American Oil and Gas Reporter - February 2019 - 16

IndustryDigest
API Address Emphasizes
Rules, Trade, Infrastructure
WASHINGTON-Appropriate
regulations, effective trade policy and
adequate infrastructure are three key
conditions to maintaining U.S. energy
leadership, advised American
Petroleum Institute President and Chief
Executive Officer Mike Sommers
during API's ninth annual State of
American Energy address.
Energy plays a vital role in the U.S.
economy, he noted in the Jan. 8
address, and net oil imports are on
pace to fall to levels unseen since
1958. "We are a world away from an
era when our entire economy seemed
to depend on the changing moods and
interests of an oil cartel," Sommers
observed. "There are days when the
United States exports more oil than
some OPEC nations produce. In global
energy markets, we are playing with a
different hand, to the advantage of this
country and many others.
"In our own country, there is no
overstating how much today's energy
revolution is changing life for the
better," he continued. "Stable,
affordable energy is reviving American
manufacturing, restoring jobs we used
to hear were gone forever."
Energy production growth also has
benefitted the environment, he
emphasized. "Natural gas has become the
main source of electricity, making
America the world leader in reducing
carbon emissions," Sommers pointed out.
Sommers attributed the U.S. energy
revolution to the industry's freedom to
innovate and the market's freedom to
work. "The key to energy regulations is
to keep them grounded in common
sense and hard science, while letting
this industry deliver on the next wave of
innovation," he said. "Do that, and we
will continue to meet the challenges of
climate change."
Effective trade policy also is critical
to the industry's success, he advised.
"Canada and Mexico are our best
energy customers, so we like the United
States-Mexico-Canada free trade
agreement and will work to see it
approved without delay," he vowed.
Tariffs and quotas on steel restrict
access to materials critical to producing,
refining and transporting energy, he
observed, so policymakers should fight
anti-American trade practices using
16 THE AMERICAN OIL & GAS REPORTER

methods that preserve America's
energy-driven economic leadership.
"The third condition (for continued
energy abundance) is expanding energy
infrastructure across the United States,"
Sommers argued. "Even if we get
everything else right, infrastructure has to
keep pace with production. It's essential
to consumers. It's essential to workers in
energy, manufacturing and construction."
While preparing the State of
American Energy report, API
commissioned The Harris Poll to survey
registered voters' opinions on energy.
The report says 78 percent favored
increased production of oil and gas
resources and 84 percent supported
expanding the country's energy
infrastructure. It adds that 83 percent
see natural gas and oil as important to
the future. r

Judge Denies Challenge
To Oil & Gas Lease Sale
RENO, NV.-A federal judge in
Nevada has rebuked two
environmental groups that challenged
a June 2017 Bureau of Land
Management lease sale in Nevada's
Battle Mountain district.
In September 2017, the Center for
Biological Diversity and the Sierra
Club argued that BLM violated the
National Environmental Policy Act by
failing to prepare an environmental
impact statement on three leases
covering 5,760 acres in a 200,000-acre
June 2017 lease sale. The two groups
contended BLM "failed to consider the
potential consequences of oil drilling
in the area, from contamination of
critical desert water sources to
emission of climate-altering
greenhouse gases" (AOGR, October
2017, pg. 28).
However, in January, according to
published reports, U.S. District Judge
Larry Hicks dismissed the lawsuit,
finding, "The administrative record
reveals that BLM, using historical
information and its experience,
analyzed in general terms what could
happen if a lessee decided to drill for oil
and gas, and constructed ground
disturbing infrastructure.
"BLM has not irreversibly
committed its resources toward oil and
gas development, and therefore, it was
not required to prepare an EIS," reports
say Hicks added. r

Court Upholds Permit
For Reﬁnery Construction
Adjacent To National Park
BELFIELD, N.D.-A North Dakota
District Court has upheld a key permit
awarded to a company to build an oil
refinery in the state.
According to Meridian Energy
Group Inc., the ruling affirmed a
construction permit the North Dakota
Department of Health-Air Quality
Division issued to the company for its
Davis Refinery project. The department
issued the permit in June 2018 after an
18-month review process, which
involved numerous governmental
agencies, the company says.
The National Parks Conservation
Association, Environmental Law and
Policy Center and Dakota Resource
Council filed a lawsuit to stop the
project, claiming pollution from the
refinery would harm Theodore
Roosevelt National Park, which is three
miles from the project site, media
reports note.
According to the company, NDDoH
officials consider their review more
extensive than required and say its
methods have been approved by the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Meridian also indicates David Glatt,
chief of the department's Environmental
Health Section, described the process as
"extremely exhaustive" for the agency.
"We don't take any permit lightly,"
Glatt is quoted, "Our job is to follow
the science and the law."
Media reports indicate that Judge
Dann Greenwood ruled NDDoH
successfully supported its position and
wrote that the department's "expertise is
entitled to deference when, as here, the
subject matter is complex."
"Meridian believes that this outcome
demonstrates the careful preparation
that has gone into the engineering and
permitting of the Meridian project,"
says Meridian Chairman and Chief
Executive Officer William Prentice. "As
a result of this decision, the Davis
Refinery is closer to completion, and
Meridian is closer to bringing the
benefits of Davis to the local
community."
Media accounts note that opponents
of the project also have filed other
objections on different grounds, but the
company notes all the other appeals
also have gone its way.
American Oil and Gas Reporter - February 2019

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