American Oil and Gas Reporter - April 2019 - 119

ConventionCoverage: Illinois Oil & Gas Association

Illinois Association Bestows Awards
EVANSVILLE, IN.-Three Illinois
natives and a third-generation oilman
were feted by the Illinois Oil & Gas Association at its March 6 Wildcatter
Awards Banquet in Evansville.
IOGA bestowed its 2019 Lifetime
Achievement Award on Tony Schwartz,
president of Schwartz Oilfield Services
Inc.. It also named Robert Stewart, president of Stewart Producers Inc. in Mt.
Vernon, Il., its Petroleum Professional
of the Year; Wayne Middleton, east regional manager for Harbison-Fischer in
Grayville, Il., its Service Person of the
Year; and Beth Etzkorn, office manager
and senior financial officer for Dee
Drilling Co. and Deecane Inc. in Mt.
Carmel, Il., its Petroleum Professional
Woman of the Year.
In two special presentations, IOGA
presented attorney Ron Osman, principal
in Ronald E. Osman & Associates Ltd.
in Marion, Il., its Industry Advocate
Award; and presented an Industry Contributor Award to Brent McDaniel, principal and owner of Old Ocean Energy
LLC in Lexington, Ky.
A native of Centralia, Il., Schwartz
became active in the Illinois Basin oil
industry by founding Tony Schwartz
Tractor Services in 1979. He started
Schwartz Oilfield Services in 1982 to
provide cementing services, and expanded

to include drilling fluids and become an
M-I Drilling Fluids distributor in 1986.
After adding mud engineering services
in 1992, Schwartz Oilfield Services today
employs 15 people with operations in
Centralia and Olney, Il.
A third-generation oilman, Stewart began work for Exxon-USA in California
in 1981 after earning a B.S. in petroleum
engineering from the University of Texas.
He joined the family business in 1984.
Stewart has been a member of IOGA
since 1984 and currently serves on the
board of directors. He also has been active
in the Society of Petroleum Engineers
and Illinois Geological Society, and has
served on the Illinois Oil & Gas Advisory
Board, and Petroleum Technology Transfer
Council Midwest Board of Directors and
Petroleum Advisory Council.
Middleton began his oil field career
in 1980, working for Continental-Emsco
in Oklahoma and the Illinois Basin. He
joined Harbison-Fischer in 1993 as a
salesman, and was promoted to district
manager in 2003 and to regional manager
in 2011.
Etzkorn grew up in Richland County,
Il., and went to work at Triple "B" Oil
Co. in Olney in 1981. She joined Kemper
CPA group in 1986 and moved to Dee
Drilling in 1995. Etzkorn was a member
of the original Tri-State Desk & Derrick

Club, and helped organize the new TriState Club in 2012, for which she served
as president in 2014-15. She served as a
Region II Desk & Derick director in 2018.
McDaniel chaired the IOGA and Illinois Petroleum Resources Board Joint
Committee on Communications, which
compiled a list of 12 recommended communication and public education programs for the two associations, seven of
which are in the process of being implemented. The plaque recognizing McDaniel honors "your extraordinary and
outstanding contribution to the industry
through your skillful leadership."
IOGA recognized Osman for his assistance in negotiating the 2013 Illinois
Hydraulic Fracturing Act. During a
three-year legislative and regulatory
process, IOGA credited Osman with
negotiating out "a dozen or more elements that would have been de facto
bans," according to former Executive
Vice President Brad Richards, who
added, "If you want a bulldog, Ron is
your guy. He was a tremendous advocate
for our industry. Without Ron Osman,
we would not have gotten the bill we
now have."
❒
Editor's Note: Biographical information contained in the story was provided
by the Illinois Oil & Gas Association.

Recognized at the Illinois Oil &
Gas Association's annual Wildcatter Awards Banquet, March
6 in Evansville, In., were, from
left, Petroleum Professional of
the Year Robert Stewart, Petroleum Professional Woman of
the Year Beth Etzkorn, Industry
Advocate Award recipient Ron
Osman, Lifetime Achievement
Award winner Tony Schwartz,
and Service Person of the Year
Wayne Middleton. Not pictured
is Brent McDaniel, who was presented IOGA's Industry Contributor Award.

APRIL 2019 119

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