3rd annual OSU Energy Conference to be held in Tulsa

Friday, May 8, 2009

(May 8, 2009   Stillwater, OK) – The 3rd annual OSU Energy Conference will be held in Tulsa, Okla. on May 19 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Renaissance Tulsa Hotel and Convention Center. Energy and business professionals are encouraged to attend this one day conference.

This year’s conference is titled “Energy Independence in a Challenging Economic Environment.” The conference sessions will address how the energy business is ever-changing and the challenges faced in the next era of the energy business.

“The expansion of renewable energy at the time when the current economy is in such flux presents the most challenging time for the oil and gas industry in the last 20 years,” said conference moderator Chuck Watson, who also serves as chairman of Wincrest Ventures and chairman of the North American Advisory Board of Mainstream Renewable Power.

Session topics include: The Path from Oil Capital of the World to a 21st Century Energy Center; A View of Natural Gas in North America; Oklahoma IS Wind Energy; Energy Independence and Energy Security: Two Important but Illusory Goals; and The Changing Landscape in Physical and Energy Financial Markets.

One of the sessions will feature an interview conducted by Burns Hargis, president of Oklahoma State University with Harold Hamm, chairman and CEO of Continental Resources in Enid, Okla. During the interview, Hamm will present his perspective about current oil and gas challenges and possibilities.

“Oil has fueled the industrial revolution, helped win two world wars and made America the economic leader of the world. The proposition that we can abandon oil and gas in favor of some unknown alternative is not only whimsical, it is dangerous,” Hamm said.

Other conference presenters include: Matt Simmons, chairman of Simmons & Co. International in Houston; Tony Knowles, president, of the National Energy Policy Institute in Anchorage, Alaska; Kylah McNabb, wind energy development specialist for the Oklahoma Department of Commerce in Oklahoma City; Stacy Schusterman, chairman and CEO of Samson Investment Company in Tulsa, Okla.; Ray Hurby, vice president, of site support services at Cook Nuclear Plant in Bridgman, Mich.; Thomas W. Robb, manager of institutional relations at Abengoa Bioenergy Trading in St. Louis, Mo.; Joe Craft, president of Alliance Resources Partners, LP in Tulsa, Okla.; Robert Wegener, Oklahoma Secretary of Energy; and Griff Jones, CEO of Eagle Energy Partners in Houston.

The platinum sponsor for the conference is Eagle Energy Partners. Conference underwriters include BKD, LLP; Capital West; Longfellow Energy, LP; Helmerich & Payne, Inc.; Chesapeake Energy; the National Energy Policy Institute; Stinnett & Associates; TulsaTech; and Williams. Conference table sponsors include Chubb; Continental Resources; Grant Thorton; Halliburton; RAM Energy Resources; Samson; and UNIT Corporation.

The 2009 OSU Energy Conference is offered in cooperation with the Tulsa Metro Chamber and the Spears School of Business at Oklahoma State University. To register or for more information, call the OSU Center for Executive and Professional Development 405-744-5208; or visit us at cepd.okstate.edu.