WLS is proud to be a silver sponsor for the 65th annual IRWA conference taking place June 9-12 in Portland, OR. Western’s sponsorship helps provide hydration stations for approximately one thousand industry professionals. Our Directors of Land and ROW, Brian Benson and Mark Kalchik, will both be in attendance for the conference. Come stop by booth #306 and see why Western Land Services is considered best in class!

The Western team is ready to kick off the summer by attending the following industry events in June. Come by and see us to get your summer started the Western Way!

• Ardmore, OK – SOAPL Golf Tournament (June 7th)
• Portland, OR – IRWA 65th Annual Conference – Silver Sponsor (June 9th-June 12th)
• Clarksburg, WV – Antero’s 4th Annual Oil and Gas Dodgeball Tournament (June 14th)
• Oklahoma City, OK – Pipeliners Club of Oklahoma City Golf Tournament (June 18th)
• Pittsburgh, PA – DUG East (June 18th-June 20th)
• Pittsburgh, PA – DUG East Happy Hour – Sponsor (June 19th)
• Pittsburgh, PA – AAPL Annual Conference – Foyer Sponsor (June 19th-June 23rd)
• Mt. Pleasant, MI – MOGA’s 86th Annual Picnic & Golf Outing (June 20th)
• Presto, PA – AAPL Champion Golf Tournament (June 21th)
• Austin, TX – Solar Power Texas (June 24th – June 25th)

HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND FROM EVERYONE AT

WESTERN LAND SERVICES

As we celebrate the start of summer this weekend, make sure to take a moment to remember the brave men and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom.

Over the course of the last year, Western Land Services (WLS) has engaged our Competitor Lease & Unit data clients, soliciting constructive feedback and suggestions on how to enhance the end user experience. THEY spoke and WLS listened.

Take a peek at a few database schema enhancements recently launched!

•Lease Status field moved to front of attribute table
•New field: OPT_EXP Currently, the E_DATE field identifies the expiration date of a lease. If the lease has been extended, it reflects the option exercised. In many regions, companies are not obligated to record extensions. This new field factors in options, forecasting all possible lease expirations.
•New field: TERM_E_DATE Identifies expiration date of term assignments.

WLS is committed to continual improvement and recognizes the importance of accommodating various client objectives. In addition to launching a new database schema, WLS offers three (3) competitor data packages based on budgetary and operational demands:

•PREMIUM – The typical E&P solution, this option offers the full gamut of attributes including lease terms and corresponding pooling/unitization information.
•MID-GRADE – Tailored to Midstream or Mineral buying companies, this option offers a scaled back version, while still incorporating assignment transactions and depth restrictions.
•UNLEADED – Popular for scouting opportunities, this PDF map option provides a visual of lease and unit positions in conjunction with active wells and new permits.

Each package proposes a unique alternative depending on the level of business data intelligence required. For a full comparison of attributes available in each package, please contact us today at gis@westernls.com.

May has arrived and there are plenty of new opportunities to meet up with the Western team. Come meet up with us at any of the industry events this month:

• Houston, TX – 27th Annual Dan Ewing Memorial Golf Tournament (May 2nd)
• Casper, WY – AAPL HBP & Royalty Issues (May 2nd)
• Oklahoma City, OK – OCAPL Fishing Tournament (May 3rd-4th)
• Austin, TX – SGA Region Meeting (May 7th-May 9th)
• Tulsa, OK – TAPL Beer Tasting (May 8th)
• Wheeling, WV – WV Reserve Energy Pre-Tournament Social Mixer (May 9th)
• Houston, TX – ESRI Petroleum User Conference (May 15th & 16th)
• Traverse City, MI – MOGA Reception (May 16th)
• Oklahoma City, OK – OCAPL Golf Tournament (May 20th)

#WheresWestern #LandEnergyPeople

WLS is proud to sponsor the Dan Ewing Memorial Golf Tournament for the fourth consecutive year. The tournament will be held on May 2nd at the Wildcat Golf Club, supporting Tip of the Spear, www.birdeasepro.com/danewinggolf/. This charity’s mission is to support our troops overseas, providing supplies like socks, toothbrushes, and snacks to our service men and women that are currently deployed in dangerous locations. Last year, the Dan Ewing Tournament was able to raise $69,152.

Connect with Brian Benson and Mark Kalchik, two of our Directors who will be attending on behalf of WLS. They look forward to swinging some clubs for this great cause!

Western Land Services is proud to sponsor EnerGIS 2019 as part of the GITA-Energy Northeastern GIS Conference. The event will be held this Thursday and Friday, April 25-26, at the Range Resources Regional Headquarters in Canonsburg, PA. In addition to sponsoring the reputable event, this year Western Land Services, in collaboration with CoreLogic, Inc. Spatial Solutions and Gulfport Energy Corporation, will be presenting on Location Intelligence for Optimal Business Decisions in Oil and Gas. Collectively, we will be showcasing applications and discussing the combined value of the surface and subsurface datasets when used in unison to support system architecture and company processes.

There is still time to attend, and walk-ins are welcome depending on space availability – please visit energis.us to learn more. Our team members look forward to seeing you there!

Employee-Owned Land Brokerage Firm Bases President in Oklahoma City Office to Broaden National Presence

April 17, 2019 – Land brokerage firm Western Land Services (WLS) is living up to its name more than ever, hiring Shawn Fields as president and locating him in the company’s Oklahoma City office to demonstrate its commitment to one of the country’s most prolific oil and gas regions.

A native Oklahoman, Fields brings 30 years of experience in the oil and gas industry – all of which were spent at exploration and production (E&P) companies and 10 years in executive leadership roles. In addition to his tenure at companies based in Oklahoma City, Tulsa and Houston, he has worked in nearly every major oil and gas basin across the country. Rich Collins, outgoing president, is stepping down from his full-time role but will continue serving WLS on the board of directors and as a consultant.

“Shawn brings a wide range of experience and contacts in the energy business, not to mention an innate understanding of our customers’ needs from his tenure at top exploration and production firms,” said John Wilson, CEO of Western Land Services. “We look forward to Shawn leading our team and growing our presence nationally. His character, experience and drive are an ideal fit with our culture as our company enters a new chapter in bringing together land, energy and people.”

Fields joins WLS from NextEra Energy Resources, LLC, as executive director of upstream development in its Houston office. Prior to that, he worked 13 years at Chesapeake Energy Corporation (CHK), a publicly traded energy company headquartered in Oklahoma City where he advanced from manager to vice president of acquisitions & divestitures during his tenure. He began his career at Samson Resources, a privately held energy company in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he was promoted from project development, to supervisor of project development, to district landman over 11 years.

Fields is a member of the American Association of Professional Landmen (AAPL), in addition to multiple affiliated local associations such as the Oklahoma City Association of Professional Landmen (OCAPL), Tulsa Association of Petroleum Landmen (TAPL) and Denver Petroleum Club (DPC). He received his bachelor’s degree from East Central University in Ada, Oklahoma.

“I am incredibly excited to lead Western Land Services and continue its tradition of excellence for the past 45 years,” said Fields. “WLS is a flagship land services firm that delivers a premium product led by a seasoned and cohesive team with whom I am honored to work. I greatly admire Rich and the foundation he has established, and the exceptional leadership of John Wilson – especially the culture of teamwork he has established and his investment in employees through an employee stock ownership plan that has fostered such a dedicated staff. I look forward to growing the business and showing the industry why WLS is the best at what we do.”

Leading a national and growing workforce of 300 employees, Fields will work out of the company’s Oklahoma City office that opened in 2018 following the acquisition of Oklahoma-based Barton Land Consultants, a full-service operation originating in Duncan, Oklahoma. WLS’s other corporate office in addition to Oklahoma City is in West Michigan (Ludington) where the company was founded. Six regional offices are strategically located throughout the country to support clients that includes Duncan, Oklahoma; Sheridan, Wyoming; Minot, North Dakota; Grand Rapids, Michigan; Canonsburg, Pennsylvania; and Tunkhannock, Pennsylvania.

Fields takes the helm from Rich Collins, a 30-year industry veteran who joined the company in 1986 at the beginning of his career and worked 15 years with WLS. Collins left in 2001 and held several executive-level positions in prominent oil and gas companies, including CMS Energy, Epsilon Energy and Trendwell Energy, returning to WLS in 2014 as president. He will continue working with WLS as a board director and consultant.

“As I look back on my time with WLS, I am so proud of our company’s successes, especially over the past five years with extending our presence in Oklahoma and selling half of the company to employees,” said Collins. “We have a unique approach to the land brokerage business since our employees have ‘skin in the game’ through the ESOP, which sets us apart and is a big driver behind our best-in-class product. I also have known Shawn for a long time, and I feel great about this next step for WLS. I’m optimistic about the company’s future as this next chapter of WLS unfolds.”

About Western Land Services, Inc.
Western Land Services (WLS) is an employee-owned, full-service land brokerage firm that has brought together land, energy and people for 45 years. WLS offers an expansive portfolio of services throughout the United States, including leasing, due diligence, right-of-way, GIS/mapping, title, abstracting, regulatory and other specialized services. With corporate offices in West Michigan and Oklahoma City and six regional offices located in every major U.S. basin, WLS has an established presence in 40 states to serve its clients. As one of the only oil and gas land firms to offer an employee stock ownership plan, WLS directly employs 300 professionals. Learn more about the Western Way at westernls.com.

Western Land Services (WLS) has been working in Appalachia and the Utica Shale since the start of the shale revolution, and understands the importance of staying up to date with the ever changing legal and regulatory obligations surrounding the oil and gas industry. In light of the latest developments surrounding Landman requirements in Ohio, AAPL is hosting an event with a presentation geared towards educating professionals on this new legislation. The event is taking place April 17th at the Belmont Hills Country Club from 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. A happy hour will kick start the event at 5:30 p.m., offering an opportunity for networking. The presentation will follow at 6:30 p.m. and wrap up at approximately 7:30 p.m.

Please join some of our Appalachian team members, Becky Hackert and Ben Lobo, along with other industry colleagues for an evening of education and good company!

This year, Western Land Services is proud to be a Silver Sponsor at the APLA Charity Golf Tournament benefiting the Central Texas Food Bank. The tournament welcomes all professions within the Oil and Gas Industry, and will take place at the Jimmy Clay & Roy Kizer Golf Courses in Austin, Texas on Friday, April 12.

For every one dollar that is raised, the Central Texas Food Bank turns that one dollar into five dollars of nutritious food for people in need. In 2018 the tournament raised $55,000 alone, and to date has provided 1,123,760 meals to central Texas families in need!

So come out and join WLS if you want to have some fun and raise money for a great cause this Friday!