Staying busy
OERB did some impressive things during 2017, including restoring 760 abandoned well sites.
The Oklahoma Energy Resources Board remains focused on its mission of improving the lives of all Oklahomans through education and restoration.
And a report it published recently that covers its 2017 activities shows it continues to make strides in both areas.
Mindy Stitt, executive director of the board, said the organization was happy to have cleaned up its 1,000th well site in Osage County during 2017.
Stitt said the board initially encountered resistance as it tried to work with tribal and federal authorities to address problems with abandoned wells in the county during the mid-1990s.
She said that environment, however, has improved greatly in recent years.
And addressing 1,000 abandoned wells within the county is significant, given that the organization’s total number of sites addressed across the entire state just reached the 16,000 mark in 2017.
The board restored 760 well sites in 2017, officials said.
“Initially, they (Osage County federal and tribal authorities) were pretty skeptical,” Stitt said. “But now we are getting a lot done, and we are very excited because there’s so much more that still needs to be addressed there.”
Educating grows
The board also continues to refine its educational efforts that target both school-aged youngsters and the general public at large.
Stitt said the board recently made alliances with four regional educational groups that support efforts to educate students in science, technology, engineering and math.
Accordingly, it’s been working with the Oklahoma Education and Industry Partnership, the Tulsa Regional STEM Alliance, the Central Oklahoma STEM Alliance and the Sam Noble Explorology Program to develop curriculum that helps students studying in those fields.
The curriculum isn’t just thrown together, either.
Board officials said the materials are put together by a committee of teachers who brainstorm to develop them and make sure they meet the state’s current academic standards.
Then, they are field tested and evaluated by about 25 teachers and revised to address any concerns.
In 2017, a total of about 1,500 teachers attended 140 workshops held across the state to distribute those educational materials in kits valued up to $1,100. Board officials said the cumulative value of distributed educational materials in 2017 was $885,000.
“What we are putting out there helps the alliances provide STEM related activities to their students,” Stitt said. “In turn, that interests students in the oil and gas fields, because it gives them ways to learn about science and math that aren’t so scary.
“And that helps provide future potential employees for our companies.”
Plus, while not covered in the 2017 data, the organization also is busy distributing $2 million dollars to science, technology, engineering and math teachers in districts across the state.
The board is allocating the cash based upon each district’s enrollment and its percentage of lowincome students, allowing districts to use it to obtain materials and equipment they need to further STEM offerings for their students.
“The checks are going out now,” Stitt said.
From a public education perspective, the Oklahoma Energy Resources Board said it amplified the message it is putting out through its EnergyHQ website, EnergyHQ.com.
Board officials said they added 77 pieces of newly produced content to the site in 2017.
“Our goal is to share positive information with the public that it might not know,” Stitt said. “We want people to know what the industry contributes to the state, and we are getting positive reactions from its viewers.”
Showstopping results
Stitt said the board also moved the Oklahoma Oil & Gas Expo to the Bennett Event Center at Oklahoma State Fair Park in 2017.
With 277 exhibitors and more than 3,650 attendees, it was the largest Expo to date.
“We received a lot of positive feedback about the new building and look forward to repeating this success next year.” She said one of the event’s goals is to expose Oklahoma’s smaller producers to technology they might otherwise have not been able to afford.
“Larger producers have research and development funds, but smaller ones don’t, so we want to help them in any way we can,” she said. “Bringing in more companies that are willing to support small producers helps those well owners to both save money and improve production from their wells.”
The Oklahoma Energy Resources Board is funded through a one-tenth of 1 percent assessment on the sale of oil and natural gas in Oklahoma that’s voluntarily paid for by oil and natural gas producers and royalty owners. Data on the organization’s website says only 5 percent of the funds raised through the assessment are refunded to producers and royalty owners who make that request.