American Oil and Gas Reporter - August 2016 - 87

ConventionSection: Eastern Kansas Oil & Gas Association
do-at least let them know to come to us
if issues related to oil and gas come up,"
he says.
"Basically, we want to keep the lines
of communication open," Frick adds, saying, "We felt it was successful."
In the bigger picture, Bruno expresses,
"My concern for the oil and gas industry
is if we continue to go down a road that
puts more reliance on property taxes,
taxes on reserves could become unbearable."
Electricity And Wind Farms
A couple nonlegislative issues receiving
EKOGA's attention, Rules & Regulations
Chairman David Bleakley reveals, have
to do with electric rates and the growing
presence of wind farms in eastern Kansas.
Like Kansas Independent Oil & Gas
Association Electric Chairman Adam
Beren reported at KIOGA's midyear meeting in Great Bend (see "Electric Committee Challenges State Utilities On Several Fronts," AOGR, June 2016), Bleakley
says eastern Kansas operators have seen
steep increases in electric bills. The problem may be exacerbated in eastern Kansas,
he speculates, by the large infrastructure
build-out by electric cooperatives some
years back to supply the area's coalbed
methane boom, which has tapered since.
"The co-ops may have decided to bill
any cost overruns to the oil and gas industry instead of their residential and
farm customers," Bleakley reasons.
He admits that EKOGA is only beginning to wrap its arms around the issue.
"We are starting to do some research,"
he reports. "I am sure we will be joining
KIOGA's efforts."
As Beren advised KIOGA's midyear
meeting, Bleakley says one key undoubtedly will be to gain board representation
on the largely self-regulating electric coops. "We are among the biggest electricity
users in a lot of these co-op areas, but we
don't have representation on their boards,"
he points out.
That, of course, puts additional time
demands on companies already stressed
by difficult times. "All this high-paying
volunteer work," Bleakley quips. "You
have to find companies that have time
for somebody to do it, but it is important
work."
Concern about the presence of wind
farms, Bleakley continues, comes from
reports that as wind generation began to
expand across western Kansas, oil and
gas operators seeking new leases ran into

wind leases that prohibited landowners
from also leasing to oil and gas companies
without prior approval from the wind
company.
He admits that was several years ago,
and "a lot of that may have changed; I
don't know."
But he notes a number of wind generators have been erected in Coffey County,
Ks., and he has run into evidence of title
searches for wind leases in Anderson
County. "We are going to have to educate
ourselves and see how we can co-exist,"
Bleakley concludes. "There are big chunks
of ground that could be taken out of potential production."
Annual Meeting
Activities surrounding EKOGA's annual meeting begin Tuesday, Sept. 13,
with a workshop titled "Eastern Kansas
Oil Field Essentials," presented by the
University of Kansas Tertiary Oil Recovery
Program. According to Jeremy Viscomi,
TORP's director of technology transfer,
the daylong workshop will cover such
things as waterflooding rules of thumb,
monitoring technology, water sources and
treatment, and Kansas oil field law.
The convention proper gets under way
with registration at 8 a.m. Wednesday,
Sept. 14, at the Prairie Band Casino Convention Center. According to the meeting

agenda, the annual trade show will be
open from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. EKOGA's
59th Annual Members Meeting at 10:30
a.m. will include reports from EKOGA
President Cornish, Bleakley and Bruno,
along with representatives from Kansas
Strong, the KCC, Kansas Property Valuation Division, and the state Department
of Revenue.
Cornish reports that Warren Martin,
executive director of the Kansas Oil Museum in El Dorado, will be the keynote
speaker at EKOGA's banquet that evening.
Cornish recalls that EKOGA's midyear
meeting in May began with a tour of the
museum. "They do a fantastic job there,"
he praises. "Warren is so knowledgeable,
not only about the history of oil, but how
it affected the daily lives of Kansans and
their relations with Native Americans.
That is the reason we invited him to be
the keynote speaker at our annual meeting.
It will be very, very interesting."
EKOGA's annual meeting concludes
Thursday morning, Sept. 15, with its golf
tournament on the Firekeeper Golf Course.
❒

Coming In September
Special Report:
Horizontal & Innovative Drilling

EKOGA Annual Meeting - Mayetta, Ks.
Tuesday, Sept. 13
8 a.m. TORP Workshop Check-In, Prairie
Band Casino Convention Center
9 a.m. Eastern Kansas Oil Field Essentials
Waterflooding Rules of Thumb
Waterflood Monitoring Technology
Water Sources and Water Treatment
Kansas Oil Field Law
3:45 p.m. Closing Comments/Questions
4 p.m. Adjourn

Wednesday, Sept. 14
8 a.m. Registration Opens, Prairie Band
Casino Convention Center
8 a.m. Trade Show Opens
10:30-11:45 a.m. 59th Annual Members
Meeting, Premier Lounge
Jim Cornish, President of EKOGA
David Bleakley, EKOGA Rules & Regulation Chairman
Tom Bruno, EKOGA Lobbyist
J.L. White, Kansas Strong
Ryan Hoffman & Steve Korf, Kansas Corporation Commission
Lynn Kent, Kansas Property Valuation Division

Representative from Kansas Department
of Revenue
11:45 a.m.-Noon Board of Directors Meeting, Premier Lounge
Noon-1 p.m. Lunch
3 p.m. Trade Show Closes
6 p.m. President's Reception & Social,
Prairie Band Casino Convention Center
7 p.m. Banquet, Followed by 21st Annual
Anything Goes Auction
8:30 p.m. Welcome & Introduction of Guest
Speaker by President Jim Cornish
Keynote Address: "The Power of Production," Warren Martin, Executive Director
of the Kansas Oil Museum, El Dorado,
Ks.

Thursday, Sept. 15
8 a.m. Golf Check-in, Firekeeper Golf
Course
9 a.m. EKOGA Annual Golf Tournament
Shotgun Tee Off
18-hole, Men's and Women's Mixed FourPerson Scramble
Awards Immediately Following
11 a.m. Lunch at Firekeeper Golf Course
AUGUST 2016 87

American Oil and Gas Reporter - August 2016

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