American Oil and Gas Reporter - August 2019 - 138

ConventionSection: Eastern Kansas Oil & Gas Association

EKOGA Prizes Facts
In Controversies
By Del Torkelson
TOPEKA, KS.-"Abandoned wells at
an all-time high" blared the headline that
ran atop the front page of the June 23
Topeka Capital-Journal. The accompanying
article described scarred sites, provided a
platform for charges that the Kansas Corporation Commission prioritized industry
profits over public safety and environmental
preservation, and claimed the state had
22,000 abandoned oil wells, many of them
in Southeast Kansas.
As his group prepares for its 2019 annual convention, scheduled for Sept. 1012 at the Prairie Band Casino and Resort
in Mayetta, Ks., Eastern Kansas Oil &
Gas Association Executive Director Tom
Palace says the Capital-Journal story
misrepresents both the state's industry
and its regulators.
"Some of the information in the article
may be correct, but it is blown out of
proportion," he assesses. "The article
does not provide the whole picture. It is
ridiculously one-sided."
Making Progress
The KCC's response to the article
clarifies that, although the 2019 abandoned
oil and gas well report to the legislature
refers to a 21,922 well "record," it is
false to say there are that many abandoned
wells in Kansas. The commission explains
that entries in its database of wells requiring action are part of the permanent
record and therefore never are deleted.
Instead, well records are assigned specific
codes as they are addressed and their
status changes.
"For example, of the 21,922 well
records in the report, 5,530 wells were
designated as requiring action," the KCC
explains. "The remaining 16,392 well
records were classified based on their
status. To provide a few examples: 10,257
were plugged using the abandoned well
and site remediation plugging fund, 1,262
were assigned to new operators, 1,161
were plugged by operators and 1,033
were duplicates in the database."
EKOGA highlighted the KCC statement to its members, but the commission's

clarification did not receive comparable,
prominently placed coverage in the following Sunday's Capital-Journal. Such
disparity makes it easy for Palace to
predict oil and gas opponents will use
the article as ammunition. "We are going
to see the aftermath at the legislative
level," he foresees.
EKOGA President Rob Eberhart, president of Bobcat Oilfield Service Inc. in
Louisburg, Ks., emphasizes that the industry cleans up its messes. Moreover,
he says, the cooperative industry/state
effort to address Kansas' orphan wells is
working and is on track to improve further.
"EKOGA has worked really hard with
the KCC to help formulate some new
bidding processes to generate more interest
from service providers who can plug
those wells," he relates. "Only a few
service companies have been applying
for those contracts, but huge strides have
been made in the past year to improve
the process."
Nevertheless, the Capital-Journal followed its June 23 article with a July 1
editorial that not only endorsed the Sierra
Club's perspective, it repeated insinuations
questioning the neutrality of Kansas Corporation Commission Chairman Dwight
Keen because of his work in the oil and
gas industry.
To the contrary, Eberhart counters, a
lack of oil and gas experience hardly
lends itself to knowing how to regulate
it. "Commissioner Keen's status as an
oil industry expert should instill confidence
in his ability to help solve the problem,"
he considers.
Palace points to Keen's statements
that the KCC is formulating an abandoned
well plan and policy. "We have things in
place to take care of this and they have
been plugging abandoned wells, even if
there are not 22,000 of them," Palace relates. "The KCC and industry are addressing it."
Some of that cooperation, he says, is
a product of the working groups the KCC
formed last year to address numerous issues. Along with abandoned wells, the
working groups are tackling matters such

138 THE AMERICAN OIL & GAS REPORTER

as Kansas' 100 series regulations, the
Conservation Fee Fund and permanent
regulations for saltwater disposal.
"Having industry representatives work
with the KCC in a transparent private/public
partnership is a very helpful way to come
up with solutions," Palace assesses.
"Those working groups are looking at
big, important topics," Eberhart affirms.
"It takes time to dig through those, but I
know the KCC has allocated resources
for that. EKOGA representatives have participated in meetings and discussions to
do their part. I hope that over the next 12
months, we will start to see the results."
Kansas Legislature
Looking back on the 2019 Kansas
Legislature, Palace suggests Governor
Laura Kelly seems to have enjoyed a
strong session, with 71 bills passing,
three of which she vetoed and another
that she let become law without a signature. "She also had a budget pass and
the Supreme Court ruled the state was
funding education adequately," he recounts. "The new governor had a very
good year."
As he considers how things have
evolved for EKOGA during the year and
a half since the association restructured
and moved its headquarters from Chanute,
Ks., to Topeka, Eberhart points approvingly
to legislative results, which he says include
better synergy. "Instead of having a lobbyist separate from the management,
those functions have come together, so
the communication between EKOGA's
Board of Directors and Tom is top-notch
and highly effective," he describes. "Tom
has dramatically increased our ability to
communicate with lawmakers."
Eberhart also praises Palace's teamwork
with Kansas Independent Oil & Gas Association President Edward Cross and
Kansas Petroleum Council Executive Director J. Kent Eckles. "It has combined
all our efforts and made our industry a
triple threat," Eberhart characterizes.
"We make a good team," Palace affirms. "I work closely with Ed and Kent,
which has allowed each of us to focus
on our respective strengths and defeat

American Oil and Gas Reporter - August 2019

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