American Oil and Gas Reporter - December 2015 - 103

page 100-107_Layout 1 12/3/2015 8:37 AM Page 103

ConventionCoverage: Oklahoma Independent Petroleum Association
Since its roll-out, Mastin said, all remitters must utilize the electronic reporting
system or report on the new hard copy
forms. "The old forms, EDI (electronic
document interchange), and magnetic
media no longer can be accepted and
will be returned," he advised, adding that
after the first of the year, he planned to
ask the Tax Commission for permission
to require all-electronic filing.
Noting that state law requires all
wells to have a production unit number
(PUN), Mastin said the electronic system
enabled operators to obtain their PUNs
within 48 hours. He emphasized, "You
have to have that PUN to report your
taxes, and it is prohibited for anyone to
purchase oil or gas from a well that has
not been registered with the Tax Commission."
Mastin acknowledged that because of
processing errors and delays, companies
in the past sometimes had used dummy

OIPA Director Frank Harrison
(left) pauses with Michael P.
Cross, president of Michael P.
Cross Inc., following Cross' induction into the OIPA Wildcatter
Hall of Honor at the association's fall conference. Named
OIPA Member of the Year in
1998, Cross joined the association in 1983 and was elected
to the Board of Directors in
1997. He has served two terms
on the Executive Committee,
two stints and treasurer, and
as chairman of the Natural Gas,
Legislative and Membership
committees. He also served as
Wildcatters Club president in 2004-05 and as secretary in 2006-07. Harrison, who made
the Wildcatter presentation, praised Cross' "passion for our industry." He said Cross
"doesn't care who gets the credit (or) who the leader is, he just wants to get the job
done. That is what makes (Cross) different: He always is looking for the truth. He never
looks for who is right or wrong, it simply is about what is right."

PUNs to report taxes, but he warned, "As
it is designed now, the system will not

accept an incorrect PUN. We spent tons
of time going through wrong PUNs." ❒

Western Logic Misreading Middle East
RIDGEDALE, MO.-Western reasoning does not comprehend Middle Eastern
motives, to the detriment of freedom and
U.S. security, former Israeli Ambassador
Yoram Ettinger insisted during a keynote
luncheon address at the Oklahoma Independent Petroleum Association's fall conference on Oct. 19.
"When it comes to foreign policy and
national security, Western democracies
have been off mark as far as the erosion
of the Western posture toward terrorists,"
Ettinger told oilmen gathered at the Big
Cedar Lodge south of Branson, Mo.
He said the West's interpretation of
Middle Eastern uprisings against military
dictatorships as an "Arab spring" represented "skewed logic" because "it was a
tsunami from day one; the exact opposite
from spring."
Because these revolts sought to overthrow tyrannical regimes, Ettinger said
the West mistakenly assumed they would
result in greater democracy. "In fact,
what we have seen has been an embrace
of so-called opposition groups," which
he contended were worse than the tyrants
they replaced.
As an example, he said, since the
ouster of Muammar Gaddafi, Libya has
become "the largest terrorist arena in the
world, complements of Western assistance
to the so-called opposition groups."
The defeat of Bashar al-Assad in Syria

has resulted in "more and more slaughter,"
Iraq remains in a state of turmoil, and
opposition to Hosni Mubarak in Egypt
led the United States to embrace the
Muslim Brotherhood, which Ettinger labeled "the largest terrorist organization
in the Muslim world, all the way back to
the 1920s."
"This is nothing new," he advised.
"Since the 7th Century until today, there
has not yet been intra-Arab peaceful coexistence. There hasn't yet been intraArab compliance with most intra-Arab
agreements. There hasn't yet been intraArab tolerance of intra-Arab disagreements
or a cessation of intra-Arab violence."

Nearing The End Zone
Ettinger referred to the nuclear accord
between Iran and the five permanent
members of the U.N. Security Council
plus Germany as "the agreement with
the ayatollahs-and I purposely mention
ayatollahs because anybody who knows
Iran, knows they represent a minority,
and are a dictatorship that oppresses the
majority of Iranians."
He said the ayatollahs' dogmatic hatred
of the West-and especially the United
States-precluded any hope of Iran fulfilling
its side of the bargain. But, he argued,
releasing $100 billion-$150 billion in
frozen assets, "plus the release of sanctions

OIPA Chairman Jeffrey McDougall
(left), president of JMA Energy Co. in
Oklahoma City, pauses with former
Israeli Ambassador Yoram Ettinger,
who was the keynote luncheon speaker at OIPA's fall conference on Oct.
19 at the Big Cedar Lodge south of
Branson, Mo.

DECEMBER 2015 103

American Oil and Gas Reporter - December 2015

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Oil and Gas Reporter - December 2015