Oklahoma’s group of vertical oil and gas drillers have a transparency beef with the Oklahoma Energy Resources Board over its budget processes and how the agency conducts various programs under a series of cole-source contracts.
The Oklahoma Energy Producers Alliance, headquartered in Ada, filed an Open Records request to the OERB to learn more about the operations.
“Since its creation by the Oklahoma Legislature in 1992-93, the OERB has facilitated programs to educate the general public about the significant role the oil and natural gas industry plays in the state’s economy, workforce and tax base,” said Zack Taylor, Seminole oilman, OEPA board member and former legislator.
While he said the OERB has done credible work in its 30-year existence, there are problems.
“However, today the board of the OERB is no longer representative of the broad base of producers and royalty owners who fund the work of the OERB, and because of this the decisions of the board are no longer transparent to much of the state’s industry. For that reason, we are filing this Open Records request just to get the facts.”
The Oklahoma Energy Resources Board is up for sunset review. It was created by the Legislature 30 years ago with the support of the oil and gas industry.
Since the early 1990s, the OERB has restored over 17,000 orphaned well sites and educated a half million students about energy in Oklahoma, Taylor explained. “We at the OEPA support this agency – past, present and future — and want to see the OERB continue for the benefit of our industry and for future generations of Oklahomans,” he added.
Source: press release