American Oil and Gas Reporter - February 2018 - 90

ETP's website as of Jan. 30, Rover already
was capable of carrying 1.7 Bcf/d from
Noble County, Oh., to Defiance, and expected to begin providing full service by
the end of March, although published reports say that on Jan. 24, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission-at the request of the Ohio Environmental Protection
Agency-ordered Rover to halt horizontal
drilling operations under the Tuscarawas
River in Stark County, Oh., after 146,000
gallons of drilling fluids were "lost down
the hole" ETP was drilling. That was the
site of a 2 million gallon spill in April
2017, the reports note.

Likewise, NEXUS, which originally
was a joint venture among Enbridge,
Spectra Energy and DTE before Enbridge
acquired Spectra in 2017, was projecting
a "late third-quarter 2018" in-service
date, according to a mid-January post by
Enbridge.
"Many of the unconventional operators
have been waiting for the opportunity to
flow their gas," reflects Aslanides, who
says opening the two interstate systems
"will have a very positive impact, not
only in terms of market capability, but in
generating revenues for the state. They
will have a positive impact on the state."

OOGA Winter Meeting - Columbus, Oh.
Wednesday, March 7
10 a.m.-4 p.m. Ohio Geological Society
Meeting
Separate Registration Required
Noon-4 p.m. Exhibitor Setup, Easton Hilton
1-4 p.m. Board of Trustees/Committee Chairmen Photograph and Meeting
4-6 p.m. Corporate Member Reception
OOGA Corporate Members Only
5:30-8:30 p.m. OOGA Hall of Fame Reception, Dinner & Ceremony
Separate Registration Required
7-9 p.m. Women's Energy Network Interest
Meeting

Thursday, March 8
7:30-9 a.m. Networking Breakfast
8 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Exhibitor Showcase
9-10:30 a.m. General Session
71st OOGA Winter Meeting Kickoff
DeBrosse Memorial Report, Marty
Shumway, Shumway Resources LLC
Merger and Acquisitions, Appalachian
Basin Roundup, Tim Knobloch, Petroleum
Consulting Inc.
Shale Crescent Presentation, Jerry James,
Artex Oil Company
10:30-11:45 a.m. Breakout Sessions
Regulatory and Midstream Discussion,
Hosted by OOGA Producers Committee,
with Rick Simmers, Ohio Division of
Oil & Gas Resources; David Marks, Dominion Field Services
Inconvenient Facts and How to Deal with
Them, Hosted by OOGA Environmental
Committee, with Greg Wrightstone, Author Inconvenient Facts: the Science that
Al Gore Doesn't Want You to Know
Wayne National Forest Panel Discussion
11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Lunch Break
11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Society of Petroleum
Engineers Scholarship Luncheon, Regent
Ballroom
Separate Registration Required
Todd Tetrick, EnerVest Operating LLC
1:30-3:15 p.m. General Session
Comments from the DeWine for Ohio
Governor Ticket
90 THE AMERICAN OIL & GAS REPORTER

Local Bans and Ballot Initiatives Panel
Discussion with OOGA, API, EID, OGS
How Technology can Improve Efficiencies
and Reduce Costs
3:15-4:30 p.m. Breakout Sessions
Legislative Lowdown with Ohio Delegates,
Hosted by OOGA Government Affairs
Committee, with Lee Fuller, Independent
Petroleum Association of America and
Ohio General Assembly Leadership
Getting the Gas to Market, Hosted by
OOGA Commerce Committee, with Allen
Fore, Kinder Morgan; David Dulak, Eureka Midstream
4:30-5:30 p.m. Ohio PAC Reception
$100 Minimum Suggested Contribution
Ohio General Assembly Members in Attendance
5:30-7:30 p.m. President's Reception

Friday, March 9
7:30-9 a.m. Networking Breakfast
8-9 a.m. Ohio Oil and Gas Safety Council
Meeting
9-10:15 a.m. General Session
Ohio Oil and Gas Energy Education Program Update
Our Energy Future in an Upside Down
World, Allen Brooks, Energy Investment
Banking
10:15-11:30 a.m. Breakout Sessions
PUCO Chairman and NGL Storage, Hosted
by OOGA Midstream Committee, with
Asim Z. Hague, Public Utilities Commission of Ohio; David Hooker, Mountaineer NGL Storage
State and Local Tax Issues, Hosted by
OOGA State and Local Tax Committee,
with Anthony Ehler, Vorys
Ohio Oil and Gas Legal Update, Hosted
by OOGA Legal Committee
11:30 a.m.-Noon Comments from Mary
Taylor for Ohio Governor Ticket
Noon-2 p.m. Luncheon
Keynote Presentation: Brian Kilmeade,
Fox News
Conference Closing Remarks

Idle And Orphan Wells
To help maintain whatever positive
momentum the industry has built,
Aslanides says OOGA is focused on
pushing three key pieces of legislation
through the Ohio General Assembly this
year. "We call them the big three that we
are working on aggressively," he describes.
One of them, OOGA Director of Government Affairs Brian Hickman reveals,
is HB 225, pertaining to idle and orphan
wells.
Hickman explains that the $0.20 a
barrel severance tax on crude oil and the
$0.03 an Mcf tax on natural gas that
Ohio producers pay flows into the Oil
and Gas Well Fund along with permit
and various other fees, fines and reimbursements to ODNR. The well fund is
supposed to be used solely to support
ODNR operations, with 14 percent of
the fund dedicated to plugging idle and
orphan wells.
But, in Aslanides' words, the state
"has failed miserably." He says ODNR
plugged only 106 wells between 2010
and 2014, even though the industry paid
$52.1 million into the fund in fiscal 2017.
He compares that with the state of Texas'
well plugging program, which plugged
3,346 wells in 2012-16.
Even worse, offers Hickman, in the
past two fiscal years, Governor John Kasich's administration has transferred $42.5
million from the well fund to Ohio's general fund and used another $20.0 million
to pay legal settlements unrelated to the
oil and gas industry.
Even though Ohio Revised Code Section 1509.02 states that the Oil and Gas
Well Fund may be used only to protect
human health, safety and the environment,
Hickman says the administration has been
able to add language to some uncodified
sections of state law that enable it to
transfer as much as $200 million from
any funds not constitutionally encumbered
into the general revenue fund as well as
to pay legal settlements.
He says HB 225 specifically states
that Oil and Gas Well Fund dollars may
not be used for legal settlements or transferred to the general revenue fund. And
is also increases from 14 to 45 percent
the amount of the well fund earmarked
to plug idle and orphan wells.
With many turn-of-the-century wellbores
not plugged to today's standards, Hickman
reflects, "Our members have paid into the
Oil and Gas Well Fund. We have the resources. Now is the time to address this
authentic environmental issue."
He reports that HB 225 passed the
Ohio House of Representatives 92-0 on

American Oil and Gas Reporter - February 2018

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