American Oil and Gas Reporter - June 2016 - 95

ConventionSection: Virginia Oil & Gas Association

VOGA Beneﬁts From Common Voice
CHESTER, VA.-The Virginia Oil &
Gas Association works to improve the
condition of the business environment for
its members across the commonwealth,
in part by developing a common voice
among its members-whether they are
producers, service or allied companies,
pipeline companies, or gas distribution
utilities.
As part of that mission, VOGA President Brent Archer says the association
has begun conversations on regional commonality with its counterparts in Kentucky,
West Virginia and Pennsylvania, with the
goal of leveraging the states' collective
resources to develop a united message.
"We need to do that. I have been involved in the energy business for 30
years, and only now is the industry becoming 'cool.' When you become cool,
you attract a lot more attention," says
Archer, also president of Columbia Gas
of Virginia, in Chester. "I can remember
times when we were siting pipelines and
groups such as the Sierra Club would
support the project because it saw natural
gas as a bridge fuel. But at that time,
they thought the bridge was 10 years
long-now it is 200 years long."
With the industry's higher profile,
thanks in large part to the shale revolution,
Archer says energy companies must recognize they will attract more opponents,
and be prepared to react accordingly.
"Our ability to work across state lines
and with different trade organizations in
states that both produce and consume
natural gas is important for us. That collaboration helps us all to remain prepared
to see and respond to common issues as
they arise," he asserts.
VOGA has worked hard to ensure all
segments of Virginia's gas industry participate in association decisions, Archer
says, adding that working together has
proven to be very successful.
"I don't know how other states approach it, but I would be happy to advocate
to all of them the benefits of collaboration.
I think historically, our issues maybe
have been a little more divergent," he
says. "Those sorts of things are more on
the path of convergence today, and we
need to recognize that. This industry is
going to be a lot stronger if we collaborate
and are not Balkanized."
Archer says VOGA has worked consistently to diversify its membership in

the past five years.
"VOGA's foundation is the producing
side of the business, but recognizing that
all components of this business need to
work together, we really have reached
out to the pipeline and local distribution
companies," he says. "All the major
pipelines and LDCs operating in Virginia
are part of VOGA now, so we really are
developing into more than just a producer
organization."
All of its member companies should
see the value in interacting and developing
stronger relationships through understanding
what drives the priorities of other industry
segments, he assesses. "And, it is not an
expensive proposition, necessarily, to be a
part of VOGA, so it does provide good
value for that membership," Archer adds.
Coalbed Methane
The majority of Virginia's natural gas
production is coalbed methane operations
in the state's southwestern counties, Archer
indicates. He says CONSOL Energy remains the largest natural gas producer in
the state. Its Virginia Gas Operations production is centered in Buchanan, Tazewell
and Russell counties. EnerVest Ltd. has
begun an intensive drilling program on
acreage acquired from Range Resources
Corp. in late 2015 that covers four Virginia
counties and two in West Virginia, Archer
notes.
EnerVest says its $865 million acquisition of the 365,000-acre Nora Field includes 3,500 operated wells, a 1,500mile gathering system, and 9,000 undrilled
locations. Range adds third-quarter production for its Nora assets was 109 million
cubic feet a day.
While its neighboring states are developing the natural gas potential held in
the Utica and Marcellus shale formations,
Archer says Virginia producers have opted
to forego the limited shale opportunities
present in the state in favor of more historical CBM formations.
Assessing the relationship between
CBM operators and the coal industry,
Archer says they have tended to work favorably together, at least in Southwest
Virginia.
"They have come to terms on coexisting, so to speak," he allows. "In some
ways, the natural gas industry in the
Southwest was pretty successful in demonstrating to the coal business that it could

conduct operations in coal seams, and
not only protect the coal seams, but also,
in some cases, make them safer by removing the gas."
Looking at the impact of anti-development groups on industry activities,
Archer says one of his personal peeves is
hearing environmentalists tout the cutting-edge technology used by renewable
energy sources.
"The oil and gas industry sells itself
short," he offers. "Some highly advanced
technology was employed to make the
shale revolution happen. I always encourage people to watch what goes into
drilling a well today, and tell me that is
not advanced technology. All kinds of
advanced techniques and tools are being
deployed today-global positioning systems, downhole cameras, and sophisticated
safety measures to protect people and facilities-from production to end-use."
There are many reasons for Virginia's
producing community and its allied interests to be optimistic, Archer says.
Large industrial customers and power
generators are turning increasingly from
other fuel sources to natural gas, the
housing market is reviving and continuing
to turn to natural gas heat, and the market
as a whole is starting to understand that
gas is a plentiful, domestic, clean and
reasonably priced commodity.
"That is driving a lot of demand for
the product, especially as we see the
economy bounce back here in Virginia,"
he says.
❒

FERC Staff Recommends
Expansion Of Broad Run
WASHINGTON-The Broad Run Expansion Project, which entails new compressor stations and upgrades of existing
compressors, will not significantly affect
the environment and should be approved,
a recommendation by staff members at
the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission states.
Tennessee Gas Pipeline LLC filed the
permit for the project, which will provide
an additional 200,000 dekatherms a day of
firm incremental transportation service.
The project will add two compressor
stations in Kanawha County, W.V., and
one each in Madison County, Ky., and
Davidson County, Tn., FERC says. ❒
JUNE 2016 95

American Oil and Gas Reporter - June 2016

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