanup and restitution (nearly bankrupting the company) represents a standard of accountability that doesn't exist in any other industry. He contrasts this with Russian and Chinese oil operations where basic safety and environmental standards are absent, and articulates hope for global education on responsible energy production. · Hydrocarbons and global food security: the argument nobody makes · ~3 minutes · LaCour makes the food security argument for natural gas — explaining that the ability to strip ammonia from natural gas to produce fertilizer has made it possible to feed the global population, and that the path to 10 billion people runs directly through the oil and gas industry. He closes with a challenge to the hosts: where do the microphones in front of them come from? · OGGN's culture: giving back, empathy, and hiring for character · ~3 minutes · LaCour describes the values that underpin OGGN — that giving back is baked into the culture, not bolted on. He explains how he screens for empathy in hiring: can you put yourself in someone else's shoes for a moment? Can you spend 30 minutes making the world better? He frames this as compatible with, not in conflict with, running a profitable, high-growth media company. · The gym, martial arts, and competing against yourself · ~4 minutes · LaCour shares his lifelong relationship with grappling martial arts — wrestling in high school, judo after the program was cut, BJJ from work in Brazil, sambo. He describes the shift in his lifting philosophy after multiple orthopedic surgeries, moving from ego-driven heavy lifting to injury avoidance and longevity. He draws the connection between the head game of grappling — patience, preparation, waiting for the mistake — and his approach to business. · The risk of going live: why OGGN doesn't livestream · ~3 minutes · LaCour explains the editorial reason OGGN avoids live streaming despite its explosive first attempt attracting 12,000 viewers — when a senior VP from ExxonMobil makes an off-the-cuff comment on a recorded show, it can be edited out. Live, it can't. He frames this as a business decision rooted in the same risk calculus that governs the industry itself: the downside of a mistake is too large relative to the upside of authenticity. · Political correctness, ESG, DEI, and the pendulum swinging back · ~3 minutes · LaCour offers a candid take on the shift in discourse around ESG and DEI in the oil and gas industry — arguing that metrics-driven hiring has given way to merit-based hiring, and that what he couldn't say two years ago can now be said openly. He frames this as the pendulum swinging in both directions: the industry loosening some restrictions while tightening others, and the importance of humor and non-rhetorical communication in navigating a polarized landscape. · Closing: LinkedIn, staying connected, and production quality · ~2 minutes · LaCour directs viewers to connect with him on LinkedIn (most active) and X/Twitter (@Mark_LaCour). He praises the production quality of Mornings in the Lab — noting it exceeds what his own team has produced for him — and closes with warmth, gratitude for being rescheduled, and an open invitation to future collaboration.