American Oil and Gas Reporter - August 2016 - 99

where their respective individual pecuniary
interests are taken out of the equation, so
that they can act together to provide both
short- and long-term direction and growth

for their company."
The appeals court's Longview decision
complicates prospects for sharing potential
corporate opportunities, and has the po-

tential to turn an officer or director into a
competitor of the very entity whose financial well-being he is charged with
safeguarding, TIPRO warns.
❒

TIPRO Looks To Counter Distortions
AUSTIN, TX.-A slowdown seems to
have done nothing to impede the flow of
untruths about the oil and gas industry,
making it increasingly important for members of the Texas Independent Producers
& Royalty Owners Association to come
together and find effective ways to fight
back, insists TIPRO Chairman Allen
Gilmer.
Gilmer, chief executive officer of
Drillinginfo Inc., will join TIPRO's staff
and members at the association's summer
conference, Aug. 17-18 at the Hyatt Hill
Country Resort in San Antonio, where
the group's members will explore the
impact of state and federal regulation on
their businesses, and find ways to improve
operations, he says.
A major focus of the gathering includes
helping TIPRO members learn how to
more effectively counter environmental
activist groups' anti-industry misinformation and stay abreast of related regu-

latory efforts at the local, state and federal
levels that threaten to slow or eliminate
hydrocarbons from the nation's fuel supply,
Gilmer says. A social media panel and a
cadre of accomplished speakers will help
point the way, he adds.
"So many battles are being fought
through social media. Let us face it, this
industry has missed out on how public
opinion gets created these days," Gilmer
says. "In some ways, this industry has
paid little attention to public opinion, but
these days we have to take the battle to
the people who are lying about us."
Pushing Back
Activities for TIPRO's summer meeting
get under way on Wednesday, Aug. 17,
with an Audit Committee meeting at 1
p.m., a Board of Directors meeting at 3
p.m., and a welcome reception hosted by
the association at 5:30 p.m.
A membership breakfast is scheduled

for 8 a.m. on Thursday, Aug. 18, and features a presentation by Kathleen Hartnett
White, distinguished senior fellow in residence and director of the Armstrong
Center for Energy and the Environment
at the Texas Public Policy Foundation.
Hartnett will speak on a book she co-authored, Fueling Freedom: Exposing the
Mad War on Energy, says TIPRO President
Ed Longanecker. In addition to being an
author, White is a former commissioner
at the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.
"The book focuses on the war against
fossil fuels and discusses the importance
of oil and gas to our society, and efforts
to counter growing anti-oil-and-gas sentiment and related campaigns," Longanecker describes.
The conference's general session begins
at 9 a.m. with Gilmer's opening remarks,
followed by the social media panel discussion on "Strategies for Countering

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American Oil and Gas Reporter - August 2016

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