Eastern Gas Compression Roundtable

Education to the national gas industry

Eastern Gas
Compression Roundtable

General EGCR

2025 Keynote Speaker

Build, Baby, Build: Powering the Future with Natural Gas

In a time when building critical energy infrastructure has never been harder, the need for clean, reliable, affordable and scalable power is skyrocketing—fueled by data centers, AI, and the ever-growing needs of an electrified world. Join Toby Z. Rice, President & CEO of EQT, as he discusses the urgent need to supercharge natural gas infrastructure to meet those demands. With a call to action to “Build, Baby Build,” Rice will share insights on overcoming regulatory hurdles, unlocking domestic energy potential, and how natural gas is poised to be the backbone of America’s energy future. 

Toby Z. Rice
President and Chief Executive Officer

Toby Z. Rice is President and Chief Executive Officer of EQT Corporation (NYSE: EQT), the leading natural gas producer in the United States. As an influencer and champion for the energy industry, Mr. Rice has been a strong proponent of unleashing American energy to strengthen energy security in the United States and to our allies around the world, while also achieving ambitious climate goals.

Professional Experience

Toby Z. Rice is the President and CEO of EQT Corporation, a role he assumed in July 2019 after leading a successful shareholder-led campaign to take over the company. Since taking the helm, Rice has spearheaded a remarkable transformation of EQT, positioning it as “America’s Natural Gas Champion.” Under his visionary leadership, EQT has significantly boosted its operational efficiency while, increasing productive capacity by 50%, reducing the corporate cost structure by 30%, and doubling profitability on a Free Cash Flow per share basis.

Mr. Rice’s strategic focus on sustainable operations has also led to impressive environmental milestones. EQT now boasts one of the lowest emissions intensities among natural gas producers worldwide. In October 2024, the company announced it had achieved net zero Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions across its upstream operations – surpassing its initial target of 2025. His leadership reflects a commitment not only to operational excellence but also to driving the energy industry toward a cleaner, more efficient future.

In 2024, Mr. Rice led the final piece of the transformation with the successful acquisition of Equitrans Midstream Corporation, creating America’s only large-scale, vertically integrated natural gas business. This acquisition allows our workforce to deliver on our mission to provide more affordable, more reliable, cleaner energy to the world.

Since May 2018, Mr. Rice has also served as a Partner at Rice Investment Group, a multi-strategy fund investing in all verticals of the energy sector.

Prior to being appointed EQT’s President and CEO and a member of the Board of Directors, Mr. Rice served as President, Chief Operating Officer and a member of the Board of Directors of Rice Energy Inc. Previously, he served in a number of positions with Rice Energy, its affiliates and predecessor entities.

Mr. Rice is a frequent keynote speaker at energy and climate conferences and events across the globe. In addition, he has served as an energy industry analyst appearing on CNN, CNBC, Bloomberg TV, Fox Business and Fox News.

Education
Mr. Rice graduated from Rollins College in 2004 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry. He completed his Master’s degree in Petroleum Engineering from Texas A&M University in 2024.

Industry/Community Leadership
Mr. Rice serves on the Board of the Bipartisan Policy Center’s American Energy Innovation Council and the National Association of Manufacturers. He is also a member of the American Exploration and Production Council’s Executive Committee.

Additionally, Mr. Rice serves on the Board of the EQT Foundation, which is committed to supporting the education and training of children and adults; the development of diverse, livable communities; and preserving our natural environments.

Technical Tuesday: Reducing Unplanned Outages

Technical Tuesday

Duct tape, baler wire, and hose clamps? How often have you seen a temporary “just to get running” measure become the permanent installation? Do you see anything wrong with this picture? Installations like this can lead to reliability issues, inaccurate data sampling, and deviation from hazardous environment classifications. Want to learn more about our industry’s tendency to set traps for itself in the name of reducing unplanned outages? Visit us at the Eastern Gas Compression Roundtable on May 2-4, 2023 at the David Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh.

Sensor mounting

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2023 Keynote Speaker

Bill Watson, General Manager
Keynote Address, May 2

Bill Watson, General Manager of Shell Polymers

Shell Polymers, Monaca
The EGCR is proud to announce the 2023 Keynote Speaker, Bill Watson, General Manager, Shell Polymers, Monaca. Join Bill as he discusses the challenges and triumphs of building the first world-scale Polymers plant in the Northeast.

Bill is the General Manager of the Shell Polymers Monaca site. He joined Shell in 1991 after finishing a degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Missouri – Rolla. Bill grew up in the Midwest of the United States (Kansas City, Missouri) and started his career with Shell at Westhollow as a process development engineer in Shell’s Epoxy Resins business. Since that time, he has worked at several Manufacturing locations in Texas (Deer Park and Port Arthur), Louisiana (Norco), England (Stanlow), Illinois (Argo) and now Pennsylvania. He has also worked in regional and global Downstream roles in Process Safety, where he led the roll out of the Process Safety Fundamentals. His experience includes technical roles, operations and startup management, HSSE and production and technology leadership positions. 
 
Bill brings a collaborative, intent based leadership style along with a demonstrated track record of developing people and driving sustainable results improvement. Bill brings his strong experience and demonstrated care for people to support Shell Polymers journey in becoming the unrivaled producer of polyethylene.

Bill is married to his spouse of 29 years and they have two sons, both of whom live in Texas. When not at work, he enjoys spending time with family, exercising and spending time outdoors.

Shell Polymers, Monaca, PA

Technical Tuesday: Oil Filter Change

Technical Tuesday

“It’s just an oil filter change; I have been doing that my whole life…” This is one of those moments that experience may not translate. Oil cleanliness is extremely important to our equipment. The techniques, methods, and steps technicians use to change filters may be different even from unit to unit at the same station. Great care should be used to protect the integrity of the clean side of the filter pot to prevent carnage like is shown these photos. Want to know more about oil, filters, filter housings, oil flushes, and more? Join us at the Eastern Gas Compression Roundtable on May 2-4, 2023 at the David Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh.

Technical Tuesday: Oil Filter Change
Technical Tuesday: Oil Filter Change

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CompressorTech2: EGCR Completes 50 Years

By Keefe Borden, CompressorTech2 Magazine

A half century is a long time, but the Eastern Gas Compression Roundtable has stayed relevant in the gas compression industry by consistently providing training programs that keep professionals up to speed with new developments in technology.

The organization’s 2022 conference was May 3-5, 2022 at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh, PA.

After 50 years, the Eastern Gas Compression Roundtable (EGCR) has grown into an industry powerhouse forum for training. It is run by a non-profit organization that gives high quality cost-effective education programs that focus on engine and compressor maintenance.

“For an event to survive 50 years is quite an accomplishment,” said Joyce Perhac, the organization’s executive director. “I do not see this event going away at all. It offers a valuable experience to end users to get training.”

Around 1,000 participants typically attend the event, which includes an exhibition hall and sponsorship opportunities in addition to the training.

The event’s training classes have evolved with new technologies and its format has evolved as well. The conference has always included training classes, but many participants have said they like the roundtable format discussion, which often offers the opportunity to question a range of industry experts.

“They really like to pick the brain of the experts,” she said.

As a result, the format has evolved from single person presentations to include more roundtable discussions, which were common in the early years of the conference.

The last show was three years ago, before the outbreak of COVID-19. The show was scheduled for May 2020, but was postponed because the pandemic had just broken out.

“A lot of our attendees are younger station operators with families,” she said.

“We did not want them to be exposed and see them go home to their families.”

The event was postponed and then ultimately canceled for 2020.

The same happened the following year when some of the variants started to break out. By then, many companies were still on lockdown. “We didn’t feel that we could offer them a quality event that we are known for,” she said.

The format of the event stays relevant by surveying participants to see what they like and dislike about the event and adjustments to the program for the following year are considered to continue offering the best educational opportunities possible to professionals in the gas compression industry.

Most participants are from North America because of the classes it offers to end users. “We’ve found our niche. We stay in our lane and we do pretty well with it,” Perhac said.

The EGCR board of directors is a committed group of volunteers who guide the organization each year. They meet in person three times a year to plan for the upcoming training program and to keep costs reasonable for the participants, she said.

The EGCR dates back to the early 1970s, when members of the growing natural gas industry needed a forum for education and training that specialized in engine and compressor systems.

Representatives from several end users, product manufacturers and industry suppliers met at the Lakeview Country Club in Morgantown, West Virginia in April 1972. Participants had a strong interest in promoting safety, innovation and education.

The group agreed to form the Eastern Gas Compression Roundtable as it would address the needs of local industry and provide a valuable resource for companies and their employees.

The organizers agreed the roundtable was a valuable forum to provide opportunities for people in the gas compression and related industries to extend their knowledge of the operation and maintenance of compression units and related equipment. The organizers have extended training to include professionals in engineering, gas control, automation and controls, management and environment, health and safety.

The first roundtable as it became known was held in May 1973 on the Evansdale Campus of West Virginia University in cooperation with the College of Mineral Energy Resources.

2022 Keynote Address

ExxonMobil estimates hydrogen and carbon capture sequestration as $3 trillion dollar market by 2050

  • How does this fit into the existing and evolving US energy landscape?
  • What are some of the projects proposed and underway?
  • How is the US government incentivizing investment?

What are the opportunities for the industry?

Tom Gellrich, President and Founder of H2-CCS Network is one of the pioneers in identifying opportunities in hydrogen and carbon capture sequestration. He is also CEO and Founder of TopLine Analytics which identifies the downstream impacts of the Shale Gas revolution in chemicals, plastics and manufacturing sectors. His presentations and white papers have been extensively quoted and received international attention.
 
He began his career as a Chemical Engineer with ExxonMobil designing ethylene and propylene compressors. At Total-Arkema, Tom held a variety of positions in Strategic Planning, Business Management, and Business Consulting. He was instrumental in founding Elemica, a B2B service for the chemical industry, where he served as Managing Director, European operations.

2022 Conference Hotel Reservations

Room reservations are now being accepted at The Westin Convention Center, Pittsburgh for the 2022 Eastern Gas Compression Roundtable. The Westin is conveniently connected to the David Lawrence Convention Center by an indoor walkway and is the host hotel for the annual EGCR. The EGCR room rates are effective Sunday, May 1 through Thursday, May 5. To obtain our special rate, please book your room by April 11, 2022.

Make Hotel Reservations
Westin room

Important Note: Beware of the hotel solicitation scam. The EGCR has NOT contracted, solicited, or requested any other organization, business, or person to offer hotel reservations for the EGCR. If you receive a phone call or email referencing hotel reservations claiming they are reaching out on behalf of or associated with the EGCR, THIS IS A SCAM. Read more about this at the link noted above.

2021 EGCR Rescheduled to 2022

With the increasing and overwhelming concerns surrounding Covid-19 once again, the EGCR Executive Committee and the Board of Directors have been watching, monitoring, and discussing the ongoing developments with equal amounts of apprehension and hope. However, as cases rise and the Delta variant continues to dominate, our concern has been on potential health consequences to those in attendance, as well as any economic ramifications as it relates to participation, travel, and lost work time for employees should anyone become sick.

Our primary concern is always the responsibility we feel towards our exhibitors and attendees so, with this in mind, the Board has made the difficult decision to cancel the September 14-16, 2021 Roundtable and move to May 3-5, 2022.

Needless to say, this decision was not entered in to lightly, but was made after extensive discussion and with the utmost respect for the commitment and support each of you has shown to the EGCR. With the uncertainty of Covid spread in the coming weeks, we want to be sure that you are able to conduct business in a safe and healthy environment and are committed to doing everything within our power to assure that occurs.

For 2022, we will be at the David Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh and all elements of the event (exhibit hall; keynote; classes; Welcome Reception; Tuesday evening reception, golf tournament, etc.) will remain the same.
 

Things to Know

As an exhibitor, instructor or attendee, we realize you have invested in your commitment to participate in September.

  • Our previous policy of registration fee roll-over will remain in effect
  • Registered vendors and attendees will receive an email within a few days with more detailed information on hotel cancellations, refunds, rollovers, etc.

In this continuing time of uncertainty and challenges on many fronts, we wish everyone well and pray that you and your families remain safe and healthy.

EGCR Board of Directors

EGCR is Rescheduled to September 14-16, 2021

As a direct result of the on-going coronavirus pandemic, and after the most serious consideration of current updates on the availability of the vaccine and company travel restrictions, the Executive Committee of the EGCR has made the decision to move the EGCR from May 4-6, 2021 to September 14-16, 2021. We will be at the David Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh and all elements of the event (exhibit hall; keynote; classes; Welcome Reception; Tuesday evening reception, golf tournament, etc.) will remain the same.

We realize that some of you have already begun planning for the May event and wanted to be sure to give you ample time to adjust your planning to join us in September. Our previous policy of registration fee roll-over remains in effect. Feel free to contact us with any questions.

Technical Tuesday: Frame Vibration

Technical Tuesday

Is your recip’s foundation starting to deteriorate? Has anyone ever spilled oil on it? Maybe you think your crankshaft is unbalanced. If so, your recip may be trying to crawl away to another location. How can you tell? Join us at the Eastern Gas Compression Roundtable, September 14-16, 2021 at the David Lawrence Convention Center in downtown Pittsburgh, PA or contact us for more information.

 

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