Blueknight Energy Partners Demonstrates Community Responsibility

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.

How the KBH Energy Center Fulfills Its Mission

Based in Oklahoma City, Duke Ligon manages Mekusukey Oil Company, a private mineral investment firm that he founded in 1970. Prior to Mekusukey, he served as senior vice president and general counsel to Devon Energy, located in Oklahoma City. Outside of work, Duke Ligon co-chairs the executive council of the Kay Bailey Hutchison Center for Energy, Law and Business (KBH Energy Center).

The KBH Energy Center was jointly founded by the University of Texas at Austin’s School of Law and McCombs School of Business in order to accomplish four main objectives: train leaders for the energy sector, produce objective research on issues related to energy, promote conversation, and analyze Latin America’s energy issues.

In order to fulfill its mission, the KBH Energy Center organizes lectures and conferences and publishes research. Topics the center has tackled include the regulation of Texas’ groundwater, the impact of the Endangered Species Act on energy projects, and petroleum development in Mexico. Moreover, classes in law, engineering, and marine sciences are offered through the UT Austin School of Law and McCombs School of Business to train the next generation of leaders on energy issues.

Oklahoma City Museum of Art Offers Dinner and A Movie Package

A former attorney for the Oklahoma-based Mekusukey Oil Company, Duke Ligon possesses more than four decades of experience in the energy and oil industry. Duke Ligon also serves on the board of several community organizations and serves as an officer on the board of trustees for the Oklahoma City Museum of Art (OKCMOA). The museum’s film program offers the Dinner & a Movie package. 

The Dinner & a Movie package invites guests to enjoy a two-course meal at the Museum Café, followed by a film of their choice from the museum’s current film lineup. Available Thursday through Saturday nights, the package guarantees a minimal wait at the Museum Café in the event that all guests order off the Prix-Fixe menu. Guests will also pick up their film tickets during dinner.

Dinner options include a cup of soup with choice of either a house or Caesar salad for the first course and a choice between three dishes for the main course. Main course options consist of a fish, chicken, or pasta dish. In order to ensure enough time to order and complete their meals, guests are recommended to make dinner reservations at least one hour prior to the showing of their selected film.

Dinner & a Movie packages cost $29 per person, not including tax or gratuity. To learn more about the package and currently showing films, visit www.okcmoa.com/dinner-a-movie.

The Civil War Trust – Battlefield Preservation

The former senior vice president of Devon Energy Corporation, Duke Ligon now owns and manages Mekusukey Oil Company, LLC. Mr. Ligon previously was the strategic advisor at Love’s Travel Stops & Country Stores, based in Oklahoma City. Duke Ligon sits on the board of trustees of the Civil War Trust, an organization dedicated to protecting the battlefields of the American Civil War.

The Civil War Trust notes that 20 percent of American Civil War battlefields have already been destroyed, often due to commercial projects and property development. Further, only 15 percent of the battlefields are part of national parks, leaving 65 percent unprotected.

The Civil War Trust aims to increase the number of protected battlefields and currently works toward saving acreage in Virginia and Mississippi. The trust preserves battlefields by either ensuring the current landowner retains possession of the land, purchasing the land itself, or obtaining a permanent conservation easement.