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Oil and gas producer group happy about key issues

The Legislature's final actions on immigration and surface rights are what the oil and gas group were hoping for.

BY PHYLLIS JACOBS GRIEKSPOOR

The Wichita Eagle

With the Kansas legislative session finallyclosed, the Kansas Independent Oil and Gas Association is pleased with the outcome of two key issues, said KIOGA president David Dayvault.

"We went into the session without anything specific that we wanted in the way of legislation," Dayvault said. "But we did have a couple of issues that we wanted to keep an eye on in an effort to have some influence if they did come up."

Key issues that engaged KIOGA efforts were immigration reform and surface owner rights.

Immigration

KIOGA supports immigration reform, Dayvault said, but was concerned about legislative proposals that would have placed an undue burden on businesses.

That included a requirement to use the federal E-Verify computer system to check employees' eligibility to work in the country.

"So much of our hiring is done in the field where there is not immediate computer access," Dayvault said. "It is over a week to 10 days before paperwork makes it back to the office to start the process. E-verify would have required three-day verification and that would mean we'd have real time problems."

He said another issue involved a proposal to require annual certification from all subcontractors that they used E-verify.

"Our industry has a great reliance on subs; we use 300 to 400 a year because of the vast geography involved and the wide range of services that the industry requires," he said. "A lot of our subcontractors are one- or two-man operations that don't even hire anyone, but we would still have to get annual certification for all of them. We were very pleased when that requirement did not make it into a final bill."

Surface rights

Conflicts between oil and gas exploration and drilling companies and the landowners who have surface rights on leases have led to legislation designed to protect surface owners' rights in several states.

"A big stumbling block in this legislation was it would have changed existing contracts," Dayvault said.

Another concern came from a proposed requirement to require several days' advance notice when a leaseholder intended to begin work that might disturb surface uses.

"That would be a real problem because our industry is weather-sensitive and changes in the weather can change our intentions," he said.

Neither the House nor the Senate passed legislation on surface owners' rights this session, but Dayvault said he thinks it remains an issue the industry will have to address.

Reach P.J. Griekspoor at 316-268-6660 or pgriekspoor@wichitaeagle.com.