by Mickey Hepner The Edmond Sun
EDMOND — With names like Phillips Petroleum, Continental Oil and Kerr-McGee, it is clear that energy has played a storied role in Oklahoma’s past. With names like Williams Companies, Devon and Chesapeake it is clear that energy remains important to Oklahoma today. But just how important is it?
This week, the University of Central Oklahoma Policy Institute (www.uco.edu/ucopi), a nonpartisan public policy think tank housed at the UCO released a new report (full disclosure: I authored the report) that quantifies the economic impact of this industry. The report notes that the true impact of the oil and natural gas industry extends far beyond the industry itself. In fact every industry in Oklahoma benefits from the presence of the oil and natural gas industry here.
