Since founding the Mekusukey Oil Company in 1970, Duke Ligon has become a respected authority on energy production. In addition to managing his own company, he also sits on the board of directors at Emerald Oil, PostRock Energy Corporation, and Panhandle Oil and Gas. In 2008, Duke Ligon took up the role of an independent director and chairman of the board at Blueknight Energy Partners of Oklahoma City, which maintains values of ethics and excellence that reflect his personal commitment to community service.
Blueknight refers to this service as the need to be a “responsible corporate citizen,” one of Blueknight’s core values. This responsibility is demonstrated by maintaining strict safety standards, preserving natural resources, and offering volunteer work and funds for charitable causes.
In 2015, Blueknight made a substantial donation to the Wounded Warrior Project of San Antonio while in the course of building a 160-mile oil pipeline from East Texas to the Houston Ship Channel. Blueknight also named the pipeline the “Knight Warrior” pipeline.
In another charitable cause, in late 2016, Blueknight participated in a project with Central Oklahoma Habitat for Humanity. Habitat offers home purchasing options with zero-interest mortgages for low-income families, asking only for 300 hours of volunteer work on the part of the new homeowner, helping to build their own or others’ houses. In the case of this most-recent partnership, 50 employees of Blueknight assisted Habitat in building an addition for a family of first-time homeowners, adding a $10,000 donation to help them be comfortable in their new home.
