Content Updated Friday, March 12 2010
Longtime Association Execs Find Both Change And Constancy In Work Of Industry Advocates
By Bill Campbell
For better or worse, independent oil and gas companies must answer to more than boards of directors and stockholders. Whether privately owned or publicly traded, independents have a larger responsibility that stems from the fact the business of finding, developing and producing hydrocarbons impacts public policies ranging from national security to hot-button state and local issues such as taxation and land use.
Oil and gas long have been entwined with all manners of political and regulatory affairs, but the political environment in which independents must operate has changed dramatically over the past half century. The industry today finds itself the target of more antagonism and vitriolic attacks–frequently carefully directed and choreographed by a variety of special interest groups, many of which are well connected, financed and organized.
Yet the basic intents and purposes of the exploration, drilling and production business haven’t changed, and the same can be said of the trade associations that represent them in government arenas around the country. Associations have always–and still do–exist to enable their members to engage in the search for oil and gas without being burdened with excessive rates of taxation or overly restrictive environmental regulations, points out Tom Stewart, executive vice president of the Ohio Oil & Gas Association.
He says, “The oil and gas associations always have been pretty assertive in energy politics, but I think they are getting better at engaging public policy. That is where they ought to be focused.”
Founding Principles Guide ‘Better Business’ Publication Through Half Century Of Change
By Dan Holder
WICHITA, KS.–Few periods in American history are thought of as nostalgically as the late 1950s. It was an undeniable high point in American culture and prosperity. Half a century later, the 1950s are remembered as a time of rock-n-roll, drive-in theaters, poodle skirts, flattops and drugstore malted milks.
In 1958, the year The American Oil & Gas Reporter was born, the average family of four was knocking down $5,000 in annual income and the peacetime economy was booming. Gunsmoke and Wagon Train dominated television ratings, Elvis Presley wore olive drab as he was inducted into the U.S. Army, Truman Capote published his novella Breakfast at Tiffany’s, and NASA responded to the Sputnik I launch a year earlier by initiating Project Mercury to put a man in space.
And, oh, how Americans loved their cars. Detroit was working mechanical magic in 1958, rolling out sleek, powerful, chrome-jeweled sedans and roadsters that were destined to become almost instant icons. Chevrolet touted its new models as “easier handlin’, safer going” and Oldsmobile offered its cars as “presenting a new way of going places in the rocket age.” Gasoline prices of $0.30 a gallon helped fuel the infatuation, making hitting the road as affordable as it was fun.