Pub.1 2019-2020 Issue 1

Q&A Getting to Know UPA President Rikki Hrenko-Browning R ikki Hrenko-Browning is the President of the Utah Petroleum Association (UPA). UPA is a Utah based, statewide petroleum trade association representing companies involved in all aspects of Utah’s oil and gas industry. We exist to serve our member compa- nies and advance the responsible development of Utah’s natural resources and manufacture of fuels that drive Utah’s economy. Prior to leading UPA, Rikki was the CEO of Enefit American Oil with overall responsibility for the company’s greenfield oil shale development project in Eastern Utah, including management of the project planning, engineering, permitting, lobbying and PR. Prior to that she was the International Project Director and an Environmental Policy Expert for Enefit (Eesti Energia) while living in Estonia. Originally from Ohio, Rikki graduated with Distinction from Carnegie Mellon University with a Master’s of Science in Public Policy and Management. She holds a Bachelor’s of Science in Botany and Environmental Science. Rikki previously served on the Board of the National Oil Shale Association as well as the Utah Mining Association, where she served as the Second Vice President. She is currently a member of a number of energy, industry, and natural resource boards. Tell us your back story – was it always your goal to be President of the Utah Petroleum Association? Not exactly. When I was in undergrad I was ambitious and naïve and thought I would be scouring the rain forest to find the cure for cancer. Instead I ended up spending a lot of time crawling through dense new growth forests. I was determined to be a published researcher by graduation and was working on invasive species research. Far too often I was washing spiders out of my hair and picking seeds out of bird poop. I quickly realized this wasn’t for me. I decided to go to Carnegie Mellon for Grad School where I got a Masters in Public Policy and Management with a focus on environmental policy. During my time at Miami, and also at Carnegie Mellon, my focus was environ- mental science and policy but I often found myself on the opposite side of the debate as my classmates. I have a deep respect for our environment and think it’s unfortunate that conservation has been made into a dirty word, but I also recognized the broad ranging value that comes from responsible use of our natural resources. I have always been grounded by real world practicalities and am proud of the technological and environmental improvements that the US has led out on, particularly in the oil and gas industry. I’m from northeast Ohio, the edge of the Marcellus and center of the rust belt. I understood from an early age that energy and mining allow us to enjoy an amazing quality of life and that there doesn’t have to be a conflict with environmental stewardship. What Brought you to Utah and what convinced you to stay? I took a pretty big detour between Ohio and Utah. When I was at Carnegie Mellon I took an adventurous summer internship in Estonia and after gradu- ating moved to Estonia. I joined the largest industrial company in the country and the Baltics, which had just recently joined the European Union, and was in the process of transitioning from the Soviet era to the much more environ- mentally demanding world of the EU. During my nearly 7 years in Estonia I moved through various roles. I started in the environmental department where I was responsible for setting up a continuous environmental monitoring and database system in our oil plant. That was a true example of baptism by fire – sending a young American girl to the border of Russia (the plants sit just on the border of Estonia, which is the border of the EU with Russia) with the message that corporate is implementing an environmental monitoring system! From there I moved on to our business development team and spent a considerable amount of time in Jordan in the middle east where I worked with the Jordanian government to set up the environmental framework that would govern their burgeoning oil shale sector. After that I helped identify, acquire, and then set up and run Enefit American Oil here in Utah – which is what brought me to Utah in 2012. So why did you leave Enefit? It was a very hard decision to make. I have had an amazing 12 years with Ene- fit, but 12 years is a long time. It was a very rewarding experience to establish and then grow and steer the company. During that time we achieved a number of the key milestones including successfully obtaining a major federal permit for an oil shale project; which when I first came to Utah, plenty of people told me would never happen. We booked the first oil shale to shale oil reserve in the world. I’m also proud of the strong social license to operate we cultivated. We went from being a complete unknown in the state to having an 84% approval rating. I’m excited to go from developing one small segment of the industry (oil shale) to much more broadly representing the oil and gas industry. UPA is particu- larly interesting because there is a lot of opportunity to grow the association and value add for members. There is a real need and opportunity to tell an impressive story of the industry’s resilience, technological advancement and significant contributions to the quality of life that we enjoy. I look forward to helping our members amplify their good work and more successfully and proactively telling that story. 5 UP DATE