American Oil and Gas Reporter - August 2019 - 140

ConventionSection: Eastern Kansas Oil & Gas Association

EKOGA Continuing To Make Strides
LOUISBURG, KS.-Some of the key
challenges that have characterized the
first several months of 2019 are nothing
new to independent producers, reflects
Eastern Kansas Oil & Gas Association
President Rob Eberhart, president of Bobcat Oilfield Service Inc. in Louisburg.
Although oil prices have improved from
their early-year swoon, the colder, wetter
winter gave way to an exceptionally wet
spring that dampened activity.
"Those are simply the normal oil field
challenges we deal with all the time," he
considers. "We may not like them, but
we all are used to them."
Moreover, he says, the fact that oil
prices pushed above $65 for much of last
year has left operators in better shape to
roll with the punches. "Everyone is healthier today because of last year's prices,"
Eberhart affirms. "Drilling started again
and the service companies started getting
busy again. I would much rather be in
2019 than 2015."
Those rejuvenated EKOGA members
are scheduled to gather for their group's
2019 annual convention, Sept. 10-12 at
the Prairie Band Casino and Resort in
Mayetta, Ks.
But while extraordinary rainfall has
forced companies to postpone most of
their projects-as well as deal with an
uptick of electrical issues in the field-he
says, it also has allowed operators to
focus on maintenance. "Those rainy days
had a lot of guys working on their injection
systems and the interiors of their pump
sheds," Eberhart states. "They were rebuilding pumpjacks and doing the sorts
of things one can do out of the weather."
Fortunately, he reported in early July,
the ground in his part of the state finally
had dried to the point he could detect
some cracks in the ground, a signal the
time had come to get back in the field.
"We have had so many months of maintenance work that we ran out of all that
stuff to do," he laughs.

watch them punch some holes in the
ground to see how everything works."
Palace says his professional experience
in other association work helps him appreciate a number of EKOGA's qualities,
especially many of its members' sophisticated grasp of matters on which the association is working. "A few things impress
me," he affirms. "We have a large Board
of Directors with many people who are
very involved. People take participation
in our committees very seriously. I do
not have to spoon-feed EKOGA's membership. The committee chairs and members are very active and make their own
decisions."
Eberhart agrees that EKOGA's members
are highly engaged, which he says leads
to a culture that fosters more of the same.
"It encourages me to see our board attracting
new members-young and old-who are
excited about contributing," he describes.
"I started on the Board of Directors several
years ago, and during that time, we have

Engaged Membership
As he considers his first year-and-ahalf as EKOGA executive director, Tom
Palace says he has learned a lot and expects
that will continue. "I need to get out and
watch as wells are drilled and plugged; I
want to see the process from A to Z," he
relates. "One of my goals is to connect
with some members, go to the field and
140 THE AMERICAN OIL & GAS REPORTER

EKOGA Annual Meeting
Mayetta, KS.
Tuesday, Sept. 10
9:30-10 a.m. Registration Open, Prairie
Band Casino Convention Center
10-11:45 a.m. Educational Sessions
Noon-12:30 p.m. Lunch
Noon-5 p.m. Exhibitor Set-Up
12:30-3 p.m. Educational Sessions
3:15-4:15 p.m. EKOGA Board of Directors
Meeting

Wednesday, Sept. 11
7 a.m. Exhibitor Set Up, Prairie Band
Casino Convention Center
9 a.m. Registration Open
9 a.m. Tradeshow Opens
10:30 a.m. Annual Membership Meeting
Noon Lunch
3 p.m. Tradeshow Closes/Exhibitor Tear
Down
6 p.m. President's Reception and Social
7 p.m. Banquet and 23rd Annual "Anything
Goes" Auction
Keynote Speaker: Major Edward Pulido

Thursday, Sept. 12
8 a.m. Golf Check-in, Firekeeper Golf
Course, Mayetta, Ks.
9 a.m. EKOGA Annual Golf Tournament
Shotgun Start
18-hole Men's and Women's Mixed Four
Person Scramble
Awards Immediately Following
2 p.m. Awards and Lunch

restructured the board with committee
chairs who focus on different aspects. A
lot of people are contributing, whereas in
the past we sometimes were more like
most volunteer organizations, where 10%
of the people do 90% of the work."
Palace indicates EKOGA members have
proven more than happy to tutor a relative
neophyte. "They always want to help me,"
he describes. "I am always asking how
things work. During some meetings I have
heard terminology that has flown right over
my head, and so I ask someone. I have
learned that people are not going to look at
me like I should know it all, already."
Health Insurance
With the 2019 Kansas Legislature
passing HB 2209, Eberhart notes that the
state has authorized groups such as EKOGA to develop association health plans
(AHPs). He says EKOGA already has
begun to explore the possibility.
"We have sent a questionnaire to the
membership, trying to get feedback about
peoples' interest," he reports. "All of us
are small businesses without the ability
to buy health insurance at a competitive
rate. However, as a group, that may
change, which would add a benefit to
EKOGA membership."
In early July, Palace said EKOGA still
was gathering information about such an
undertaking. "We have scheduled meetings
with brokers to talk about an AHP," he
confirmed. "Starting a program such as
that from the ground up is difficult, but at
the same time, if we can get it started and
be rated on our own . . . that is a big plus."
Annual Meeting
Eberhart's presidency is scheduled to
conclude at EKOGA's annual meeting.
As his term winds down, he reflects on
the honor of following in the footsteps of
his father, Bob Eberhart, who led EKOGA
as president in 2006-07. "It has been
great," he confirms.
But it also has entailed some challenges,
he acknowledges, the greatest of which
was probably EKOGA's restructuring. "Transitioning the association from its traditional
executive director and separate lobbying to
partnering with Tom's group was a lot of
work, but also very rewarding. I am leaving
EKOGA better than I found it."
Eberhart says he will pass the presidential
torch to attorney Chris McGown, who also

American Oil and Gas Reporter - August 2019

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