American Oil and Gas Reporter - March 2018 - 88

ConventionSection: Texas Independent Producers & Royalty Owners

TIPRO Evolves To Meet
Changing Conditions
By Bill Campbell
AUSTIN, TX.-As industries and business conditions evolve, so, too, must the
organizations that represent them. For
Allen Gilmer as chairman of the Texas
Independent Producers & Royalty Owners
Association, that has entailed recognizing
that potentially the greatest influences
on oil and gas development have migrated
away from the legislative and regulatory
branches of government to the judicial,
as well as to the court of public opinion.
When it comes to the traditional association duties of representing the interests
of independent oil and gas producers,
the co-founder and chairman of Drillinginfo Inc. in Austin acknowledges, "Frankly,
we probably have the easiest time of it
because in Texas we are blessed to have
both regulators and elected officials who

appreciate and clearly understand the
value this industry has brought and continues to bring. So one of the biggest
challenges with regard to being able to
do our jobs is judicial."
Consequently, as TIPRO readies for
its 72nd Annual Convention, March 2628 at the Westin Memorial City in Houston,
Gilmer says the accomplishment during
his two-year tenure in which he takes the
most pride is establishing a standing Legal
Committee for the association.
It's not that TIPRO has lacked legal
engagement on key industry issues in the
past. "But up until the last couple years,
we were dealing with it on an ad hoc basis," Gilmer explains. "When an organization reached out to us for an amicus
brief, we would consider it. Now we are
being much more proactive and really
are trying to catch issues early so that we

TIPRO Annual Meeting - Houston
Monday, March 26
10 a.m. Registration Opens, Memorial City
Westin
1 p.m. Opening Remarks
1:15 p.m. "State of the Industry," TIPRO
Chairman Allen Gilmer, co-Founder and
Chairman, Drillinginfo Inc.
2 p.m. Presentations
"Understanding the Activist Threat," Travis
Moran, Director of Operations, Welund
North America
"Inconvenient Facts-The Science Al Gore
Doesn't Want You to Know," Gregory
Wrightstone, Author, Silver Crown Productions LLC
3:30 p.m. Break
3:45 p.m. "Managing with a Manufacturing
Mindset," Brad Thompson, President,
EPEX Solutions
5:30 p.m. TIPRO Welcome Reception

Tuesday, March 27
8 a.m. Membership Breakfast and Annual
Meeting
9 a.m. Presentations
"Industry Executive Presentation," Speaker
TBA
"Energy Market Outlook," Michael Cohen,
Director and Head of Energy Commodi88 THE AMERICAN OIL & GAS REPORTER

ties Research, Barclays
"U.S. LNG Market Update," Corey Grindal,
Senior Vice President of Gas Supply,
Cheniere Energy Inc.
12:30 p.m. Keynote Luncheon
Speaker: Chris Wallace, Political Commentator and Host of Fox News Sunday,
"America under President Trump: A View
from Washington"
2 p.m. Presentations
"State and Federal Political Outlook,"
David M. Carney, Chief Executive Officer,
Norway Hill Associates Inc.
"The Evolving Federal Regulatory Environment for Oil and Natural Gas," Michael
D. Nedd, Acting Deputy Director for
Operations, U.S. Bureau of Land Management
4 p.m. End of General Session
5:30 p.m. President's Reception
7 p.m. Chairman's Dinner
Presentation of TIPRO 2018 Hat's Off
Award to Texas Railroad Commission
Chairwoman Christi Craddick

Wednesday, March 28
9 a.m. Audit Committee Meeting
10 a.m. Board of Directors Meeting

can help at an early stage."
President Ed Longanecker says TIPRO
typically files two or three legal briefs a
year on issues ranging from federal regulations to state interpretations of contract
law. But now, he says, under the leadership
of Chairman Jim Mutrie, vice president
and legal counsel for RSP Permian,
TIPRO's Legal Committee meets monthly
to consider requests for amicus briefs or
issues raised by member companies.
"This is a way to engage a new level of
expertise within our companies to assist
TIPRO in evaluating those requests," Longanecker reflects. "If the Legal Committee
determines an issue has merit and we should
engage, I will make that recommendation
to our Board of Directors and it will determine whether we want to file a brief."
Public Education
The court of public opinion is another
forum in which Gilmer says TIPRO is attempting to raise its level of engagement.
That effort ranges from the association's
Young Leaders in Energy (YLE) Student
Program to countering the anti-industry
rhetoric of activists and putting the industry's best foot forward anytime possible.
Longanecker says the YLE program
has two primary emphases. "Students are
inundated-on a daily basis, it seems-
with false and sometimes misleading information about the oil and gas industry,"
he says. "So as an association, we do our
best to provide them with accurate and
reliable data on energy development as
well as share insight into trends and legislative and regulatory matters."
In addition, he continues, students in
energy-related disciplines gain exposure
to potential employers as well as the association itself in the hope that they will
remain engaged with TIPRO after graduation. Among the benefits offered by
the YLE Student Program, Longanecker
cites, are:
* Complimentary individual membership in TIPRO as well as registration
for its annual convention or summer conference;
* Access to the TIPRO resume database; and

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