American Oil and Gas Reporter - July 2017 - 106

ConventionCoverage: California Independent Petroleum Association

CIPA And Its Allies Target
Myths About Industry
By Bill Campbell

MONTEREY, CA.-There is a gap
between popular public-and often political-perception of the California oil industry and reality.
Observations on that gap and what to
do about it were topics explored by a variety of speakers at the California Independent Petroleum Association's 2017
annual convention, held June 8-11 at the
Portola Hotel & Spa in Monterey.
CIPA Chairman Steve Layton, president
of E&B Natural Resources in Bakersfield,
Ca., pointed out some of the contradictions
in his general session remarks on the
meeting's second day. Hypothesizing that
the way to solve the industry's problems
may be to gain individual political power,
he outlined a possible platform for a
tongue-in-cheek run for governor.
Addressing popular state issues, Layton
suggested he could build his campaign
on:
* Criminal justice reform by prom-

ising jobs to ex-felons;
* Promising a "living wage" of $40
an hour;
* Ensuring oil companies paid the
highest tax rate in the state and operated
under the toughest regulations in the
world; and
* Forcing oil companies to limit
greenhouse gas emissions to only 3 percent
of the state's total.
His reality check, Layton quipped,
came when CIPA Chief Executive Officer
Rock Zierman pointed out, "All that stuff
is being done either by, or to, the oil industry already."
"Many member companies have provided jobs for felons as they exited the
penal system and came back into society,"
Layton observed.
As for a living wage, he noted, "The
average oil field worker in Kern County
makes $80,000 a year," twice the average
for other workers in the county.
The oil industry is taxed at twice the
rate of California's more favored Silicon

California Assemblyman Vince Fong (left), R-Bakersﬁeld, visits with Paul Deiro of
California Resources Corp. in Sacramento prior to the start of the California Independent
Petroleum Association's annual meeting general session, June 10 in Monterey, Ca.
During the meeting, CIPA presented Fong with its 2017 C.C. Bud Albright Award, given to
an individual outside the oil and gas industry whose efforts have contributed to the continued viability of California's independent producers.

106 THE AMERICAN OIL & GAS REPORTER

Valley industries, Layton continued, and
its GHG emissions already comprise less
than 3 percent of the state's total.
Layton's claims were corroborated by
several California lawmakers who addressed the convention.
Assemblyman Mike Gipson, D-Carson,
who described his 64th District as "the
sixth-poorest in the state," affirmed, "This
industry takes chances on individuals
whom other people will not.
"That person may have just gotten
out of prison and you are his last hope,"
Gipson explained. "He may be all 'tatted
up' with tattoos and your human resources
individual will take a chance when his
application has found itself in the trash
can at other jobs.
"Your industry is giving people an
opportunity to get a job, earn a paycheck
and build a future," Gipson praised. "You
have allowed someone to have a piece of
the American dream when he thought no
one else cared."
34th District Assemblyman Vince
Fong, R-Bakersfield, agreed. "Nearly 50
percent of the oil industry workforce
statewide are minorities," he revealed,
commenting that the industry also employed many Millennials and women.
"The oil industry is a microcosm of
society," Fong concluded. "We need to
showcase that."
Industry Selling Points
Indeed, rued Layton, opponents have
managed to portray the oil and gas industry
as fat-cat executives whereas the real strength
of the industry is its workforce. "And that
workforce is the middle class . . . that is so
important to the core of the greatness of
California and our country," Layton stressed.
Lawmakers need to be introduced to
that side of the industry, chimed Gipson.
"My colleagues need to hear from the
person you took a chance on," he encouraged. "My colleagues need to know
that because you took a chance on that
person, his life has changed."
In other observations on dispelling
myths about the oil and gas industry,
67th District Assemblywoman Melissa
Melendez, R-Murrieta, decried the

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