American Oil and Gas Reporter - October 2016 - 103

ConventionCoverage: Eastern Kansas Oil & Gas Association
dress these issues more effectively than
any other industry, and enables us to
improve the quality of human life," Martin
said. "The power of production is about
the betterment of America. We need the
oil and natural gas industry to lead the
nation to new heights."
Kansas Strong
The Kansas Strong education and information program run by the Kansas
Oil & Gas Resources Fund is in the
midst of transition, assessed Dwight
Keen, co-chairman of EKOGA's KOGRF
Committee.
Because that program's primary source
of funding comes from assessments on

Kansas-produced oil and natural gas,
Keen said the Kansas Strong budget was
down significantly this year, and that
had affected its spending.
In response, the KOGRF Board of
Directors met in April for a long-range
planning meeting. Keen said the meeting
produced a report that should guide the
organization on the best way to accomplish its goals. He added the organization
also was beginning to search for a new
executive director, following the July departure of J.L. White.
Another reaction to new budget realities is prioritizing KOGRF expenditures.
Keen said the group was seeking to
utilize limited funds most effectively for

its primary goal of advancing the Kansas
oil and gas industry. The two mostaffected programs will be mass-media
advertising and education workshops, he
added.
Discussing the second area, Keen
pointed out that from 2014 to 2016,
Kansas Strong directly connected with
more than 17,000 Kansas students. "This
is a very efficient utilization of your
funds because we are trying to lay the
groundwork for the future citizens and
voters of our country. We want to give
them a clue about what this industry is
about, and try to negate some of the
negative information they receive," he
concluded.
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FROM PAGE 95
The Alliance focuses on federal legislative, regulatory, environmental, public
lands, and other policy issues affecting
operators in the western United States,
and has engaged in more than 200 regulatory processes on behalf of members
since 2011 to advance favorable policies
and head off impediments.
The Texas comptroller's office has
been a vital ally to the industry in fights
against federal overreach, particularly in
relation to the Endangered Species Act,
which is an area Culhane also focuses
on, Robertson says.
He adds that Texas Lieutenant Governor
Dan Patrick will be the luncheon speaker
at 11:30 a.m., and likely will address
economic issues and the financial condition
of state government. Patrick also may
speak on RRC sunset, transportation funding, and other issues affecting the state
and potentially PBPA members, he says.
Panel Sessions
PBPA has scheduled three panels for
the afternoon, Robertson advises. Beginning at 1:30 p.m., participants will hear
from an infrastructure panel, a service
company panel, and an E&P executive
panel. He says the service company panel
will include representatives from various
segments of the services industry.
"Panelists represent the bigger and
smaller service companies to give perspectives of what they see and how they
compare the current period with others
they have gone through," Robertson says.
During the panel session, Robertson
points out, Stacey Locke, president of
Pioneer Energy Services, is expected to

provide an update on the Dark Skies Initiative, which is an effort to help reduce
glare for the benefit of the McDonald
Observatory located in the Davis Mountains of far West Texas.
"PBPA has put together an advisory
board with the McDonald Observatory
in hopes of finding ways to limit glare
that could affect the observatory," Robertson explains. "Operations in the Delaware
Basin have moved further south and west.
Industry activity still is a good distance
away, but it is closer to the McDonald
Observatory than in previous years.
"When an observatory has been out
by itself with darkness around for so long,
even a little light on the northern horizon
makes a difference," he allows. "We recognize that and don't want to hamper the
observatory at all, so whether it is doing
simple adjustments such as placing hoods
or filters on top of lights, or changing the
light bulb itself, there are options the advisory board is looking at and discussing.
One of the companies that has agreed to
be on our panel is a leader in that effort."
The infrastructure panel will include
representatives of a family-owned oil
company, a larger independent, and a
midstream company to talk about roads,
the electrical grid, midstream operations,
and other aspects of infrastructure in the
basin and what is needed to continue to
make improvements, Robertson says.
"They will talk about the state of infrastructure, what our members can do
to help, and what-if anything-we need
the legislature to do," he says. "PBPA
has a committee called the Electrical
Coalition. One of its primary purposes is

to get companies to work together to
provide information to the state on what
industry thinks its demands are going to
be and where additional electric infrastructure is needed."
The condition and span of the electrical
grid, as well as midstream and transportation infrastructure throughout the
Delaware Basin, will be addressed as
the panel discusses anticipated needs as
oil and gas prices recover, Robertson
says.
"One thing observed by people across
the Permian is that infrastructure has
been fairly well developed in the Midland
Basin portion. But a lot more activity is
anticipated in the Delaware Basin, and
infrastructure is a major concern in that
area as a whole," he says. "The panel is
expected to discuss what that means and
how it is going to affect everybody."
Power demand at most oil and gas
sites doesn't have peaks and valleys because equipment typically operates 24
hours, he points out. The PBPA is working
to educate state officials on the industry's
power needs and how that constant demand
makes investing in electrical infrastructure
more palatable.
The operator executives panel, which
will be moderated by PBPA immediate
past-Chairman Steve Pruett, is expected
to include representatives of three or four
companies, including some relatively new
to the basin as a result of acquisitions
and others that have been in the region
for a considerable time, Robertson says.
"It will be interesting to get a temperature reading on operations and how
things look going forward," he says. r
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