American Oil and Gas Reporter - July 2020 - 72

ConventionSection: Kansas Independent Oil & Gas Association

KIOGA Helps Members
Navigate The Storm
By Del Torkelson
Editor's Note: Shortly before press
time, KIOGA announced it was cancelling
its 2020 Annual Convention to protect
the health and well-being of attendees,
exhibitors and staff.
MISSION, KS.-Perhaps perspective
from decades of market peaks and valleys,
coupled with the tenacity required to
find and extract resources that lie hidden
below only a fraction of the earth's
surface, makes longtime oil and gas industry veterans a special breed when it
comes to keeping their cool during tough
times. Whether the industry is enjoying
a boom, enduring a bust, emerging from
one or heading into the other, David
Bleakley indicates the industry's collective
mindset often can be described as "cautiously optimistic."
Even amid a year of unprecedented
tumult in the industry and world, Bleakley,
chairman of the Kansas Independent Oil
& Gas Association, says that careful confidence endures, albeit with a bit more
wariness than usual. He cites the example

of the nickname given to the world's
major oil producing countries in conjunction with the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.
"We hear about OPEC-plus-plus," considers Bleakley, executive vice president of
Colt Energy in Mission. "Right now people
are cautiously, cautiously optimistic."
Most in the industry tend to consider
the figurative glass to be half full, he
says, but they also know better than to
take that glass or its contents for granted.
"People in oil and gas have to be a hearty
bunch because they enjoy the high times
but really get hurt in the low times," he
reflects. "It takes a unique breed to weather
the storm and still continue in this business
as we do."
Part of that singularity extends to the
fact that oil and gas companies pursue
their work despite distrust and even scorn
from many people outside the industry
who still buy or use its products every
single day, Bleakley adds. "Many people
have lost sight of the absolute necessity
of fossil fuels and their byproducts in
our daily lives and take these products
for granted," he says. "We need fossil

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made our success possible
over the last 40+ years.
You know who you are...
again "Thank You"

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"Kickin up Dust since '77"
72 THE AMERICAN OIL & GAS REPORTER

fuels, even if they are being portrayed by
some as unpopular or socially and politically incorrect."
KIOGA President Ed Cross says
members are reacting to the market situation much like other business owners.
"Everyone is looking at ways to cut
costs and strengthen the bottom line,"
he describes. "They are trying to streamline everything to retain their employees
and keep things going so they will be
ready for better days."
As he discusses the industry's belttightening with public officials and media,
Cross says he cites statistics such as the
state's active rig count-which he said stood
at four in early June-but also acknowledges
both the unprecedented nature of the current
situation and the industry's track record of
perseverance. "I have not seen things
change so quickly and dramatically during
my 30-plus years in the oil and gas industry,"
he relates. "By the same token, the industry
has been through tough times before and
we will survive this too."
Jokes, quips and memes about 2020's
extraordinary unpredictability have become
a worldwide phenomenon, and that unpredictability has proven particularly true in
oil and gas. The year began with widespread
talk about how U.S. oil output had climbed
to levels unseen since the early 1970s and
was on pace to keep growing, Cross recalls,
even amid lackluster commodity prices.
"Even in January and February, we did not
really like the oil prices," he notes. "Then
came the price war, the supply shock and
the demand destruction from COVID-19."
Bleakley concurs. "Oil prices were
already choppy, and although the U.S.
economy was doing well, most other
economies throughout the world were
not," he relates. "Once COVID-19 hit,
world oil demand dropped 20 million
barrels a day-30 MMbbl/d."
Cross summarized that consideration
and others affecting the country's oil and
gas industry in a white paper he crafted
for some important eyes in Washington.
The piece, which also ran in the May/June
KIOGA News under the headline "Tumultuous Times," lays out several implications that span every industry segment.
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