Many thanks to Shreveport Times writer, Adam Duvernay, for being so clear about the intentions of the oil & gas barons, and of greedy politicians.
Aside from the self-confessed special interests of the oilmen, we see the true definition of class warfare, pandering, and gluttonous, self-serving power.
One doesn't have to read between the lines to realize (1) the corrupting influence of unregulated capitalism and (2) the blatant disregard for the poor & struggling middle class in our representative (what a joke!) election process. -DBE
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Jill Keller, Aimee McFarland, Steve Craig and Jodi Penn enjoy a business lunch together recently in the dining area at the Petroleum Club in downtown Shreveport. All are with Heard, McElroy and Vestal, LLP, also in downtown Shreveport |
Petroleum Club puts oil, gas industry next to politicians
12:36 AM, Mar. 23, 2012
Written by Adam Duvernay
The Petroleum Club in downtown Shreveport has hosted just about every politician who needed to shake hands with the Louisiana oil and natural gas industry.
From Bossier-born U.S. Rep. Joe Waggoner and Shreveport-born Sen. Bennett Johnson in the 1960s to President Ronald Reagan in the 1980s to current Louisiana politicians such as Sen. David Vitter and Sen. Mary Landrieu, Shreveport's oil-and-gas men have had first-hand access to elected officials for decades.Tonight the club will host GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney, the frontrunner for the Republican candidacy by accumulated delegates and campaign contributions. Romney's $1,000-per-head fundraiser doesn't guarantee him the Club members' votes, but he'll be trying.
"It's always been a very interesting gathering when our politicians or hope-to-be politicians come to see us," said former-Club president John Palmer. "We get a pretty good idea of what their thinking, and they get a good idea on what we're thinking. That's the advantage of having a nice place like the Petroleum Club — we're right there in the same room."
The Petroleum Club was founded in the late-1940s around the boom that brought Shreveport-Bossier's first oil and gas men to the area. With the backing of United Gas and Carter Oil Company, the social club got off the ground in competition with the up-scale Shreveport Club — a contemporary association of managers and business men. The Petroleum Club initially limited its membership to those who made at least 50 percent of their income from the oil and gas business. But times weren't always good for the industry, and when companies started to leave the area the Club opened membership to the industry's lawyers and accountants.
After years of moving, resizing and reshaping the Club, Palmer oversaw the 1969 move to the current location at Mid South Towers in downtown Shreveport. The Club has remained a meeting place for both local and national industry leaders, though membership and events have been opened widely in recent years.
"A lot of deals get done at the Club," said Fleet Hall, President of J. Fleet Oil and Gas Production Co. and a member since 1969. "It's a social club and a place for networking. That's the way deals get put together — it could be over a cup of coffee or lunch or whatever."
The club is more than a political stage, Hall said. Members enjoy lunches there every week, industry leaders use the Club for social gatherings and reports on the state of business and the Clubs many rooms, all named for oil and gas producing formations in the area, host everything else in between.
Hall, who began his membership as a oil and gas attorney in 1969, said political visits have always been common. It's usually Louisiana politicians, and Hall said he remembers many visits from former-Louisiana Gov. Edwin Edwards and a particular reception for U.S. Senator Russell Long in the early 1970s.
"He hadn't been to Shreveport in a while and the Club hosted a reception for him. I tell you, it was packed with people from wall to wall," Hall said. "We felt he was very attune to the needs of the oil and gas industry."
Political visits are usually sincere efforts to communicate between the energy industry and the offices of governance, Hall said. Of course there is money to be raised — the ever-present task of a politicians — but he said it goes beyond just rustling funds.
"I don't feel it's been superficial or just glad-handing," Hall said. "I think its been a sincere effort with most of our visitors to help understand the needs and positions of the industry."
For his part, Hall said he's a Romney supporter. While he doesn't speak for the whole club, his close friends are almost unanimous on their pick.
"I think he represents the values we're looking for, and I think he's the kind of business person we need," Hall said. "Romney could give the industry and private businesses the chance to create jobs. He's our best hope and we'd like him to be our President."
Romney is collecting money from any Club members who pay to attend his event tonight, but Palmer said the hope is he'll walk away with more than just their cash.
"Hopefully he'll understand the oil and gas industry is actually trying to do something here to turn the economy around," Palmer said. "The things the Obama administration is pulling is only hurting the industry and hurting the country."
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