American Oil and Gas Reporter - July 2019 - 20

Energy, will lead a panel discussion
titled, "Minerals-Navigating
Production, Pricing and Acquisitions."
Joining Reed are Kaes Van't Hof,
president of Viper Energy Partners;
Austen Campbell, co-chief executive
officer of Santa Elena Minerals; and
Chris Transier, CEO of Fortis Minerals.
Other Summer NAPE highlights,
according to Lodge, include
Connections & Conversations, which is
geared to young energy industry
professionals; education courses, a
government affairs session led by
Marcella Burke, acting senior counselor
to the Department of Interior assistant
secretary for land and mineral
management; prospect and capital and
service provider previews in the NAPE
theater; and an oil and gas prospect
expo with more than 200 exhibitors.
For information or to register visit
napeexpo.com. ❒

Western Energy Alliance
To Counter Hostile Narrative
At Upcoming Conference
DENVER-The Western Energy
Alliance indicates its 2019 annual
meeting will be held July 31-Aug. 2 at
the Devil's Thumb Ranch in Tabernash,
Co. With the Devil's Thumb perched
high in the peaks towering over, Alliance
President Kathleen Sgamma says, the
ranch is the epitome of the Rockies and
the perfect place to discuss issues that
face the upstream industry in the West.
Methane regulation is one of the
Alliance's primary policy issues,
Sgamma relates. With successful
litigation over the Bureau of Land
Management's venting and flaring rule,
the Alliance has been at the forefront of
ensuring that methane regulation remains
within agencies' legal authority while
acknowledging that natural gas is the
number one reason the United States has
reduced greenhouse gas emissions more
than any other country. Fuel switching to
natural gas in the electricity sector has
delivered more reductions in GHGs since
2005 than all the wind and solar energy
combined, she observes.
Despite that success, Sgamma
considers, a prevalent media narrative
depicts the oil and natural gas industry
as the bad guy. "Defaulting to that
limited narrative, politicians find it easy
to attack our industry or tie us up with
red tape," she suggests. "If the public
and policymakers continue to believe
misinformation about what we are
doing to address climate change, then
20 THE AMERICAN OIL & GAS REPORTER

we are going to continue to face
harmful policies."
To address these issues, the Alliance
convention will feature two speakers
who will discuss how industry can more
effectively engage the public and
policymakers on climate change, she
reports.
Sgamma describes Colorado
University Professor Roger Pielke Jr. as
an interesting thinker who is very
concerned about climate change and
finding real solutions, but he does not
subscribe to the alarmist narrative. "He
carefully analyzes the science affirmed
by the United Nations and conducts
studies that show natural disaster trends
remain stable or declining with respect
to flooding, drought and hurricanes,"
she describes. "For simply pointing out
the actual data, he is regularly pilloried
as a climate denier. But Professor Pielke
continues his work despite the criticism,
and advocates a well-informed,
reasonable approach that makes
economic and scientific sense."
Another speaker scheduled to
present at the convention is Committee
for a Constructive Tomorrow President
Craig Rucker, Sgamma says. Rucker
will discuss how the climate change
issue is playing out on campuses and
how to talk with students about the
issue, she adds.
Melissa Simpson, deputy assistant
secretary of energy resources at the U.S.
State Department, will discuss how U.S.
allies in Asia and Europe are benefitting
from American natural gas, and what the
department is doing to encourage
exports, Sgamma states. Besides
exporting the climate benefits associated
with natural gas, she reflects, American
oil and natural gas are critical strategic
resources that redefine the country's
relationships with Russia and OPEC.
The Alliance focuses on the entire
region and not specifically Colorado,
Sgamma points out. Even so, she
reasons, the Alliance's proper role
includes containing the sort of regulatory
upheavals that have characterized the
Centennial State in recent years and
protecting other states from following
Colorado into the regulatory abyss.
With its similar 2018 election results,
New Mexico would seem to be the state
most likely to follow Colorado's
example, Sgamma holds. However, she
relates, thanks to the booming Permian
Basin and the fact that industryassociated revenue accounts for a third
of the state budget, Governor Michelle
Lujan Grisham is more reasonable, and
legislative leaders were able to stop an

anti-fracturing bill.
"With more than $2.2 billion in taxes
and royalties from oil and natural gas
last year, the state's politicians rely on
the industry to fund their pet policy
goals," Sgamma assesses.
The convention also will include
David Flaherty of Magellan Strategies,
a Colorado pollster who has been
examining public support for Colorado
ballot initiatives, the recently passed
regulatory bill, and the political climate
in the West. "He will speak on the 'Blue
Wave' that hit Colorado and New
Mexico in the last election, and what, if
anything it portends for other western
states and the national election,"
Sgamma concludes.
r

Gas Storage Levels
Increase By 524 Bcf
WASHINGTON-Underground
natural gas storage in the United States
stood at 2.390 trillion cubic feet on June
28, 6.0 percent below the five year
average, according to the U.S. Energy
Information Administration. That was
249 Bcf more than a year ago, when gas
storage stood at 2.141 Tcf.
According to EIA, gas storage in the
East Region was 526 Bcf on June 28,
1.9 percent below the five-year average,
but 70 Bcf more than it was a year ago.
Gas storage in the Midwest Region
stood at 568 Bcf on June 28, 2.6 percent
below the five-year average and 117 Bcf
more than a year ago.
In the Mountain Region, EIA says,
gas storage was 134 Bcf on June 28,
16.3 percent below the five-year average
and 4 Bcf less than a year ago.
Gas storage in the Pacific Region
was 255 Bcf on June 28, 10.8 percent
below the five-year average and down 1
Bcf from a year ago.
In the South-Central Region, gas
storage levels on June 28 were 907 Bcf,
7.1 percent below the five-year average
and up 67 Bcf from a year ago. ❒

Coming In August
AOGR sits down with leading operators in the Marcellus and Utica
plays to find out what projects are on
the schedule as summer turns to autumn and the start of another heating
season. Reports also feature a case
study of optimizing well spacing in
Utica/Point Pleasant.
http://www.napeexpo.com
American Oil and Gas Reporter - July 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Oil and Gas Reporter - July 2019
