American Oil and Gas Reporter - April 2017 - 104

ConventionSection: Texas Alliance of Energy Producers
president of government affairs who heads
the project.
The outreach continues to attract student members as the Alliance promotes
career opportunities in the industry, he
reports. "We now have more than 100
student members as part of our effort to
serve as an example of our commitment
to the youth who can take the place of
retiring industry participants over time,"
Tintera says.
Youth can win internships and learn
about the industry by working directly in
member offices or through Skype, he
says. Included are assignments that are
completed and reviewed weekly or biweekly, Tintera says. One student member
testified about the industry's importance
before the state legislature, he adds.
Moves For Reform
The Alliance is far from done with
initiatives to advance the industry in
Texas and Washington, Mills assures. Alliance leaders continue to reach out to
other industry associations about participating in the Federal Energy Regulatory
Delegation (FRED) committee, a concept
birthed at the association's Board of Directors meeting last November as part of
a push to fight back against the board's
concerns about regulation without representation, he reviews (AOGR, Dec. 2016,
pg. 97).
After multiple meetings to specify key
concerns, the committee in January met
with 31 members of the state's 36-member
congressional delegation during a trip to
Washington, Mills recalls. FRED has garnered support from other Texas oil and
gas associations, but the Alliance continues
to work toward expanding participation
to other national and state industry groups,
he says.
The committee worked to draft a resolution since approved by the Texas Legislature that held oil and gas industry
regulation should remain the domain of
state governments, Mills states.
"We are trying to get this adopted in
Washington also, with the objective of
recognizing that these federal regulations
either need to be modified, repealed or
delegated back to the states," he continues.
"The states have been regulating oil and
gas activity in Texas for more than 100
years, but a lot of these federal regulations
in the last two or three years took the
rules states already had implemented and
made compliance more difficult and expensive, but they did virtually nothing to

Texas Alliance
Annual Meeting
Wichita Falls, Tx.
Tuesday, April 25
7 a.m. Sandbaggers' Scramble Golf Tournament Registration, Wichita Falls
Country Club
7:30 a.m. Sandbaggers' Scramble Golf
Tournament Morning Round
Shotgun Start
9 a.m. Alliance Expo Setup, MPEC Clymer
Exhibit Hall
Booths Must Be Completed by 4 p.m.
11 a.m. Sandbaggers' Scramble Golf Tournament Golfers Lunch, Wichita Falls
Country Club and Champions Course
at Weeks Park
Noon Sandbaggers' Scramble Golf Tournament Registration, Both Courses
1 p.m. Sandbaggers' Scramble Golf Tournament Afternoon Rounds
Shotgun Start
5:30 p.m. Alliance Expo & Oil Patch Reception, MPEC Clymer Exhibit Hall
7:30-8 p.m. Country & Western Barbecue,
MPEC Yeager Coliseum

Wednesday, April 26
8 a.m. Continental Breakfast, MPEC Clymer Exhibit Hall
8 a.m. Alliance Expo Opens, Clymer Exhibit Hall and MPEC Front Parking
Lot
9:30 a.m. Seminars, MPEC Seminar Room
Noon Industry Luncheon, MPEC Yeager
Coliseum
1:30 Alliance Expo, Clymer Exhibit Hall
2 p.m. Alliance Board of Directors Meeting,
MPEC Room 5
4 p.m. Alliance Expo Closes, Exhibitor
Tear Down

enhance environmental protection. The
pain of regulation outweighed the gain
to the economy."
FRED is delving into federal regulations in need of correction, including air
quality standards adopted during the Obama administration, Tintera says. With
EPA's March 2 move to withdraw the information collection request that had been
sent to some operators, the committee is
optimistic about having a sympathetic
ear from new EPA Administrator Scott
Pruitt, the former attorney general of
Oklahoma, he says.
"There are three fundamental parts to
being an effective regulator," outlines
Tintera, former executive director at the
Texas Railroad Commission. "You have
to use good science, get accurate facts
and use due process in rule making. We
believe the previous administration at

104 THE AMERICAN OIL & GAS REPORTER

EPA had shortcomings on each of those
issues, and we want to re-establish them."
Texas lawmakers and regulators are
preparing to assume additional regulatory
responsibilities usurped by the federal
government, Tintera says. "We are gaining
a lot of support and a lot of ground," he
assesses. "Put FRED on your radar to
watch carefully during the next six-12
months."
The Alliance also has been assessing
the possibility Congress will seek to
revise the federal tax code, which includes
calls for simplifying it from House Speaker
Paul Ryan, R-Wi., and Representative
Kevin Brady, R-Tx., chairman of the
House Ways and Means Committee, Mills
says.
"Among positives on the business side
is a proposal regarding the deduction of
all business expenses in the year that the
expenses are incurred," he explains. "We
have been able to do that with our intangible drilling costs, which the Obama
administration wanted to eliminate."
The tax proposal also reduces rates,
but all special provisions, including the
percentage depletion allowance are being
reviewed, Mills says. "Percentage depletion is a very key tax provision for small
independent oil and gas producers, and
we have been working with Chairman
Brady and members of the committee in
expressing the importance of continuing
those tax provisions," he says.
Expo And Convention
Members will gather in Wichita Falls
to hear about the latest developments that
affect them and their businesses, Mills
reports.
Delivering the convention's keynote
address April 26 will be Kathleen Hartnett
White, co-author of Fueling Freedom, a
book published in 2016 by Regency Publishing. In the book, White and co-author
Stephen Moore discuss how energy from
crude oil and natural gas has given U.S.
consumers an unparalleled quality of life,
Mills says.
He cites the authors' description that
electrical power is the "central nervous
system of our modern economy and our
21st-century lifestyles, and living without
it for a few days is a reminder of how
vulnerable we are to being sent back to
the pre-industrial age."
A former chairman of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, White
is the distinguished senior fellow and director of the Armstrong Center for Energy

American Oil and Gas Reporter - April 2017

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