2012 on the horizon: economic development

By James NealStaff Writer

While many areas of the countrystill are lagging in their economicrecovery, a booming oil and naturalgas industry and an already low unem-ployment rate have local employersclamoring to attract prospectiveemployees.

According to U.S. Bureau of LaborStatistics, Garfield County currentlyhas an unemployment rate of less thanfour percent, compared to state andnational averages of 6.1 and 8.3 per-cent, respectively.

The low number of available work-ers and a still-increasing demand forlabor in the oil fields have industryemployers and trainers working hardto fill job openings.

“We are seeing a huge demand, anda lot of it is due to the oil and naturalgas industry growth,” said Teri Holle,director of business and industry serv-ices at Autry Technology Center.

Across the state, Career Tech cam-puses are increasing their class sizesand adding classes to train new work-ers.

Holle said Career Tech schoolsmeasure the need for professionaltraining by polling companies acrossthe state for number of job openings,starting salaries and skills needed tofill those positions. The surveys tradi-tionally have been conducted annually,but recent expansion in the demand foroil field jobs has required more fre-quent attention.

“Employment has been so volatilein the last year, we’ve started doingthose surveys every quarter,” Hollesaid.

Fueling the job openingsA survey last year of Garfield

County and surrounding communitiesyielded more than 1,300 availablejobs, most of those being in the oil andgas industry. Holle said by the nextquarter that number had increased to1,800, and by January it had increasedagain to 2,000.

Holle said some of those openings aredue to “churning in the job pool,” or peo-ple moving from one job to another with-in the industry. But, she added, “we esti-mate about three quarters of the openingsare new positions.”

Filling all of those job openingsrequires training a lot of people tomove into new positions, includingmany workers who never before havebeen employed in the oil field.

“There are a lot of openings outthere,” Holle said. “We’re trying todetermine what jobs need to be filled,we’re trying to help people get jobsand get the training they need for thosejobs. The biggest openings are forskilled positions, but there’s every-thing available down to entry-leveloperators.”

Holle said increased oil field activ-ity and a resurgent manufacturing sec-tor have boosted demand for weldersand CNC machine operators.

“Both of those positions pay a good

wage, and both require training,”Holle said. “We’re offering weldingevery chance we can, and we’re tryingto add as much to our curriculum aswe can to fill this need.”

Holle said Autry Tech has doubledits welding enrollment in the past yearand has increased enrollment for CNCmachine operators, heavy equipmentoperators and diesel mechanics.

But, the need right now for one typeof worker is outstripping all others: theneed for truck drivers.

“Truck drivers is probably the num-ber one need,” Holle said. “Drivers ofevery type you can imagine are need-ed, but they’re primarily for the oil andnatural gas field.”

Keep on truckin’Autry Tech has partnered with

Central Tech of Drumright to offercommercial driver’s license training.Central Tech currently brings instruc-tors and three trucks to Enid everythird month for a comprehensive 23-day CDL course.

But, the class is limited to six stu-dents per session and is not meetingthe current demand for new drivers.

Travis Perrin, CDL and heavyequipment operator training coordina-tor at Autry Tech, said the CDL class-es filled early for the February andMay courses, and enrollment alreadyis open for the July course.

In hopes of better meeting thedemand, Oklahoma CareerTech cur-rently is in the process of buying sixtrucks and trailers to establish a per-manent CDL course at Autry Tech.

Perrin said a variety of students aredrawn to the CDL course by goodwages, ample job openings and thepromise of local routes.

His recent courses have includedeveryone from experienced drivers to“people who have never even sat in atruck before.”

The one thing they all seem to havein common: They’re attracted to anindustry that now, on average, is pay-ing entry-level drivers $40,000 peryear.

“There’s a lot of people who areeither looking for a new career orthey’re retired and aren’t ready to headfor the house yet, and they’re lookingat the demand for CDL drivers, and thepay that goes along with it is sparkinga lot of interest,” Perrin said. “And, ina lot of the oil field truck jobs aroundhere, you’re home every night. Mostof them are day runs or two-day runs.”

Experience is neededWhile prospective drivers may be

drawn to oil field trucking byprospects of good wages, many of theopen positions require years of experi-ence and advanced qualifications.

Nowhere is that more true than inthe world of tanker truck driving.

“Tank truck drivers aren’t born,they’re made, and not every truck driv-er can be a tank truck driver,” saidGreg Hodgen, president and chiefoperating officer of GroendykeTransport.

Groendyke operates more than 1,000tanker trucks at 31 locations spreadbetween 12 states.

Hodgen said increased activity in theoil and gas industry has increaseddemand for tanker truck drivers fasterthan they can be trained.

“It’s certainly an issue that hasaffected us around the country,”Hodgen said. “A lot of our facilities arein areas where these plays are active,and it has affected our pool of availableapplicants.”

He said recruiting tanker drivers “ismuch more difficult now, particularly inthe southwest U.S. and RockyMountain areas.”

“Finding qualified applicants ismore difficult, not only in being able tofind skilled drivers but also in the avail-ability of skilled mechanics and mainte-nance personnel.”

Hodgen said it’s difficult to meet asurging demand for tanker driversbecause it takes years for a truck driverto attain the skills and certificationsneeded to drive tank trucks, especiallyhauling hazardous materials.

Drivers must be at least 23 years old,be a U.S. citizen, pass a federal back-ground check to be eligible for a haz-mat certification and be able to obtainan tanker certification.

“All of those things start to narrowdown the field of available drivers,”Hodgen said. “The big kicker is theyhave to have the experience needed topull a tanker. Pulling a tanker is a lotdifferent than hauling a van full of dryfreight, and there’s a certain level ofexperience required.”

Hodgen said the average age of haz-mat tanker drivers is in their early 50s,reflecting the time and experiencerequired to fill the job.

And, Hodgen said, demand is grow-ing faster than new drivers can reach thethreshold required to drive a tank truck.

“We can’t meet the demand ... wehave more opportunities than we cantake advantage of,” Hodgen said. “Ifsafety is a value, then it doesn’t change,and you view all of your applicantsthrough that prism. And, if your appli-cants don’t meet your standard, whichis pretty high, you can’t hire them.”

n Sunday, April 8, 2012 Enid News & Eagle Page designed by: Violet Hassler

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EconomicdriversdriversOil industry responsible for good numberof job openings in northwest Oklahoma

We can’t meet the demand ... wehave more opportunities than wecan take advantage of.”

Greg Hodgen,president and chief operating officer, Groendyke Transport“

Mobile homes are established as oil field crew housing in Alva. While areas of the country still lag in economic recovery, a booming oil and nat-ural gas industry and an already low unemployment rate have local employers clamoring to attract employees. (Staff Photo by BILLY HEFTON)

THIS YEAR IS ONE OF EXPECTATION FOR ENID AND NORTHWEST OKLAHOMA. IT IS A TIME OF CHANGE AS THE AREA EMERGES FROM RECESSIONAND LOOKS TOWARD PROGRESSION. THE ECONOMIC DRIVERS THAT HAVE BUILT AND SUSTAINED OUR WAY OF LIFE ARE CHANGING, AND THEPEOPLE ARE TASKED WITH CREATING A DIVERSE, NEW ECONOMIC MODEL THAT PUTS THE AREA ON THE HORIZON TOWARD A BETTER WAY OFLIFE. TUCKED IN THESE PROGRESS EDITIONS ARE A FEW OF THE STORIES OF THOSE WHO ARE SHAPING THE FUTURE FOR 2012 AND BEYOND.

By Phyllis ZornStaff Writer

The 2011 drought might have driven a different agribusinessinto the red, but this Enid grain company reached into its diver-sified war chest and continued to stay on top of its game.

W.B. Johnston Grain, 411 W. Chestnut, found a niche in theoil field market by offering a service others do not: storing andhandling fracturing sand — a fine sand used in drilling to holdopen a fracture in the rock so oil and gas can flow through.

Oklahoma’s largest privately owned grain elevator business,Johnston Grain operates 20 elevators in Oklahoma and Texas.It also operates five ports in Louisiana, West Virginia andOklahoma. The company provides year-round employment to300 and seasonal employment to about 60 more.

Using company assets to handle the oil field supply meant

no employees had to be let go when the volume of grain flow-ing through the company went down because of the drought,company president Butch Meibergen said.

“Last year’s drought was just devastating, so you look to useyour assets somewhere else,” Meibergen said.

Meibergen credits the vice president of the company — his

son Joey — with the creative thinking that resulted in thefrac sand accounts.

Drillers often incur additional charges for keeping a rail carloaded with frac sand longer than the railroad wants the cardetained. Storing it at Johnston Grain means releasing the railcar in a timely fashion and avoiding being hit with those extracharges, Butch Meibergen explained.

“Our customers’ trucks come to our facility to pick up theirsand,” Joey Meibergen said.

Additionally, Johnston Grain is handling drilling mud andpipe for their oil field customers. The company also is expand-ing by developing a new port east of Tulsa.

“There’s always something different to handle, whether it’sat the river or off the rail system,” Butch Meibergen said. “Welook at these industrial demands.”

Handling wind turbines is another possibility JohnstonGrain is exploring, Joey Meibergen said.

Meanwhile, back to the company’s stock in trade, ButchMeibergen said this year’s growing crop looks excellent.

Enid News & Eagle Sunday, April 8, 2012 n Page designed by: Violet Hassler

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Equipment sits next to piles of sand, being used by the oil industry, that cur-rently are stored at W.B. Johnston Grain Co. (Staff Photo by BILLY HEFTON)

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Drive almost any major road or try to get aseat for lunch in almost every restaurant innorth central Oklahoma, and one fact becomesreadily evident: the oil and natural gas businessis booming.

Oil and gas activity has markedlyincreased throughout the past year, as evi-denced — if not by the crowded businesses— by the total number of drilling rigs operat-ing in the state.

According to the Baker Hughes NorthAmerican Rotary Rig Count, Oklahoma’s rigcount peaked at more than 200 in 2008, thendropped to little more than 100 in 2009 and2010.

Drilling activity began picking up in 2011,and the state’s rig count now has recovered to200.

Busy in the fieldSome of the largest increases in production

activity have come in the Mississippi lime-stone formation in north central Oklahoma andsouthern Kansas.

Chesapeake Energy began horizontaldrilling in the Mississippi play in WoodsCounty in 2007. Production spreads throughWoods, Alfalfa and Grant counties.

Today, according to Chesapeake’s own fig-ures, the company is the largest producer of oiland natural gas in the Mississippi, and produc-tion is continuing to increase.

Chesapeake was operating only two rigs inthe Mississippi play in 2008-09. That numberincreased to seven in 2011 and has jumped to22 in the first quarter of 2012.

According to a transcript of Chesapeake’s2011 fourth-quarter earnings conference call,the company’s production in that area in thelast quarter of 2011 was up 31 percent com-pared to the previous quarter and 141 percentcompared to the previous year.

All of that increased production is evidentto county officials, and even casualobservers, in the state’s north central region.

“The roads are busy, and it seems likethere’s something going on in every quarter,”said Grant County Assessor Phillip McCoy.“There’s quite a bit of activity around here ...that’s pretty unusual for this area, but it’s get-ting to be pretty normal.”

Busy at the officeIncreased oil and gas activity is even more

evident at the county clerk’s office, whereland-men struggle for time and space in theclerk’s records office.

Grant County Clerk Debbie Kretchmar hashad to limit the number of land men in theoffice. She has set a limit of 12 researchers inthe records office at one time, and it is com-mon for there to be a line of men waiting fortheir turn at the records.

“Sometimes, they’re scrapping like crazy,”Kretchmar said. “We’ve had up to 45 peoplewaiting around to get in to look at the books.It’s been crazy around here, and really busy.”

Similar activity can be seen in AlfalfaCounty.

Alfalfa County Assessor Donna Princereported the county only assessed “one or two”rigs in 2009. That number increased to “five orsix” last year and tripled again to 17 rigs inJanuary.

“There’s just a lot of activity going on, anda lot of excitement here,” Prince said. “It’s justbooming and going strong.”

The busier the betterAnd, if Chesapeake’s projections hold true,

activity in the area may become strongerthrough the remainder of the year.

The company plans to continue operating22 rigs in Woods and Alfalfa counties through2012, according to the fourth quarter earningscall.

The increase, maintenance or decline ofproduction activity in the region will dependon economic factors driven on a global scale.

“Operational activity in each play is drivenby economics,” said James Roller, Chesapeakecorporate development manager. “In 2012, dueto low natural gas prices, it became most eco-nomical for Chesapeake to focus on liquids.

The Mississippi limestone is a liquids-rich playoffering superior returns in today’s market.

“Chesapeake is working aggressively innorth central Oklahoma to produce this play,create local jobs and support the regional econ-omy. The returns thus far are positive and indi-cate a sustainable growth pattern for produc-tion in the area.”

boomgoesNORTHWESTOKLAHOMA

Oil companies see sustainable growth in the area

Drilling rigs stand near Waukomis. Oil and gas activity has increased markedly in the past year. (Staff Photo by BILLY HEFTON)


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By Cass RainsStaff Writer

Agritourism is a growing indus-try throughout the state, allowingfarmers, ranchers and producers tostretch their bottom lines by offeringa glimpse into their everyday lives.

Stan Ralstin, rural developmentspecialist with Garfield CountyOklahoma State UniversityCooperative Extension Center, saidagritourism in Oklahoma encom-passes many specialties the state hasto offer, from wineries and vineyardsto hunting and fishing venues andfarmers markets.

“It’s an opportunity for farmersand ranchers to utilize resources inan additional way, generate addition-al income and allow people to comeout to farms and ranches, huntingand fishing venues,” he said. “It’sanother way to use the resourcesthey have and assets they have toshare with other people and have achance to make money.”

Fast-growing industryAgritourism in Oklahoma has

more than 500 venues, and Ralstinsaid it’s quickly becoming an indus-try in the state.

Twelve categories are listed onOklahoma’s Agritourism website:vineyard and winery; hunting; guestranch; trail riding; U-pick farms andgardens; maze; country stay; special-ty crops or products; exotics; muse-ums, farm and ranch attractions;farmers market; and birding.

“There’s just tons and tons ofopportunities out there.”

Most operations began as farmersand ranchers attempting to makemore when traditional incomes fellshort, Ralstin said.

“There are some people thatinvested in a farm or a ranch juststrictly for tourism,” he said. “Someare actually investing just for theopportunity, for the tourists.”

Old West outside AmesFrom April through October each

year, the Island Guest Ranch opensits gates and welcomes visitors seek-ing a taste of the Old West.

The ranch in Ames is run by CarlL. White and his family. They are afourth-generation ranching familyspanning more than 100 years ofOklahoma history.

They’ve been in the tourism busi-ness about a third of that time.

“We opened the guest ranchalmost 30 years ago,” said JordyWhite, Carl’s daughter.

She said guests to the ranch cantake part in whatever activities andbecome as involved in the operationas they please. White said the ranchoffers horseback riding, fishing,swimming, hiking, trap shooting,western dancing and trolley rides.

“Guests can really get in the thickof working on a ranch, or they can sitby the pool if they prefer,” she said.

The ranch offers all of the ameni-ties of home, Jordy said, and doesn’tforce anyone to rough it as the oldcowboys once did.

“It allows guests to experiencethe West and western lifestyle with-out leaving the comforts of home,”she said. “We’ve always prided our-

selves on the factwhen people comeour for the holidays or a vacation wedon’t rush them. We absolutely wantto provide a fantastic vacation onwhatever level you want.”

Guests from around the worldvisit the ranch, located on an islandin the Cimarron River betweenOklahoma highways 8 and 132.

White said the family heavilyadvertises the ranch overseas andhas hosted guests from as far awayas southwest Asia and the MiddleEast.

“People who come in and reallywant to get into the cattle work,building fences, roping and reallyget into the thick of it, can,” shesaid. “We take basically everyone atany skill level from all over theworld.”

Those at the ranch for an extend-ed stay are just limited to the ameni-ties the Whites can offer.

“When they do come to theranch, they don’t have to stay justhere,” White said. “We take thembasically all over the state.”

She said visitors are taken tomuseums and other sites across thestate.

“They get a really good feel forOklahoma by the time they are fin-ished with their vacation,” Whitesaid.

For those not on extended staysor vacations, other services are avail-able.

“We’re not only for the guestranch,” she said. “We offer wed-dings, as well, conventions andmeetings for groups or family.”

Island Guest ranch can bereached by calling (800) 928-4574or at www.islandguestranch.com.

Wine country in FairviewDennis and Elaine Flaming own

and operate Plymouth Valley Cellarsin Fairview.

“We have a four-and-a-half-acrevineyard,” Elaine Flaming said. “Wegrow our own grapes, nine varieties.We hand-process, pick, prune andharvest.”

In 2006, Oklahoma Farm Bureaunamed Dennis and Elaine Flaming

its Farm Family of the Year, thesame year the couple openedPlymouth Valley Cellars.

The Flamings have raised live-stock, wheat and alfalfa since theymarried in 1966.

“It’s a turn-key job. We pro-duce the wine there,” she said.“Whatever we grow we produceinto wine.”

Elaine Flaming said they offerscountry stays and other events.

“We host weddings, receptions,reunions, proms, family gatherings,”she said. “We have an events center,sales room, gift room, tasting roomand tours of the vineyard and win-ery.”

She said there also are RV hook-ups available at the winery and acabin available for rent.

“This is just like going to a bedand breakfast. If you want to stayone day, a week or a couple ofnights, whatever you want.”

Plymouth Valley Cellars can bereached by calling (580) 227-3279or at www.plymouthvalleycellars.com.

Growing industry of agritourism how farmers,ranchers can sustain a traditional way of life

E N T E R I N GfieldA

NEW

A

NEW

Daze in a Maze (top), near Covington, and Island Guest Ranch (above), near Ames, are two agritourism destinations. (Staff File Photo / Photo provided)


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By Robert BarronStaff Writer

Oil and natural gas drillingare seeing a strong resurgencein the United States, and, as italways has been, northwestOklahoma is in the thick of it.

A Mississippi lime for-mation stretching north andwest of Enid and intoKansas is the big play in thearea now, according to MikeTerry, president of OklahomaIndependent Petroleum As-sociation.

The formation — or play— is large, he said, and the oilit is suspected of containingshould bring Enid prosperityfor many years to come.

“The Mississippi is veryexciting and great news,”Terry said. “There is still a lotof oil in place, it reaches intoKansas.”

He said the combinationof new technology and eco-nomic conditions have madethe time ripe for oil explo-ration

Oklahoma has been in theforefront of the oil industryfor years, and, fortunately forthe state, there still is somelife left in the old plays.

“The viability of the areahas always been an area that’sdone well for oil,” Terry said.“That’s what they’re drillingfor now.”

The good news is oldfields are being revitalizedbecause of new technology,he said. Horizontal drillingand fracturing have been verysuccessful.

“The Mississippi wasnearly depleted by verticaldrilling, and horizontals are

producing a lot more oil now.Oil production in Oklahomais at its highest level since1989,” said Cody Bannisterof OIPA.

Next to the Mississippiformation, probably the sec-ond-busiest oil play in thearea is the Cana-Woodfordnear Watonga. The Woodfordshale stretch-es acrossmost of Ok-lahoma, Ban-nister said.

It is a shiftfrom the nat-ural gas in-dustry thatfed the statewhile oilplayed out inthe latteryears of the20th Cen-tury, Terry said. Drilling hasshifted, and its not economi-cal to work gas wells now, hesaid.

“There is an oversupply ofnatural gas because of thesuccess in Oklahoma andaround the country,” Terrysaid.

That would have meanteven worse news for the stateif new discovery of new tech-nology has not led anupswing in the oil industry.

Horizontal drilling hasbeen developed to the point ofwhere it is everyday technolo-gy for oil exploration compa-nies, which are coming backto certain oil-rich places likeOklahoma to rework whatpreviously was out of reach.

Using horizontal drillingmethods, companies now cango through rock formations to

reach pockets of oil, whichhas fed the success of drillingthrough Mississippi lime for-mations abundant north andwest of Enid.

The lime is very thick andwhen reached must be drilledhorizontally. Terry said heexpects drilling to go as muchas 5,000 to 10,000 feet hori-

zontally, but in some areas ithas gone further.

“It’s been developed andit’s very dependable,” Terrysaid. “Many companies haveexpertise now.”

Horizontal drilling is agreat thing for Oklahoma,Terry said, because it meansthe current boom will last forquite a while. He predicts itwill open up a number of oldoil fields and rejuvenate oldproduction.

“It’s driven first by tech-nology and now by price, aswell. As long as those twothings are the way they are,we will see a lot of economicboom,” Terry said.

The benefits of increaseactivity for the state as awhole are greater revenuefrom production tax andincreased employment.

By Cass RainsStaff Writer

Garfield County Oklahoma StateUniversity Cooperative ExtensionCenter doesn’t just provide researchand services for area farmers andranchers.

“I’d say 70, 75 to 80 percent of ourclientele are urban orhome-owner clientele,”said Jeff Bedwell, exten-sion educator for agri-culture and 4-H. “Thearray of topics we helppeople with cover agri-culture to horticulture tohome-energy conserva-tion. We work with a lotof things.”

He said the extensionoffice fields questionsabout lawn and gardens,how to keep pests out ofhomes and yard to waterquality issues. The cen-ter also offers a MasterGardener Training Pro-gram, and soil testing forlawns and gardens isavailable.

“We focus a lot ofour programming toagriculture because agri-culture is such an impor-tant part of the econom-ic scheme of GarfieldCounty,” Bedwell said.“There’s just an awful lot of questionsand support we provide the communi-ty outside the realm of agriculture.”

The center also focuses heavily onarea youths and families. The exten-sion office has an educator whoworks with schools and clubs andconducts outreach and another whosefocus is family and consumer financeeducation.

“Largely, about everything we doin the community is for rural develop-ment,” Bedwell said. “We’ve offeredprograms for wind energy and of thatnature for folks in the community. Wecut a pretty broad swath when itcomes to programming topics andagendas.”

Bedwell said those within the

extension office use planning com-mittees to help identify what warrantsimmediate attention and what topicseducators can focus on to meet com-munity needs.

He said educators attend variouscommunity events and use any oppor-tunity to educate the community.

“We try to be highly visible, asmuch as possible.”

OSU Extension Center hasexpansive roots

Educator Jeff Bedwell poses in front of Garfield County OklahomaState University Extension Center. (Staff Photo by BILLY HEFTON)

Area is taking advantageof the mighty MississippiNew technology yielding liquid gold from old formation

The Mississippi was nearlydepleted by vertical drilling,and horizontals are produc-

ing a lot more oil now.”Cody Bannister,

Oklahoma Independent Petroleum Association“


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By Jeff MullinSenior Writer

These are heady days forContinental Resources.

The independent oil and naturalgas explorationc o m p a n y ,formed in Enidin 1967 byw i l d c a t t e rHarold Hammas Shelly DeanOil., is grow-ing, both interms of pro-duction andreserve as wellas in numbersof employees.

And thecompany is inthe midst ofmoving itsheadquarters and some 250 employ-ees from Enid to the firm’s newhome in downtown Oklahoma City,a move announced just more than ayear ago.

All of which is making life inter-esting for John Hart, Continental’ssenior vice president, chief financialofficer and treasurer.

“It’s exciting,” Hart said. “It has anumber of opportunities and chal-lenges that go with it. We’re contin-ually working to manage growth, putin the proper systems, hire the prop-er people. What fits a company of asmaller nature doesn’t necessarily fita company of a larger nature.”

Moving for growthAt the end of 2009, Hamm —

Continental’s founder, board chair-man and chief executive officer —set a goal of tripling the company’sproduction and reserve growth by2014.

“We’re well on track to do that,”Hart said. “At the end of 2011 wehad approximately doubled the sizeof the company in a two-year period.I think it’s safe to say we’re on trackor ahead of schedule in that plan.”

That rate of growth, Hart said, isthe chief reason the company ismoving its base of operations toOklahoma City.

“The principle reason we had torelocate is we have a significantamount of hiring that we needed todo in a very short period of time,”

Hart said. “We needed to haveaccess to a larger employee base andcloser access to airports and govern-ment officials.”

Continental’s strong growth rate,Hart said, is expected to continue

this year.“Our expectation is

that we’ll grow (pro-duction) 37 to 40 per-cent in 2012 in relationto what we grew in2011,” Hart said. “In2011 we grew 43 per-cent over 2010.”

Reason for growthThe company’s

production growth isbeing driven by tworeservoirs, or plays:

the Bakken andAnadarko Wood-ford.

The Bakken, Hamm said recentlyduring a speech in Montana, is thelargest oil field discovered in theworld in the last 40 years. At present,some 2,100 wells are being drilled inthe Bakken every year.

The Bakken, which also includesthe Three Forks reservoir, covers14,700 square miles spanning north-eastern Mon-tana and northwesternNorth Dakota.

The Anadarko Woodford is inGrady and Blaine counties in west-ern Oklahoma.

“The Bakken is a world-class oilplay,” said Hart. “We’ve got adecade-plus drilling in that play.”

Continental was one of the firstcompanies to explore the Bakkenand is currently the largest acreageholder in the area, some 915,863acres as of the end of 2011.

“The Bakken has had productionfor 50 years,” Hart said. “We wereon the forefront of the usage of hori-zontal drilling and hydraulic fractur-ing in the play. Technology reallyunlocked that play.”

History and future of growthContinental’s first move into the

northern U.S. came in the late 1980swhen the company began drilling inthe Cedar Hills play in the northernRockies in North Dakota.

“We’ve been up there for a longtime and had some very goodresults, obviously,” Hart said.“Currently we’re the largest acreage

holder in the Bakken, and we’reexpanding that, and we also have thelargest number of drilling rigs oper-ating.”

Continental expects to be operat-ing in the Bakken and Three Forksregion for a long time, Hart said.

“There are decades of productionin the Bakken,” he said. “We’ve gotthousands of wells left to drill.”

Technology of growthContinental’s website compares

horizontal drilling to “sinking ajump shot four miles away.”

Continental can drill two milesdown, then two miles sideways, toreach an oil reservoir the size of abasketball hoop.

Fracturing, or fracking, is thesomewhat controversial practice ofusing high pressure water and sandto crack a formation deep under-ground, fracturing the rock andallowing oil and natural gas to flowthrough pipes up to the surface.

Another bit of new technology,ECO-Pad, allows Continental to drillfour wells from a single drilling pad.The benefits not only are economicbut environmental.

“That’s sensitive to the land inthat we’re only having to build oneroad, we’re only having to set up onepad location,” Hart said. “We get inand we develop that area quickly andmove down the highway a few milesand do it again.

“It limits truck traffic and limitsdisturbance to the land. It’s cost-effective for the company.”

ECO-Pad wells are about 10 per-cent less expensive to drill and com-plete than single wells, Hart said.

“It’s just a good, efficient way todevelop,” he said.

Looking for growthAll the while Continental is

drilling in established reservoirs, it issearching for the next big opportuni-ty.

“We have a very active explo-ration group, with a number of long-term, seasoned geologists,” Hartsaid. “We’re always looking for thenext play. We’re not by nature anacquisition company, we’re anexploration company. We’re alwayslooking for opportunities to expandwhat we have.”

Continental has offices across the

U.S.,its headquarters currently dividedbetween Enid and Oklahoma City ischallenging.

“We’re used to managing multi-ple locations,” he said, “but from aheadquarters staffing perspective it’salways better if you’re in one loca-tion.

“It’s certainly easier when youcan walk down the hall and seesomebody. We’re a very personal,connected company. Face timebetween individuals is somethingthat’s important to us.”

Continental has moved a portion

of its information technology depart-ment into its new home in down-town Oklahoma City, a building stillbeing vacated by former ownerDevon Energy. The company wasscheduled to take over two addition-al floors of its new building in lateMarch. The finance department isscheduled to move to OklahomaCity in late May, while the remain-ing departments will be movingthroughout the summer, Hart said.

“Devon will be fully out by theend of June, or thereabouts,” Hartsaid. “We should fully occupy (thenew building) by late-July or mid-August.”

Continental’s new home, whichwill be called Continental Oil Tower,is a 19-story, 307,000-square footbuilding. More than 80 percent ofContinental’s employees in Enid

elected to make the move.Continental is expected to employ400 people at its new headquarters,with that number expected to growto 450 by the end of the year.

The move, Hart said, “has gonefairly seamlessly, so far. I expect itwill continue to be done in an order-ly and systematic fashion as wemove forward.”

Continental’s future will be pro-jected later this year when the com-pany’s new five-year plan isreleased.

“We’ve got a long-term, sustain-able growth profile in front of us,”Hart said. “We expect to be a verylarge, self-sustaining, cash flow gen-erating, world class oil and gas com-pany. We’re well on track for that. Iexpect us to be a significantly largercompany.”

John Hart

LEAVING THE NEST,Continental Resources is realizing its goalof growth with its move to Oklahoma City

A Continental Resources drilling rig (top) rises above a pasture in North Dakota. Continental is thelargest acreage holder in the Bakken region and has more rigs operating in the area than any othercompany. A Continental Resources pumping unit (middle) operates in Bakken region. Four “rockinghorse” pumping units (above) owned by Continental Resources operate in North Dakota’s reservoir.(Photos provided)

ready to flyready to flyHart said, but having

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DOVER — Audie Price set out after high school torun a farm and hire himself out as a welder. Little did heknow back then he’d end up running a pipeline inspectioncompany doing business in several states.

“When I got out of high school, I got into welding,”Price said.

He contracted himself out for welding jobs and, dur-ing that time, met a lot of engineers. One thing led toanother, and in 1995, Price was asked to do inspectionwork.

“I wasn’t really thrilled about it,” Price said. “I figuredI’d do the one job andgo back to my weld-ing.”

But what he had got-ten himself into to helpout ended up growing.

Oil and natural gascompanies kept callinghim to do more inspec-tion work. Eventuallyhe hired employees tohelp with the demandand then took on weldertesting and certification

tasks.Audie Price

Inspections incorporat-ed in 1999 but remains in family hands. Audie is presi-dent; his wife, Brenda, is vice president; his daughter,Julie Walker, is office manager; and Julie’s husband,Charles, oversees welder testing and certification.

Work comes primarily from Oklahoma and Texas, butthe company also sees jobs from Kansas, Arkansas andstates farther out.

Oil and gas pipelines fall under the governance of theDepartment of Transportation’s pipeline safety division.Inspection jobs require copious documentation, Price said.

“You do a little old job, and you’ve got binders andbinders of documentation,” Price said.

The inspectors have to make sure all is in complianceand completed safely. They set the welding procedure forthe work and maintain documentation.

For a single job, the company can send a chief inspec-tor, assistant chief inspector, certified welding inspectorand perhaps two more under him, material inspector andsix to eight utility inspectors.

The company had a peak year in 2003, when it dou-bled its revenue. Business peaked again in 2011, with rev-enue doubling yet again. It currently has 200 employees.

Natural gas pipelines make up a bigger share of thecustomer base than do oil pipelines.

Company revenues were about $25 million in 2011.Nevertheless, the business still operates out of an officebehind the Price family home in a pristine setting in ruralKingfisher County. Surrounding the home and office isthe land where Price and his family operate a cow andcalf operation with a herd of more than 200.

Price said his plan for the future is to continue takingcare of his existing customers.

“It’s just about as big as I’d care for it to be,” he said.

Audie Price

The right sizePricePrice

Audie Price (top) poses inside his office in Dover. Welders (middle) work at Audie Price Inspec-tions. Brenda Price, vice president of the business, (above) fields a call from an employee.(Staff Photos by BONNIE VCULEK)

Pipeline inspection business’ goal:Take care of its existing customers

By Jeff MullinSenior Writer

When Continental Re-sources completes its move toOklahoma City later this year,Enid will lose one energycompany with roots deep inthe Bakken field of NorthDakota and Montana.

Another, however, is stay-ing right here.

Enid-based Hiland Part-ners, wholly owned byContinental founder Har-old Hamm and his family,is a completely separatecompany.

“We are not a subsidiary,”said Derek Gipson, HilandPartners executive vice presi-dent and chief financial offi-cer. “All of our transactionswith Continental are done atan arm’s length. They are agreat customer of ours; weenjoy working with them.”

Continental is far fromHiland’s only customer, how-ever.

“We’re privileged to havethem as a customer, but we’vedone a good job, too, ofadding other key customers toour portfolio who are veryactive in that area,” Gipsonsaid. That includes largerindependents like Continen-tal, some smaller private andpublic companies as well assome major oil companies, headded.

A midstream companyIn the parlance of the

petroleum business, Hiland isa midstream company, whichmeans it purchases, gathersand markets natural gas, natu-ral gas liquids and crude oil.Upstream firms locate anddrill for petroleum, whiledownstream companies areinvolved in refining.

“We’re purely a mid-stream company,” said Gip-son, a St. Louis native whohas been with Hiland sincemid-2008. “We’re closer tothe wellhead rather than whenyou think of long haul, inter-state pipelines. We’re not inthat business right now.”

Hiland takes natural gasfrom the wellhead, treats it toremove impurities, removes

natural gas liquids, separatesthe NGLs and then sells thegas and its byproducts.Likewise, on the crude oilside, Hiland takes oil, blends,stores and markets it.

Hiland currently has 201employees — 55 at its Enidheadquarters, 32 in the fieldelsewhere in Oklahoma and

114 in North Dakota andMontana.

“As our asset base hasgrown, we’ve had to addfolks,” said Gipson, “more soout in the field.”

Difficult but fulfilling yearThe past year has been one

of growth for Hiland.“2011 for us was a big

construction year,” Gipsonsaid.

Last year the company

built both a new natural gasplant and a compressor stationin North Dakota, as well as acrude oil gathering system.

“The Bakken is a crude oilplay,” said Gipson, “and wesaw an opportunity to get inthat line of business in a moremeaningful way.”

2011 proved a difficultyear for construc-tion in NorthDakota becauseof a record-set-ting winter.

“We’re reallyproud of ouroperating team,”he said. “2011was, from aweather stand-point in NorthDakota, of his-toric proportions.There was arecord amount ofsnowfall in thewinter and thenwe rolled into arecord amount offlooding in thesecond quarter.

Our guys did a great job ofbattling through thoseadverse conditions and get-ting our new facilitiesonline.”

From his post on thefinancial side of the Hilandoperation, Gipson said heand his team have been keptbusy by the company’sexpansion.

“We’re right in the mid-dle of our Bakken capitalprojects,” he said. “We cur-

rently have budgeted about$600 million for capitalprojects that will take usthrough the end of 2013. Wehave been busy.”

Going with ‘guns blazing’In the near term, Hiland

plans to continue to expand itsnatural gas and crude oilgathering systems in NorthDakota, Gipson said.

“As the play expands outamongst these 15,000 squaremiles and the play gets moreproductive, we’re successfulworking with other producersto grow our asset base andprovide services they need inthis new area with little exist-ing infrastructure,” he said.

Beyond the near term,Gipson said, he foreseesHiland not only continuing toexpand its Bakken operationsbut also branching out intoother oil and gas plays.

“I would hope that youwould see us active in anoth-er basin outside our existing

territories here in Oklahoma,North Dakota and Montana,”he said. “I think that’s proba-bly a good goal for us, to con-tinue to diversify geographi-cally and keep growing.That’s our mandate.”

Hiland presently operates13 natural gas gathering sys-tems with approximately1,704 miles of gas gatheringpipelines; five natural gasprocessing plants; seven nat-ural gas treating facilities;and three facilities that sepa-rate, or fractionalize, naturalgas liquids into propanes,butanes and natural gaso-lines. In terms of crude oil,Hiland operates four oil gath-ering systems with some 338miles of pipelines, storage for210,000 barrels of crude and11 oil truck unloading sta-tions. The majority ofHiland’s assets are located inthe North Dakota-MontanaBakken play.

“It’s been guns blazing upthere,” said Gipson, “building

infrastructure as quickly aswe can to accommodate ourproducers.”

Recently, Hamm calledthe Bakken “the largest fieldever found in America,” say-ing it is bigger than thePrudhoe Bay oil field inAlaska. In January, accord-ing to the North DakotaPetroleum Council, thestate’s portion of the Bakkenplay produced 546,047 bar-rels of oil and 571,539 mil-lion cubic feet of natural gasper day. And Hiland is rightin the middle of it.

“We’re blessed to be in upthere and providing mid-stream services to producersup there,” said Gipson.

Safety is at the top ofHiland’s list of core values.

“That is the biggestemphasis here at Hiland,operating in a safe and effi-cient manner,” said Gipson,“and keeping our employeessafe. It’s not a line aroundhere, it’s the real deal.”


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www.wardpetroleum.com

Derek Gipson (left) is Hiland Partners executive vice president and chief financial officer. (Staff Photo by BILLY HEFTON)Hiland Partners’ Bakken Gathering System in Richland County, Montana, features 375 miles of natural gas gathering pipelines.Enid-based Hiland is a midstream petroleum company that gathers, processes, stores and markets natural gas and crude oil.(Photo provided)

in the of itPast year one of growthfor midstream Hiland Co. middlemiddle


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For the better part of a centuryOklahoma agriculture almost couldbe summed up in one word: wheat.Of course, Oklahoma farmers havebeen producing other crops sincethe first ground was broken, butcrop diversification and the shiftaway from mono-culture wheatfarming have accelerated in recentyears as more growers have pur-sued opportunities to capitalize onmanagement options and attractivemarket prices.

Down on the farmRecent studies of the state’s

wheat yields reflect the shift awayfrom exclusively farming the famil-iar grain.

The 2011 U.S. Department ofAgriculture Annual Wheat Reviewshows Oklahoma at a 30-year lowfor wheat production, both in acresplanted and bushels harvested.

Oklahoma wheat farmers plant-ed more than 7.5 million acres ofwheat in 1980, with 6.5 millionacres harvested for grain, yielding195 million bushels of wheat.

Those figures have declinedsteadily throughout the ensuing30 years. In the 2010-11 grow-ing season, the state had 5.1 mil-lion acres planted in wheat, with3.2 million acres harvested for ayield of 70.4 million bushels.

That represents a 32percent reduction in acresplanted in wheat and a 64percent reduction inbushel yield from 1980 to2011.

Higher prices and aneasing drought boostedwheat planting for thecurrent season.

National AgriculturalStatistics Service reportedin January planted acresin Oklahoma were up 8percent to 5.5 millionacres.

However, in north centralOklahoma, planted acres weredown to 1.34 million acres, com-pared to 1.45 million acres last year.

Area is able to diversifyJeff Bedwell, Garfield County

Oklahoma State UniversityCooperative Extension Center ageducator, said the decline in wheatproduction doesn’t represent adecline in agriculture planting butrather an increase in crop diversifi-cation.

Bedwell said producers increas-ingly are turning to crop rotationbecause of three factors: the need torotate crops to control unwantedgrasses in wheat fields; increased

profit margins through rotation,based on market prices; and mini-mize risk based on current cropinsurance products.

“Our ag producers have someflexibility in being able to makedecisions based on the market,based on their need for diversifica-tion for weed control, and based onwhich crops will provide the bestprofitability,” Bedwell said.

He said many producers continue

the practice of “double-cropping”winter wheat with summer cropslike corn, soybeans, sesame, sun-flowers and grain sorghum.

“We usually have adequatemoisture to get a summer crop start-ed in this region of Oklahoma, andthat gives producers some flexibili-ty in whether or not they double-crop behind wheat,” Bedwell said.

Last summer’s extreme heat anddrought conditions weren’t con-ducive to agriculture of any sort, butthe ensuing hay shortage may makealfalfa an attractive crop this fall.

“Alfalfa has become very popu-lar as of late because of the highvalue of forage crops,” he said.

Bedwell said alfalfa also has

gained popularity as a rotation cropbecause it helps replenish nitrogenin the soil.

No cheatingOne of the dominant factors in

the growth of crop rotation is anincreased demand to remove infes-tations of cheat, rye grass and feralrye from growers’ fields.

The problem of dealing withintruding grasses is not new to

wheat farmers, but manyelevators now requiremuch cleaner wheat.

The answer, for manyproducers, has been torotate out of wheat andinto crops that will tolerateherbicides that can “cleanup” the fields.

“It’s become more andmore well-accepted byproducers; we can managethose grassy weed issuesby rotating into othercrops,” Bedwell said.

He said many produc-ers have gone beyond two-yearrotations, implementing three- tofive- or even six-year crop rota-tions.

“However a producer rotatescrops, it’s not going to be a one-stop fix,” Bedwell said. “Thosegrassy weeds leave seeds in thesoil for multiple years, and ittakes multiple years of rotationto get the weed and rye seedbank worn out.”

Side benefits of rotationBedwell said many producers

who turned to a wheat-canolarotation to control grassy weedsnow are finding other advan-tages.

“Oftentimes, what I find ispeople like the synergismbetween the two crops, andthey’ll see a bump in yield aswheat follows canola, or viceversa,” Bedwell said.

James Wuerflein has benefit-ted from that “bump” in yieldsthat comes with crop rotation.

Wuerflein, who farms inGarfield County with his brotherRichard, has made the movefrom mono-culture wheat to acontinuous rotation of wheat andsummer crops.

“Up until 15 years ago wewere predominantly wheat, butin the last 15 to 16 years westarted rotating our crops andno-till farming,” Wuerflein said.

He said he and his brotherturned to crop rotation becausethey were having problems withgrassy weeds and fungal dis-eases in their wheat fields.

“Continuously farming wheatwas not working so well, and wewere seeing more disease prob-lems all the time,” Wuerfleinsaid.

After listening to a presenta-tion about crop rotation in thePanhandle, the Wuerfleins de-cided to try crop diversificationin their operation.

“We experimented with croprotation and no-till farming forthe first few years, and it wasworking really well,” Wuerfleinsaid. By the third year they hadimplemented a full no-till rota-tion on all their fields.

Wuerflein said they now farmin a rotation with half theirfields in wheat, the other half incorn, soybeans, grain sorghumor milo. The fields planted in

wheat are double-cropped withsoybeans or grain sorghum.

“By rotating those crops youbreak the disease cycle,”Wuerflein said. “You hear a lotof people talk about plantingcanola to clean up their fields.To me, and I raise canola also,it’s not the canola that makesour wheat grow better, it’sbreaking that disease cycle. Justgetting away from that one cropfor a year or two gives anothermixture to your soil.”

Wuerflein said there’s no sin-gle-crop fix for diseases or weedproblems.

“If you farm mono-culture ofany crop over a multitude ofyears, you’re going to run intoproblems,” he said.

By rotating crops, Wuerfleinsaid he has seen not only clean-er, healthier fields but increasesin yield.

“Instead of getting the samecrop every year, we’re gettingthree crops every two years,” hesaid.

The rotation also helps miti-gate risks posed by weather.

“We’re spreading our riskout,” Wuerflein said. “We mighthave a bad wheat crop and agood milo crop, or vice versa.”

In a state where it is notuncommon for catastrophicweather events to destroy entirecrops, spreading out the riskmay be the greatest benefit ofcrop diversification.

“It gives a longer window toplant, and a longer window toharvest,” Wuerflein said. “And,hopefully somewhere in therewe get good enough weather forsomething to grow.”

It gives a longer window to plant,and a longer window to har-vest. And, hopefully somewhere

in there we get good enoughweather for something to grow.”

James Wuerflein, local farmer“

Crop diversification and the shift away from mono-culture wheat farming (top) have accelerat-ed in recent years as more growers have pursued opportunities to capitalize on management

options and attractive market prices in others areas, such as canola (above), which is evidentcurrently in fields across northwest Oklahoma. (Staff File Photo / Staff Photo by BILLY HEFTON)

Farmers turning toother crops to keepwheat, yields healthy

DiversificationNORTHWEST OKLAHOMA IS RIPE FOR


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Oil and agriculture haveplayed major roles in thedevelopment of Enid andnorthwest Oklahoma sinceland opened in 1893.

AgricultureWhen farmers first set-

tled in the Enid area and itssurroundings, they planted avariety of crops such ascorn, grain and sorghum.Soon they found wheat, par-ticularly winter wheat, grewbest.

By 1900, seven yearsbefore statehood, northwestOklahoma produced morethan 10 million bushels ofwheat.

In 1914, Garfield Countyfarms produced more than 6million bushels of wheatand were setting records by1919, when wheat rose to$2.19 per bushel.

Enid’s terminal elevatorswere constructed between1925 and 1955 and had thecapacity to hold half of theentire state’s wheat produc-tion. From 1926 to 1930,Enid’s grain storage capaci-ty grew from 248,000

bushels to eight million.In the early 1910s, Enid

also boomed in poultry pro-duction. Companies such asSwift & Co. and EnidPoultry Co. were large sup-pliers. Money earned fromdistribution of chickens,turkeys and eggs was sub-stantially more in northwestOklahoma than other partsof the state.

A 1930 pamphlet pub-lished by Enid Chamber ofCommerce said: “Enid isthe largest poultry market inthe United States.”

Crude beginningsOil production undoubt-

edly has been an importantpart of history in northwestOklahoma, almost as longas Oklahoma has been astate.

In 1916, Garber Oil Fieldwas discovered, with itsprime years from 1916 to1930. The field’s productionpeaked in 1926 with10,920,000 barrels of crude.

By 1919, the city of Enidhad four refineries, withH.H. Champlin building the

city’s first in 1917. Justtwo years later, oil prices setrecords at $2.01 per barrel.By the time H.H. Champlindied in 1944, his oil compa-ny employed more than 800people in Enid.

According to a 1930Chamber of Commercepublication, the TonkawaDistrict had produced a mil-lion barrels of oil by 1930,and the Billings Field, 30miles from Enid, was show-ing steady growth.

Lew Ward, founder ofEnid-based Ward Petrol-eum, drilled his first well inthe Sooner Trend, near Enidin 1963. Since that year,Ward Petroleum has drilledor participated in the pro-duction of more than 1,000wells.

As of 2007, Oklahoma’soil and gas firms employedmore than 76,000 workerswith an income of $8.9 bil-lion. Each job in the indus-try supports 3.2 jobs in thewider economy.

Information provided by Cherokee StripRegional Heritage Center in Enid.

Wheat, oil and E N I D R I C H I N H I S T O R Y

...Agriculture, energy have large roles in Enid’s past

Lew Ward, founder of Ward Petroleum,stands amid the oil and gas exhibits (top) inCherokee Strip Regional Heritage Center. Themuseum renovation features Dave DonaldsonOil & Gas Gallery (above) that provides atimeline for and information about the involve-ment of Enid and northwest Oklahoma in theenergy industry. A portrait of the discoveryof the Garber-Covington field (left), whichhappened in 1916, is on display at the Heri-tage Center. (Staff Photos by BONNIE VCULEK)

chickens?chickens?

By Robert BarronStaff Writer

One of the oldest oil productioncompanies in Enid isWard Petroleum, whichdrilled its first well nearEnid in 1963.

President Lew Wardsaid the company hasmost of its activitiescentered in the Washitathe Anadarko basin andArkoma areas. Sincethe company’s begin-ning, it has drilled morethan 800 wells, some asdeep at 22,000 feet.

Ward Petroleumhas nearly 350 wells inOklahoma.

The compa-ny focuses ongeologically complex areas withmulti-pay and multi-well potentialand uses 3D seismic technology toreduce risk. Ward Petroleum startedresearching 3D seismic 10 years agoand partnered with Marathon toexpand on its success.

The Anadarko Basin is a multi-pay zone, with opportunities fordeeper potential due to passed overshallow zones, increased densitydrilling and low-risk back-up zonesfor higher risk exploratory tests,according to the company’s website.

Ward said the company currentlyis working in Roger Mills and Elliscounties, drilling horizontal wells inthe Tonkawa and Granite Washitaformations. The company also isinterested in Mississippi Limestoneformations in its area.

“We’re watching what’s happen-ing in the Mississippi play in ourbackyard,” Ward said. “We’re seeingsome very good resources in someand interesting in others.”

Ward said he is uncertain theMississippi play is as attractive inthis area as it is in others, but it hascaught a lot of oil men’s attentions.

“We’re very fortunate what’s

going on in the Grant, Alfalfa,Woods County and into Kansas. It’svery beneficial,” he said.

But the action is never far fromhome. Asexample ofactivity cur-rently in theEnid area,Ward suggest-ed traveling

south on U.S. 81 to Waukomis andobserve the number of cars at motelsnear the highway.

“There is no place to stay in Enid...” he said. “Bank deposits are up,and lots of good things are happen-ing.”

In his operation, Ward said hetries to favor a prospect that hasmore oil than gas potential. That

doesn’t mean he is not favorable fordeveloping gas potential, but pricesfor gas are not as good currently,although he said they will be betterin the future.

Ward said since he started hisbusiness he has seen many trends in

the oil business. He said he hasstayed optimistic about the oil busi-ness and is as enthusiastic today asever. Horizontal drilling, a relativelynew technology, will be valuable inthe industry.

“It has changed completely in thelast three or four years,” he said. “It’snot the same industry we had threeor four years ago. Then you couldn’t

say we had 100 years supply of gasand oil, but you can say it now witha great deal of confidence.”

Ward is a firm believer in the freemarket system and believes it willtake care of problems. If there is ashortage, technology will find a way

to fill it, and if there is a surplus, themarket will find a way to avert thoseproblems, Ward said.

“Oil prices are a great driver, andthey will drive the deliverability ofprimarily crude oil, to where it willsoon become a surplus. That willhappen sometime in the future, in theforeseeable future 12-18 months. Somany are dependent on it,” he said.

Ward said oil pumped in theUnited States will help the nationbecome independent of foreignsources. Ward called that oil pool an“awesome amount” that will startcoming to market when the pipelinesget in place.

That will indicate there is a sur-plus, he said. When America has asurplus of oil and gas there no longerwill be a need to purchase it fromforeign countries, some of which arenot friendly and undependable.

“In addition,” he said, “when youbuy gas and oil from one of thosecountries you are sponsoring stateterrorism.”


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Lew Ward

Declaring independenceWard: Technology means more oil, ability to kick foreign fuel habit

In 1963 Lew Ward, founder of Ward Petroleum in Enid, drilled his first well. The local company has drilled or assisted in hundreds of wells. (Staff Photo by BILLY HEFTON / Staff Photo by BONNIE VCULEK)


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By Bridget NashStaff Writer

Consumers still see high beef pricesas a result of last year’s cattle produc-tion, but contributing factors to the lowproduction may change soon.

“Standard data says we do haverecord-high beef prices at the currenttime,” said Greg Highfill, area live-stock specialist at Garfield CountyOklahoma State University ExtensionOffice. “From the demand side, con-sumers are wanting beef, so cattle pro-ducers are encouraged by that.”

While remembering last year’sdrought in Oklahoma, many peopleonly consider the negative effect thelack of rain had on crops, but cattleproducers also were affected.

“They were hurt by the drought,”Highfill said. “Cattle had been movedto areas with grass or sold, so we don’thave as many beef cows in northwestOklahoma as we did a few years ago.”

In fact, northwest Oklahoma is see-

ing low beef cow numbers and thelowest number of production cows indecades.

“From a cattle production stand-point, we are at a record low beef cownumbers,” Highfill said. “We have thefewest number of production cows thatwe’ve had since the 1950s.”

Even though the numbers are low,the quality of cattle is very high,Highfill said, and the cattle that arebeing produced are yielding morepounds of beef per cow than in previ-ous years.

“We’ve kept the total pounds ofbeef that reaches the consumer atexcellent levels,” Highfill said.

He said those high numbers aregood, but they will be difficult tomaintain, statewide and nationally.

“For the next couple of years, weare not going to be able to maintainthat production. Pounds of productproduced in the United States willdecline,” Highfill said. “We’ve got atight supply of beef and a good

demand, so that is going to yield high-er prices.”

Because the number of cows is notthe only factor in beef pricing for con-sumers, the recent state of the econo-my lends to the high beef prices.Things such as the cost of fuel alsoincrease the cost of production.

The good news is this year’s fairweather and rainfall may allow morecattle producers to bring cattle back tonorthwest Oklahoma and raise thenumber of cattle in the area.

“Obviously, they were hurt by thedrought (last year),” said Highfill.“With the value of these calves and theability to capture some of the increasevalue ... I would expect a fair numberof producers to restock those pasturesfairly quickly.”

For producers, it is a good time tosell cattle, said Highfill. Between goodprices for selling producers and betterweather this year, more cattle areexpect to graze the pastures of north-west Oklahoma.

Where’s the ?beefbeefArea cattlemen still trying to recover from effects of drought

Cattle stand in nearby fields. Northwest Oklahoma is seeing low beef cow numbers and the lowest number of production cows in decades. (Staff Photos by BILLY HEFTON)


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LAMONT — The Dar-ling name has becomesynonymous with oil andgas drilling in and aroundthe area.

The family is involvedin nine companies, cover-ing several facets of theoil and gas drilling busi-ness, that are operated outof the Dan D DrillingCorporation’s office inLamont.

Lexy Pierce, secretaryand treasurer for the cor-poration, said the originalcompany began around1978.

“Dan Darling and hisdad Clyde had a waterhauling business anddecided to start drilling forthemselves,” Pierce said.

They began as DarlingDrilling Co. and operatedone drilling rig.

The company, whichnow is owned by the son,blossomed and branchedout to involve nine areasof production under the corporationumbrella.

The businesses range from the familyfarm operation to oil supply, productionand service companies and stretch acrossthe north central part of the state, specif-ically including presences in Lamont andTonkawa.

“Through Darling Oil Corporation weoperate around 100 wells. We pumpthem, repair them and operate them.”Pierce said.

The overall corporation has more than

270 employees that are working on proj-ects.

Pierce said the drilling company hasbeen very busy due to the current oilboom.

“We are running 10 drilling rigs rightnow,” Pierce said. “Finding someone todrill for is not a problem ... we don’thardly drill for ourselves anymore.”

The drilling company performs bothhorizontal and vertical well drilling.Pierce said the drilling company tends tostay within 100 miles of Lamont but has

gone as far south as Pauls Valley and asfar north as McPherson, Kan.

The company has been able to survivethrough several oil booms and busts thathave occurred throughout the years,mainly due to the different businesses itoperates.

“We’ve had ups and downs throughoutthe 33 years. When we shut our firstdrilling company down we lived onthrough production,” Pierce said. “We arehoping this boom lasts a while.”

The company recently has doubled its

supply store, bought a new yard inWoodward for its casing crew and pur-chased five new drilling rigs.

Pierce, along with drilling superin-tendent Dale Hobbs, have been mainstayswith the area company throughout theyears.

She said she has been with the compa-ny for 33 years.

“When I started, it was just a big card-board box of receipts and bills. Then I setthe books up and have been going eversince,” Pierce said.

We’ve had ups and downs through-out the 33 years. When we shutour first drilling company down

we lived on through production. Weare hoping this boom lasts a while.”

Lexy Pierce, secretary and treasurer,Dan D Drilling Corporation“

Darling Drilling Co. started out with one drilling rig and has blossomed and branched out to involve nine areas of production under the corporation umbrella. (Staff Photo by BILLY HEFTON)

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EGP North America has begun the process of building about 145 wind turbines north of the Enid area that will be similar to a wind farm near Woodward(above and top) when the project is finished. Construction crews also are working on road upgrades in the area. (Staff Photo by BILLY HEFTON / AP Photo)

it’s aCompany on fast track to gettingwind energy rolling north of Enid

BreezeBreezeBreezeBy Robert BarronStaff Writer

A general contractor has begun the process of building about145 wind turbines north of the Enid area, said Brent Kisling,president of Enid Regional Development Alliance.

“They will be working on the gravel areas first, the did thepreliminary work in April,” Kisling said.

The wind farm represents a $400 million investment, plus anexpected 125 construction workers will be in the area during con-struction. Longterm workers will number 15 to 20, he said.

EGP North America is the owner of the project. TradeWindEnergy was the developer and got the program going. EGP has atemporary office in James W. Strate Center for BusinessDevelopment and is working with subcontractors.

The project started about three years ago when measuringtowers, called MET towers, were put up to determine the windspeed at 300 feet. The research began and the project happenedfaster than most do. The lease sales and development usually isabout a six-year process, and this project was about a four- tofive-year process, Kisling said.

“The big part was the power purchase (agreements) withAlabama,” he said. “They are scheduled for completion by theend of the calendar year.”

The pads on which the wind towers sit are 10 feet deep and 50feet in diameter, and the towers are about 300 feet tall at theirhighest point. Kisling said as long as they are beneath 400 feet,there is no problem with violating Vance Air Force Base airspace.

Construction crews also are working on road upgrades.Kisling said some roads in the Hunter area had to be improvedand bridges strengthened to move equipment.

“The locals are getting nicer roads and bridges,” Kisling said.“I think one of the companies also gave a substantial amount

to Hunter to upgrade the community center,” Kisling said.

2012 on the horizon: economic development

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