Annual Meeting of the Southwest Kansas Royalty Owners Assosiation

On April 30, 2022, Erick E. Nordling, Executive Secretary of the Southwest Kansas Royalty Owners Association (SWKROA) presided over the Association’s 74th Annual Meeting in Hugoton, Kansas. The SWKROA membership and guests heard presentations on several topics.

Warren Martin, Executive Director, Kansas Strong, (Kansas Oil and Gas Resources Fund), Wichita, Kansas was the first presenter of the meeting. His presentation captioned, “The Power of Production,” provided a sketch of the historical impact of oil and gas in Kansas. Mr. Martin also painted the canvas of the current position of the industry and ventured a sneak peek of the future of the industry in Kansas. Participants gained an understanding of how the industry extends beyond energy — as in the case of helium and byproducts — to create the modern world in which we live. He said it is a team effort between all aspects of the industry and landowners, and those relationships unleash the power of production.

Mitch Lucas, Renewables Project Developer, Invenergy, Denver, Colorado, and Bob Brunson, Senior Land Agent, working with Invenergy on the Hammerhead project in Stevens County, Kansas, provided a background on Invenergy and its ongoing wind project development in Stevens County to SWKROA members and guests. They also discussed the community benefits associated with wind projects. They provided a brief history of utility-scale wind energy projects and provided an overview of the wind project development process. They also highlighted Invenergy’s successful wind energy project in Oklahoma.

Mr. Lucas is a Renewables Project Developer with Invenergy. His primary focus at Invenergy is stewarding the development of utility-scale wind and solar projects in Kansas and Missouri. Mr. Brunson is a contract land agent working with Invenergy. He serves as Senior Land Agent on the Hammerhead project in Stevens County.

President Steve Alford will continue to serve as President of the seventy-four-year-old mineral and royalty owners association. Mr. Alford is from Ulysses, Kansas, and serves as a Director of SWKROA for Grant County. Tom Frazier, from Pratt and Director for Pratt County, will serve as Vice President. Connie Hittle of Hugoton and Director for Stevens County will continue to serve as Treasurer. Nordling was also elected to continue services as Secretary/Executive Secretary for SWKROA.

The Southwest Kansas Royalty Owners Association is comprised of mineral and royalty owners for the stated purpose, “to foster, protect, and further in all proper respect the rights and interests of the mineral owners.” The Association has been instrumental in educating minerals and royalty owners in oil and gas leasing, oil and gas pipeline right of ways, geophysical testing and in general the oil and gas industry in western Kansas as it relates to the rights and interests of the land, mineral, and royal owners. The Association also continues to educate others and to advocate for the interests of mineral and royal owners in the Kansas legislature and has provided “friend of the court” briefs on several judicial issues which could impact mineral and royalty owners.

Membership in the Association is open to individuals who have ownership interests in surface, mineral, and royal interests located in Kansas. More information on SWKROA can be found at their website, www.swkroa.com, or by calling the SWKROA office at (620) 544-4333.