President of ONG has a past in Enid

Oklahoma Natural Gas has a new president with roots in the Enid community.

Greg Phillips took the reins of the company, which provides natural gas to about 829,000 customers in the state, on March 1.

Prior to being named to his current position, Phillips had been president of Texas Gas Service since July 2008.

Phillips joined ONEOK, ONG’s parent company, in 1986 as an engineer trainee for Oklahoma Natural Gas. Prior to moving into his position in 2008, he was vice president of Texas Gas Service for five years and was previously vice president of gas supply for ONEOK Field Services in Tulsa.

Phillips, who graduated from Tulsa University with a degree in petroleum engineering, described the year he spent in Enid as an engineer for ONG as educational.

“I was working for our company for just over a year, I began in 1986 and in the summer of 1987 they asked me to move to Enid for a while and work in our district office out there,” he said.

The year spent in Enid allowed Phillips to work closer with the supply end of the natural gas industry.

“It was a very educational year for me,” he said.

During his year in Enid, Phillips said his job took him throughout northwest Oklahoma, covering an area from Ponca City to Erick to Shattuck.

“I very much enjoyed working in western Oklahoma and spending that year in Enid,” Phillips said. “I just tremendously enjoyed it, working out there.”

He said he had a lot of “fond memories” of living in Enid.

“I was always impressed with the sense of civic pride Enid had,” he said. “I thought the city leadership was very proud of the town, and I thought they did a great job leading a city of that size.

“It was just another place I looked forward to getting to know.”