American Oil and Gas Reporter - July 2019 - 99

ConventionCoverage: The Petroleum Alliance of Oklahoma

Unified Alliance Launches
For Oklahoma Energy
By Del Torkelson
LAS COLINAS, TX.-As they kicked
off a new era of energy advocacy, leaders
of the Petroleum Alliance of Oklahoma
looked back at the ground they had
covered and assessed the road ahead.
Outgoing co-Chairmen Berry Mullennix
and Wade Hutchings, President Chad
Warmington and new Chairman David
D. Le Norman assured participants at the
group's annual convention that the best
was yet to come.
Held June 12-15 at the Four Seasons
Resort in Las Colinas, the conference introduced a new name, logo, and Board
of Directors, and promised to bring the
collective strength of Oklahoma's oil and
gas industry to bear in addressing its
challenges.
During the chairman's banquet that
closed the annual meeting, Le Norman,
president and chief executive officer of
Templar Energy LLC, noted that combining
the Oklahoma Independent Petroleum Association and Oklahoma Oil & Gas Association had unified the state industry's
voice. The resultant organization represents
more than 90% percent of the state's hydrocarbon production, he observed.
"What we are going to be able to do
going forward will be immeasurable," he
predicted.
Le Norman lauded the exploratory
committee that helped facilitate the associations' merger, which along with
Hutchings at Devon Energy, and Mullennix
with Panther Energy Company II LLC,
included John Dill from Chesapeake Energy Corp, Sean Flynn of Marathon, Tommie Herell with Spitfire Energy Group,
Kim Hatfield of Crawley Petroleum, Blu
Hulsey from Continental Resources, Jeff
and Chad McDougall with JMA Energy
Co., Rand Phipps of Mustang Fuel Corp.,
Randy Sullivan of Avalon Exploration
Inc., and Brook Simmons, who during
the process worked for Newfield Exploration and is now with Territory & Commonwealth LLC.
"I don't know that I could have had a
better partner to work with than Berry,"
Hutchings said. "From the day we began

talking about this, he really was able to
see the big picture and we benefited from
that tremendously. There always were
minor details that could have tripped us
up, and Berry's wisdom made sure that
didn't happen."
Mullennix's remarks also overflowed
with appreciation for the experience and
his affection for the state's oil and gas
industry, which merits strong advocacy,
he asserted. "Somewhere along the way,
it turned into a situation where providing
the country with cheap energy became a
battle," he considered. "It takes all of us
to do that."
One in five Oklahomans work directly
or indirectly for an oil and gas company,
Le Norman remarked. "We are your
friends, family and neighbors," he described. "We are the men and women
shooting baskets in the driveway two
doors down from you. That is our story."
He went on to explain that the Petroleum Alliance was carefully crafted to
represent the entire industry: It is governed
by an Executive Committee that has been
tiered according to each company's production, while also representing the industry's midstream, downstream and serv-

ice segments. "One strength of the organization is its six standing committees
that will help us navigate through all the
complex problems of the future," Le Norman affirmed. "They are populated by
real problem solvers."
Ahead By A Century
Even as the Alliance conference devoted
considerable attention to the road ahead,
it also offered some looks in the rearview
mirror, including a general session panel
discussion that highlighted the centennials
of three significant presences in the Sooner
State industry: One of the Alliance's predecessor associations, the University of
Oklahoma's Mewbourne College of Earth
and Energy, and Halliburton.
During that panel, Hutchings recounted
how a group of industry pioneers founded
the Mid-Continent Oil & Gas Association
in 1917 in Tulsa to help the industry collectively tackle issues such as unitization,
federal taxation and regulation, public
relations, standardization of lease contracts,
cooperation with departments of government, and other matters of common interest. Shortly thereafter, the group created
two divisions, one for Kansas-Oklahoma,

Smiling from the stage at the chairman's banquet during the Petroleum Alliance of Oklahoma's annual convention, held June 12-15, are, from left, incoming Chairman David
D. Le Norman of Templar Energy, outgoing Co-Chairman Berry Mullennix with Panther
Energy, outgoing Co-Chairman Wade Hutchings from Devon Energy and Alliance
President Chad Warmington. The Alliance awarded Hutchings and Mullennix tokens of
its appreciation and Warmington said the two would continue to help lead the Alliance
by serving on its executive committee.

JULY 2019 99
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