American Oil and Gas Reporter - August 2015 - 132

ConventionSection: Eastern Kansas Oil & Gas Association
are using lawsuit settlements as a path to
ESA status, avoiding the regulatory process
that allows all stakeholders a chance to
provide input and comments, he says.
"Sue-and-settle has been a disaster,"
Stanfield says. "It needs to be completely
done away with. It is a very easy way to
disrupt things without really going through
any sort of democratic process, to where
it is possible to completely shut down an
industry. This should not even be possible
in our country."
The lesser prairie chicken is dominating
the ESA conversation, but other species,
including the northern long-eared bat,
have sparked discussions among eastern
Kansas operators, Bleakley says.
EKOGA is working with the Kansas
Independent Oil & Gas Association on
seeking delistings or revisions to the ESA
listing process, Bleakley says. The oil
and gas industry is finding allies in the
agricultural and home-building sectors,
he says, and members of the Kansas congressional delegation have pledged efforts
to reform the system. "These sue-andsettle tactics basically have circumvented
everyone's right to due process. All the
industry wants is transparency, and equal
and fair treatment," he says.

Progress and author of The Moral Case
for Fossil Fuels.
"Called the most original thinker of
the year by political commentator John
McLaughlin, Epstein champions the use
of fossil fuels such as coal, oil and natural
gas, and has changed the way people
think about energy," Aikens says, adding
Epstein challenges many popular ideas
about energy, industry and the environment.
Stanfield says EKOGA continues to
benefit from its relationship with Kansas
Strong, the nonprofit education program
funded by the state's oil and gas operators.
"In my mind, Kansas Strong's most
important function is educating students
across the state. I would like to see that
effort continue to grow," Stanfield says.
"That is a value to the state. Kansas
Strong is a great way to get the message
out broadly. EKOGA really is trying to
educate people and the future generations
in Kansas."
Funding constraints are forcing EKOGA to end its two-year partnership with
Michael Waltrip Racing driver and Kansas

Fiscal Uncertainties In Kansas
Result In Operator Indecision

Annual Meeting
A workshop sponsored by the Tertiary
Oil Recovery Program at the University
of Kansas will kick off the association's
annual meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 15,
says EKOGA Executive Director Janelle
Aikins. The trade show will run concurrently with the members meeting, board
of directors meeting and lunch. A reception
and social will lead into the evening banquet, Aikens adds, for which the guest
speaker is Alex Epstein, director and
founder of the Center for Industrial

TOPEKA, KS.-The Kansas Legislature
ended its record-setting 2015 session with
a tax package designed to cover the state's
fiscal gap. The budget plan is in place,
but Tom Bruno, lobbyist for the Eastern
Kansas Oil & Gas Association, says there
have been rumors of legislators returning
to the statehouse this year if the Kansas
Supreme Court rules allocations shortchange the state's school system.

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native Clint Bowyer, who attended the
association's midyear meeting on May 5
and 6, Stanfield says.
"That has been a very positive program,
but it looks like this will be the last
year," he says. "It has been a real positive
program for eastern Kansas. Clint is a
great ambassador for the industry, and
the program has created awareness and
excitement."
Stanfield adds that he will end his
presidency at the 2015 annual meeting,
calling his two-year term a great experience
for him as well as an outstanding educational experience regarding the state's
regulatory and legislative environments.
"I have not had a lot of experience
doing that sort of thing in the past, and I
am not sure I want a whole lot in the future," Stanfield quips. "But it is nice to
know the people in the industry have a
sufficiently high opinion of me to ask
me to serve as president. I very much enjoyed this job, but I also am looking forward to turning the gavel over to someone
else and continuing to support EKOGA
going forward."
r

Chanute, KS 66720

132 THE AMERICAN OIL & GAS REPORTER

Ph: 620-431-9308

The major accomplishment in the 2015
legislature, which included a 24-day special session, was when lawmakers raised
$384 million in fiscal year 2016 and
$404 million in fiscal 2017, Bruno says.
Legislators closed a $400 million shortfall
in Kansas revenues without imposing
any new levies on the oil and gas sector,
although, he adds, during budget negotiations legislators swept money from the
Conservation Fee Fund into the general
fund. Bruno predicts fiscal issues will
again occupy a large part of legislators'
time in 2016.
EKOGA President Steve Stanfield
says the association hopes to see guidelines
that clearly define responsibility for abandoned and orphaned wells. Stanfield,
president of Consolidated Oil Well Services LLC in Chanute, Ks., adds those
guidelines should include a specific determination on when that responsibility
ends. He goes on to suggest that the ideal
rule will provide legal certainty for lease
owners regarding their future liabilities
if they sell their leases.
"As it stands, that liability theoretically

American Oil and Gas Reporter - August 2015

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