For additional information about any of the news stories listed below, please contact Rodger Boyce in the NCTC Office of Marketing & Public Relations, 1525 W. California St., Gainesville, TX 76240, telephone 940-668-4255. All material Copyright 2003, North Central Texas Community College District.

>News & Press Releases

EOG RESOURCES INC. MAKES MAJOR GIFT TO NCTC OIL-GAS PROGRAM
NOTE: See photo at conclusion of article.

BOWIE, TEXAS – A $100,000 gift from EOG Resources Inc., demonstrates the strong commitment of prospective employers to the success of the new Oil & Gas Production Technology program set to begin accepting students this fall at the Bowie Campus of North Central Texas College.

Representatives of the company, one of the largest independent and natural gas companies in the United States, formally presented the gift to college officials to cap a recent oil and gas industry seminar at the NCTC Bowie Campus.

The program featured several industry experts discussing the nature and significance of the Barnett Shale, one of the largest natural gas fields in North America and the largest in the state of Texas.

Program speakers described how improved recovery techniques have facilitated substantially increased drilling activity in the region and that production from wells is expected to continue at a high level for decades to come.

The keynote address was delivered by Dr. Ray Perryman, internationally recognized economist from Lubbock who has conducted extensive studies of the impact of the Barnett Shale, particularly in regard to the thousands of new oil and gas industry-related jobs it has already created and will continue to create throughout NCTC’s service area (Cooke, Denton, Montague).

It is in response to this enormous demand for trained employees that NCTC partnered with regional oil and gas industry leaders, led by EnCana USA, Inc., to establish the college’s new Oil & Gas Production Technology program that will begin accepting students this fall.

The program will be based in the new wing at the NCTC Bowie Campus designed for that purpose and made possible by the financial backing of the Bowie 4B Sales Tax Corporation and the Bowie Economic Development Corporation, as well as EnCana.

Additional donations of training equipment and cash for scholarships has come from industry partners including Complete Production Services, Allied Production Solutions and Energy Service Company of Bowie.

“And now comes this very significant gift from EOG Resources, for which we are enormously grateful and which demonstrates the very real commitment by the industry to helping assure the success of our program,” said Emily Klement, dean of the NCTC Bowie Campus.

Klement, along with Dr. Eddie Hadlock, NCTC president, accepted the $100,000 donation from EOG Resources representatives Greg Thornton and David Brunette.

“I think it’s very important for prospective students to note that the development of our new oil and gas production technology production program, including both our facility and our curriculum, has been industry-driven from the outset,” commented Billy Giles, program coordinator.

“As our speakers here tonight have made clear, the industry has changed drastically in recent years due to technological advances and related factors” Giles added. “Employers want to be sure that students coming out of our program are equipped with the knowledge and skills needed to deal with these changes. Meeting that requirement will always be our priority.”

For additional information about the Oil & Gas Production Technology program at NCTC, go online to http://www.nctc.edu/Oil&Gas/ or contact Billy Giles at 940-872-4002, ext. 5219, or by email: bgiles@nctc.edu.
#####

PHOTO CUTLINE…
MAJOR GIFT TO OIL & GAS PROGRAM—Representatives of EOG Resources Inc., one of the country’s largest independent and natural gas companies, presents a gift of $100,000 in support of the new Oil & Gas Production Technology program at North Central Texas College. Presenting the gift are David Brunette, far left, and Greg Thornton, second from right. Accepting are Emily Klement, dean of the NCTC Bowie Campus where the new program will be based, and Dr. Eddie Hadlock, NCTC president.
#####

  >News & Press Releases