November 12, 2009
posted on: Nov 12, 2009
IPAMS Meetings and Announcements
IPAMS Service and Supply Sector Outlook: What We Have Overcome and What Lies Ahead?
November 17, 2009
IPAMS will host a featured discussion on the Service and Supply Sector Outlook on November 17, 2009 from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. at the Westin Tabor Center. A networking cocktail reception will follow.
Industry experts Will Matthews with Ensign United States Drilling, Kevin Bailey with Cameron International and Randy Yeager with Halliburton Energy Services will be leading a discussion on important and timely topics such as:
-Hydraulic fracturing fluid disclosure
-Wellhead vendor consolidation
-Consequences of decreased activity in the Rockies in 2009
-How to lower long term costs for while providing work commitments and ROI for service providers
-Impact of legislative proposals
Please click here to register for this event.
Contact Becca Ness with any question regarding this event.
House Natural Resources Committee Letter on Categorical Exclusions (CX)
Representatives Doc Hastings (R-WA), Ranking Member of the Committee; Rob Bishop (R-UT); Doug Lamborn (R-CO); and Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) sent a letter to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar last Thursday on the role CXs under Section 390 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 play in increasing American energy security while providing protection of the environment. They warned Salazar not to use settlement of a lawsuit as an excuse for gutting the CXs. The letter was in anticipation of an announcement by the Secretary on major reforms to Interior’s oil and gas program, including severely limiting the use of CXs. It is unclear when DOI will announce reforms, but hopefully this letter from the Committee will cause them continue with caution.
Click here for the letter from the Committee.
Click here to read IPAMS news release.
IPAMS Holiday Open House
December 9, 2009
Please join us for our Holiday Open House from on Wednesday, December 9th from 3:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. at the IPAMS office. Drinks and hors d’oeuvres will be served.
No R.S.V.P. required.
IPAMS is Hiring
IPAMS is seeking to fill two staff positions:
Qualified applicants should send a cover letter and resume to EnergyWest2010@gmail.com.
IPAMS Photo Contest Winner
Congratulations to IPAMS Member Patricia Buys for her submission to IPAMS Annual Photo Contest.
Her photo will be on the cover of IPAMS 2010 Calendar.
The New Age of Domestic Natural Gas
IPAMS President George Solich recently had a face to face meeting with Senator Barbara Boxer, Chair of the Senate Environment & Public Works Committee and lead legislator on federal climate change legislation. On Boxer’s request, George penned a letter to summarize what they had discussed. Throughout industry, efforts like this are helping to raise awareness about the enormous opportunities associated with natural gas.
Click here to read the letter.
Other Upcoming Meetings
* Montana Basin Advisors Network – November 16th at 1:00 p.m.
* Wyoming Basin Advisors Network – November 17th at 10:30 a.m.
* Air Quality Committee – November 17th at 3:00 p.m.
* New Mexico Basin Advisors Network – November 19th at 10:00 a.m.
* Leasing Advocacy – November 19th at 1:30 a.m. (Please note time change)
* Wildlife Committee – November 20th at 1:30 p.m.
Agendas are available for upcoming meetings at http://www.westernenergyalliance.org/advocacy/. All meetings unless otherwise indicated are Mountain time, and at IPAMS and via teleconference.
Visit westernenergyalliance.org for the latest news affecting the Intermountain West’s oil and natural gas industry. Headlines are updated daily from local, national and international news sources. You may also sign up for daily newsbrief emails under the Manage Account section of the “Members Only” page.
The West
BLM now collecting higher drilling application fee IPAMS Quoted
published in: Associated Press on: 11/11/2009 by: Mead Gruver
A huge increase in the application fee for oil and gas companies to drill on federal land is unfair and won’t speed up review of drilling permits, industry officials said Wednesday. The $6,500-per-well fee was part of the Interior Department appropriations bill passed by Congress and signed into law by President Obama on Oct. 30. The new fee amounts to a 62 percent increase over the previous $4,000 fee. The U.S. Bureau of Land Management, which oversees federal oil and gas rights and drilling on federal land, says the higher fee is needed to keep up with the cost of processing new drilling applications.
Colorado
Lawsuit over Colorado oil and gas rules moves forward
published in: Houston Chronicle on: 11/11/2009 by: Staff
A judge has ruled the Colorado Oil & Gas Association’s lawsuit against the state of Colorado’s new oil and gas rules can move ahead. The lawsuit focuses on whether the state “accurately and publicly forecast what it would cost the state agency to enforce the new rules, and whether the agency accurately forecast the cost of compliance the rules would level on companies operating in Colorado.”
Anadarko says permit process may delay investment in Wattenberg oil field
published in: Denver Post on: 11/10/2009 by: Mark Jaffe
Anadarko Petroleum Corp. is prepared to invest $100 million in Colorado’s Wattenberg oil and gas field next year — provided the state can trim the time it takes to issue permits, said James Hackett, Anadarko’s chief executive officer. Issuing permits is taking about 85 days, Anadarko and industry executives say. A more reasonable time frame would be 45 days to allow for more effective utilization of equipment and the ability to respond to market changes, company executives said.
GarCo votes against regs on fracturing by the feds
published in: Grand Junction Daily Sentinel on: 11/09/2009 by: Dennis Webb
In a decision being cheered by the energy industry and lamented by some area residents, the leading natural-gas-producing county in Colorado has come out against legislation to federally regulate hydraulic fracturing of wells. Garfield County commissioners voted 2–1 Monday in opposition to legislation proposed by U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Denver. The bill would subject fracturing to the federal Safe Drinking Water Act and require disclosure of chemicals used in the process.
Williams adding gas rigs amid market skepticism
published in: Grand Junction Daily Sentinel on: 11/08/2009 by: Dennis Webb
The region’s largest natural gas producer, Williams, will add three more drilling rigs locally over the next year, and its top executive is heralding the increased pipeline capacity that has closed the gap in price between gas produced in the Rockies and elsewhere. However, other local companies and industry officials say that with gas prices in general still being low, it will take more than the elimination of the price differential to trigger a significant rebound in the pace of drilling in western Colorado’s Piceance basin.
Talks yield no accord on Roan leasing
published in: Grand Junction Daily Sentinel on: 11/06/2009 by: Dennis Webb
Daylong talks failed to result in a settlement Friday of a lawsuit over oil and gas leasing on the Roan plateau, an attorney for conservation groups says. However, another settlement meeting is likely, said Mike Freeman, an attorney for Earthjustice, which is representing the Colorado Environmental Coalition in the lawsuit. Also, Freeman said the Bureau of Land Management is planning to suspend the leases in question while the talks continue.
Montana
Climate bill’s cap-and-trade plan would cost Montanans
While the U.S. Senate considers a “cap-and-trade” bill that includes creation of a new federal bureaucracy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the Montana Petroleum Association (MPA) is becoming more concerned about the toll such a plan would take on our industry and on Montana consumers. The Senate bill, modeled after one that passed the U.S. House in June, is nearly 1,000 pages long. We have sifted through most of the proposal, and with each reading it becomes clear what this bill WILL and WON’T do.
Click here to read more from the Montana Petroleum Association.
New Mexico
NM Lt. Gov.: Speaks on the future of region’s economy
published in: Farmington Daily Times on: 11/10/2009 by: James Monteleone
Lt. Gov. Diane Denish, addressing the Northwest New Mexico Economic Development Forum on Monday in Farmington, emphasized a need to include oil and gas producers while developing new renewable energy sources statewide. Addressing government and business leaders from San Juan, McKinley and Cibola counties participating in the two-day forum hosted at McGee Park, Denish focused on the need for a “comprehensive energy policy” that protects the extractive industries while providing incentives for green energy innovation and development.
North Dakota
Salazar sees big energy future in North Dakota
published in: Associated Press on: 11/10/2009 by: Staff
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar told a tough crowd of mostly energy company officials Monday that oil, natural gas and coal will be part of the nation’s energy future. North Dakota, he said, has it all. Salazar told the Great Plains Energy Expo in Bismarck that the Obama admnistration is crafting a comprehensive energy policy to replace earlier failed attempts and noted “climate change is a reality we have to address.” “North Dakota is going to be leading the way to a new energy frontier,” said Salazar, who was invited to Monday’s meeting by Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., the chairman of the Senate Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee.
N.D. companies look at climate bill’s bottom line
published in: Bismarck Tribune on: 11/09/2009 by: Christopher Bjorke
If the future of energy in North Dakota is green and powered by renewable energy, the present is fossil fuels. Climate legislation pending in Washington aims at reducing carbon emissions, but state energy utilities are telling Washington they need more time to develop new technology. “Like a lot of other cooperatives in the country, our bedrock is coal. That’s what we have here,” said Ron Harper, chief executive officer of Basin Electric Cooperative, during the group’s annual meeting in Bismarck last week.
“Remember Charlie” Safety Presentations
November 11-19, 2009
The “Remember Charlie” presentation details Charlie Morecraft’s personal near-death experience at a refinery. This powerful message for improving safety in the workplace and has been extremely popular across the country. There will be safety presentations at six locations November in western North Dakota.
The 90-minute session is free to all attendees, but registration is required (click here to register.)
Click here for more information.
Utah
Request for 2010 Sponsorship of IPAMS Utah Representative Lowell Braxton
IPAMS is seeking your company’s support to continue IPAMS Utah Representative Lowell Braxton’s sponsorship through 2010. Lowell has served as IPAMS’ Utah representative for four years now. This past year, Lowell served a crucial role in IPAMS’ response to several significant issues in Utah and his efforts go to ensure that our members’ voices are being heard at all levels of government. Lowell’s efforts are not possible without the generous support from our member companies, so if Utah is part of your company’s business plan for 2010, we hope you’ll seriously consider sponsoring Lowell.
Please contact Spencer Kimball or call 303-623-0987 by December 1, 2009 to indicate your company’s willingness to sponsor Lowell Braxton.
Click here to read some of Lowell’s 2009 accomplishments.
Utah lawmakers may face $850M budget shortfall
published in: Deseret News on: 11/11/2009 by: Arthur Raymond
Utah legislators will be faced with an estimated $850 million budget deficit when they convene their 2010 session early next year. While the conversations, and conjecture, about how to deal with the gaping hole left by plummeting tax revenues have already begun, the first real step in the process will come mid-December when Gov. Gary Herbert submits his budget proposal to lawmakers.
Guv stresses public lands on D.C. trip
published in: Deseret News on: 11/11/2009 by: Lisa Riley Roche
During his first trip to Washington, D.C., since taking office, Utah’s GOP Gov. Gary Herbert said he reached out to the Democratic administration on a key public-lands issue. The governor said he pitched Deputy Interior Secretary David Hayes about awarding at least some of the oil and gas leases in Utah won in an auction tainted by the actions of an environmental activist. Herbert told the Deseret News on Tuesday that Hayes invited both the state and the private companies involved to offer legal arguments for not rebidding 17 of the 77 parcels involved. “They won them fair and square, they ought to be given the leases rights now,” the governor said. “Let’s find a process we can all agree is fair and gives us confidence the system is not being gamed.”
Democrats in Congress ask Interior to preserve 9.4 million acres in Utah
published in: Salt Lake Tribune on: 11/10/2009 by: Thomas Burr
Nearly 90 members of Congress want the Interior Department to protect 9.4 million acres of Utah public lands from development while lawmakers consider a measure to set aside the areas as wilderness. Led by Rep. Maurice Hinchey, D-N.Y., the members of Congress wrote to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar on Tuesday asking him to use his “considerable authorities” to protect the millions of acres until Congress can act. “While there are some differences of opinion on how to protect Utah’s remarkably beautiful landscape, there is a consensus that millions of acres within the state warrant wilderness protection,” Hinchey said in a statement.
Wyoming
County frets over drill fluid IPAMS Quoted
published in: Jackson Hole News & Guide on: 11/11/2009 by: Cara Rank and Cory Hatch
Fearing for the health of local medical workers, Teton County commissioners have expressed worries about the lack of information on chemicals used in gas field work in Sublette County. The board unanimously approved a resolution last week that outlined worries about hydraulic fracturing fluids and called for action. Hydraulic fracturing is a method energy companies use to get gas from geological structures by pumping fluids at high pressure into the ground and fracturing the subsurface rock.
Gas producers aim to hold steady
published in: Casper Star-Tribune on: 11/09/2009 by: Dustin Bleizeffer
Natural gas production levels in Wyoming have mostly held steady this year in the midst of a huge drop in drilling activity. Now some of the major players are making steps toward moderately increased levels of drilling for 2010. “We’re relatively upbeat about the Rockies right now, because of the differentials and pricing we’re seeing are a lot better than they’ve been in the past. The transportation out of the Rockies is better, and that improves the economics of production in Wyoming,” said Chip Minty, spokesman for Devon Energy.
Wyo. BLM defers leasing in Adobe Town area IPAMS Quoted
published in: Associated Press on: 11/05/2009 by: Mead Gruver
The U.S. Bureau of Land Management said Wednesday that it was deferring the auction of controversial oil and gas leases in the high desert Adobe Town area in southwest Wyoming. The bureau’s Wyoming office said that it is seeking guidance from the office in Washington, D.C., on “wilderness issues” and won’t offer the 15 parcels at an auction in Cheyenne on Dec. 1.
Wyoming Pipeline Authority Public Meeting Notice
December 10, 2009
The WPA will be holding a meeting on adequacy of natural gas pipeline and storage infrastructure in Wyoming to support gas fired power generation.
The meeting will be held at 10:00 a.m. on December 10, 2009 at the Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission Building (2211 King Boulevard, Casper, WY)
Contact Brian Jeffries, Executive Director or Colby Drechsel or call (307) 237-5009.
Washington Watch
Power Shift: Winners and Losers In the Energy Future, From the IEA
published in: Wall Street Journal (Subscription Required) on: 11/11/2009 by: Keith Johnson
We mentioned yesterday the International Energy Agency’s outline of what the world’s energy future would look like over the next 20 years if it took serious steps to tackle climate change, rather than continuing on a business-as-usual course. In a nutshell, the IEA’s vision of the next two decades would make T. Boone Pickens crow: Wind power and natural gas are the two big winners under the IEA’s climate-change scenario. In contrast, clean coal and nuclear power—battlehorses of the traditional energy business—might play only a relatively minor role over the next two decades, the IEA says.
FERC Chief Warns CFTC Against Overreaching Into Power Markets
published in: Dow Jones Newswires on: 11/10/2009 by: Siobhan Hughes
The head of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Tuesday warned the Commodity Futures Trading Commission not to go too far in its efforts to regulate power contracts. The CFTC has proposed regulating dozens of gas and electricity contracts, mostly traded on IntercontinentalExchange Inc., using powers it received under a 2008 law. The agency already oversees energy futures traded in arenas such as the New York Mercantile Exchange. At issue is whether the CFTC plans to go further and move into a different type of contract known as a firm transmission right, which is used to manage congestion on the electric grid within the nation’s organized markets, or regional transmission organizations.
Click here to read CFTC Chairman Gary Gensler’s speech to the Natural Gas Roundtable Luncheon.
Senate Banking Committee releases discussion draft on Restoring American Financial Stability Act
November 10, 2009
“Bold Proposal to Create a Sound Economic Foundation to Grow Jobs, Protect Consumers, Rein in Wall Street, End Too Big to Fail, Prevent Another Financial Crisis”
Click here to read the discussion draft (in the full Financial Reform bill, the portion pertaining to derivatives can be found on pages 368 to 594.)
Energy, environmental interests set to battle
published in: The Hill on: 11/09/2009 by: Jim Snyder
Energy and environmental interests are shoring up their lobbying teams as the climate change bill advances in the Senate. The American Petroleum Institute, the trade group that represents the oil industry, hired Martin Durbin away from the American Chemistry Council to lead its lobbying efforts as executive vice president for government affairs. Durbin is a former Democratic aide in the Senate and House.
Environmental groups at odds over new tack in climate fight
published in: Washington Post on: 11/06/2009 by: David A. Fahrenthold
A curious debate has broken out among American environmental groups, as the Senate balkily starts to focus on the threat of climate change. Is this really the time to talk about the threat of climate change? Now, some groups have muted their alarms about wildfires, shrinking glaciers and rising seas. Not because they’ve stopped caring about them — but because they’re trying to win over people who might care more about a climate bill’s non-environmental side benefits, such as “green” jobs and reduced oil imports.
IPAA advocates fact-based hydraulic fracturing study
published in: Oil & Gas Journal on: 11/06/2009 by: Paula Dittrick
The Independent Petroleum Association of America will work to ensure that an upcoming study on hydraulic fracturing is scientific, based on facts, and includes input from the oil and gas industry as well as state regulators. Various speakers at IPAA’s annual meeting in New Orleans discussed the attention and concerns raised by some members of Congress and some environmental groups about fracing and its safety.
Media Watch
Op-ed: Shale gas transforms energy picture
published in: Reuters on: 11/11/2009 by: John Kemp
Nothing illustrates technology’s power to transform the energy outlook more clearly than the development of the Barnett shale gas deposit under the city of Fort Worth in Texas. The resulting increase in U.S. gas output has made a decisive contribution to the “unexpected boom” in North American gas production and the emergence of a worldwide “gas glut,” cited by the International Energy Agency (IEA) in its World Economic Outlook (WEO).
Editorial: Law helps reduce conflicts
published in: Casper Star-Tribune on: 11/10/2009 by: Editorial Staff
We’re happy to see that when Wyoming lawmakers finally tackled the split estates issue four years ago, they apparently got it just about right. Until the passage of the Wyoming Split Estates Act, which controls procedures for oil and gas development when the mineral ownership has been split from the surface, the mineral developer’s right of access was considered primary and fundamental. The 2005 law requires the developer to make reasonable accommodation of existing surface uses.
Editorial: Climate change bill is in trouble
published in: Los Angeles Times on: 11/08/2009 by: Editorial Staff
Political tactics tie up the Senate version, and efforts to salvage it may be too little too late. If you think the partisan divide over healthcare reform is ugly, take a look at the animus in the Senate as debate continues on a key climate change bill. So wide is the gulf that long-held Senate traditions on decorum are breaking down. And as Washington fiddles, the Earth burns. The Senate version of a House bill aimed at capping greenhouse gas emissions was stalled last week by Republicans on the Environment and Public Works Committee, who boycotted the discussion, demanding that the Environmental Protection Agency agree to do a more thorough study of the bill’s economic impact.
Op-ed: Natural gas should be the vehicle fuel of the immediate future
published in: Grand Junction Daily Sentinel on: 11/06/2009 by: Sen. Mark Udall (D-CO) and T. Boone Pickens
Too often in Congress, and in our political debate, people stake out a position and, in the course of defending that position, refuse to credit anything their opponent is saying. We’ve all seen that. When it comes to passing a clean energy plan for the United States, we need to take a broader, longer look at all of the tools we have at our disposal to accomplish two very important goals: Enhancing national security and reducing our dependency on foreign oil.
Editorial: Boomtown
published in: Salt Lake Tribune on: 11/06/2009 by: Editorial Staff
Silver Eagle’s tarnished safety record at its Woods Cross oil refinery would lead a cautious observer to suggest that there ought to be a blast zone free of homes on its periphery. Unfortunately, there is not an easy way to achieve that today, years after a developer convinced Woods Cross officials that it would be safe to build homes near the refinery. The shock wave from an explosion at the refinery last week blew one home off its foundation, rendering it uninhabitable, and broke walls, windows and doors at others. The report was felt as far away as Farmington. Fortunately, the blast did not injure anyone. Federal regulators are investigating the cause.
Op-ed: Lower-carbon future? Try natural gas
published in: Washington Post on: 11/06/2009 by: Tony Hayward, Chief Executive of BP
The public debate on climate change can seem beguilingly simple: alternative fuels good; fossil fuels bad. If we burn less of the latter and use more of the former, the argument goes, we will be well on our way to a lower-carbon future. But shaping our energy future will be more complex than simply using less fossil fuel and more alternatives. Getting to a lower-carbon world while also providing the increasing energy needed to power a growing economy requires a more nuanced approach.
Op-ed: Obama Keeps Jobs and Energy in West on Hold
published in: Human Events on: 11/05/2009 by: Rep. Rob Bishop (R-UT)
While the early pioneers traveled to the frontier for many different reasons, they were all drawn by the promise of opportunity and a better life in the West. These early pioneer families relied on the land and wealth of natural resources to start anew. Today, the same land and opportunities that brought good fortune to so many are the target of extreme special-interest groups imposing burdensome regulations to restrict reasonable access to our nation’s abundant natural resources.
Environment and Wildlife
Staple species: Prairie dogs important to West wildlife chain
published in: Grand Junction Daily Sentinel on: 11/07/2009 by: Dave Buchanan
Prairie dogs will pop up as a topic of interest Monday at a daylong seminar in Delta, sponsored by the Colorado Division of Wildlife. The seminar, from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. at the Bill Heddles Recreation Center, will focus on the state’s recently developed Gunnison’s Prairie Dog and White-tailed Prairie Dog Conservation Strategy.
Industry encroaches on grouse
published in: Pinedale Roundup on: 11/05/2009 by: Kaitlyn McAvoy
Oil and natural gas development in Wyoming and other Western states might be good for local economies, but a recent study said the growing industry could significantly reduce future sage grouse populations if drilling activity is not shifted away from the species’ natural habitats. The three-year study began in the fall of 2006 and was published in mid-October. Intermountain West states including Colorado, Montana, Wyoming, Utah and North and South Dakota were examined where the Bureau of Land Management project nearly 96,000 new oil and gas wells will be drilled in the next 20 years.
Technology, Alternatives & Renewables
State eyes counties’ wind power role
published in: Casper Star-Tribune/Billings Gazette on: 11/11/2009 by: Dustin Bleizffer
Wyoming’s Wind Energy Task Force has delivered a 78-page report to state lawmakers outlining how the state and counties might regulate the fledgling wind energy industry. One of the toughest policy decisions for lawmakers may be how to offer counties some measure of control over wind development without superseding the authority of the state. “This is a matter of expressed powers. Counties are governments with limited powers.
Jobs Question Jeopardizes Wind Farm’s Stimulus Deal
published in: New York Times on: 11/06/2009 by: Tom Zeller Jr. and Keith Bradsher
News that $450 million in federal stimulus money might go toward installing Chinese-made wind turbines in Texas prompted criticism on Thursday, with Senator Charles E. Schumer, Democrat of New York, calling on the Obama administration to deny federal financing. According to partners in the deal, the proposed 600-megawatt wind farm, announced late last week, would be built on 36,000 acres in West Texas using 240 wind turbines manufactured by A-Power Energy Generation Systems of Shenyang, China.
Markets
Builders finish gas pipeline to East Coast
published in: Grand Junction Daily Sentinel on: 11/11/2009 by: Dennis Webb
Pipeline builders have completed the last miles of a $6.7 billion, 1,700-mile journey to deliver locally produced natural gas to faraway markets in the eastern United States. The last, 179-mile leg of the 42-inch-diameter Rockies Express Pipeline goes into service today, extending the pipeline to its eastern terminus in Clarington on Ohio’s eastern border. The project began serving Missouri last year, and reached western Ohio this summer.
Tudor Pickering Holt forecasts dramatic rise in gas prices
published in: Oil & Gas Journal on: 11/5/2009 by: Paula Dittrick
Tudor Pickering Holt & Co. (TPH) foresees a fairly dramatic recovery in natural gas prices next year, a spokesman told an Oct. 29 energy finance summit at Rice University’s Jess H. Jones Graduate School of Business. Bobby Tudor, chief executive officer of the investment bank, said TPH early this year finished a gas supply study in which it forecast gas prices will average $7.50/Mcfe on the New York Mercantile Exchange during 2010 and $6.50/Mcfe in 2011. Over the next decade, TPH forecasts a long-term US rig count of 1,500 rigs of which 400 will be drilling for oil, 600 for shale gas, and 500 for nonshale gas.
Industry News and Events
SPCC Rule
EPA has issued amendments to the Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure (SPCC) rule, effective January 14, 2010.
Reel Slanted: Split Estate Movie Long on Anecdote, Hyperbole; Short on Facts, Evidence
Energy In Depth has put together a break down of the anti-energy documentary, which separates fact from fiction on history, performance of hydraulic fracturing. IPAMS is a partner of Energy In Depth and continues to coordinate industry response to the misinformation about this safe and critical industry practice.
Click here to read the film’s analysis.
IPAA Rolls Out Key Oil & Gas Data, Employment Figures
The Labor Department announced that 190,000 jobs were lost in the month of October, bringing the national unemployment to 10.2 percent – the highest it’s been since 1983. The Independent Petroleum Association of American (IPAA) understands the critical role that domestic oil and gas production plays in creating and providing good-paying jobs for hundreds of thousands of Americans.
ANGA names Regina Hopper president, CEO
published in: Oil & Gas Journal on: 11/06/2009 by: Nick Snow
America’s Natural Gas Alliance (ANGA) had named Regina Hopper president and CEO of the organization. The alliance was formed earlier this year by North America’s leading independent natural gas exploration and production companies. Together, ANGA members produce more than 40% of the total US natural gas supply.
American Petroleum Institute names new lobbyist
published in: Politico on: 11/05/2009 by: Mike Allen
The American Petroleum Institute plans to announce Thursday that Martin J. Durbin has been named its new Executive Vice President of Government Affairs. Durbin will join API in December from the American Chemistry Council (ACC), He replaces Jim Ford, who has worked at API for the past 10 years. Jack Gerard, president and CEO of API, told POLITICO in a telephone interview that Durbin “will make us more nimble, and get us more actively engaged in the world of advocacy.” “Marty’s contributions to that will be immense,” Gerard said.
Pickens: Natural gas plan is good for about 25, 30 years
published in: Dallas Morning News on: 11/05/2009 by: Elizabeth Souder
T. Boone Pickens, who has spent the past year-and-a-half telling Americans the answer to their energy woes is natural gas, said Thursday the U.S. natural gas supply will likely dry up in about 30 years. At that point, Americans will have to find some other technology to fuel vehicles, Pickens said during a speech on Thursday at the University of Texas at Dallas. “Natural gas is just a bridge,” he said. “Twenty-five, 30 years is what we’re going to get out of it. Then you’ll have to get over to either fuel cells or battery. You’ll have to be on to some other transportation fuel by then,” he said.
Whiting Cookbook Coming Soon…
Whiting Petroleum Corporation employees have put together a cookbook of favorite recipes to raise funds for the Food Bank of the Rockies. The cookbook – “Food For The Hungry–Recipes Worth Whiting For” – contains lots and lots of tasty recipes; funny sayings about food, cooking and diets; interesting and beautiful photos of oil and gas operations; as well as a glossary of oil and gas terms that sound like food terms – but aren’t!
Food Bank of the Rockies provides food supplies to more than 1,000 hunger relief programs in northern Colorado and Wyoming, helping nearly 400,000 people in the region who live in poverty and struggle to meet their basic food needs; almost half of whom are children. Since 1996 Whiting has raised more than $238,300, providing more than 953,200 meals (approximately seven tons of food) for our hungry neighbors in Colorado and Wyoming. You too can help the Food Bank through your purchase of Whiting’s cookbook. The cost is only $12.00 each, and 100% of the proceeds will be donated directly to the Food Bank. The cookbooks would make terrific holiday, birthday, anniversary, or other fun gifts for just about anyone! To order or for more information, contact Carla Wilson or (303) 837-4225.
Air Quality Issues in the Rocky Mountain Region
November 17, 2009
The Rocky Mountain States Section of the Air & Waste Management Association is hosting a one-day conference at the Marriott Denver West focusing on air quality issues in the Rocky Mountain region. The conference will include presentations and discussions from state and federal government representatives, researchers, industry experts, and environmental organization professionals. Topics will focus on technical, legislative and permitting issues and updates on air quality in the region, featuring individual speakers/presentations and panel discussions. The conference program is below.
Click here to register online.
If you have any questions regarding the conference, please contact Sharon Good, or call (720) 929-6458.
