American Oil and Gas Reporter - April 2020 - 86

pages 85-87_Layout 1 4/8/2020 9:24 AM Page 86

ConventionCoverage: Ohio Oil & Gas Association

Participating in a forum on local issues are, from left, Kyle Miller with Dominion Energy
Ohio, Allen Fore of Kinder Morgan and Holly Hannold with XTO Energy. According to Fore,
activists were arousing controversy about previously mundane matters such as franchise
approval agreements between companies and municipalities.

pre-empted in court, the proposal would
have allowed the community and residents
to sue businesses over pollution on the
lake's behalf, she said.
Opponents use social media platforms
in an emotionally impactful way but regulatory requirements force oil and gas
companies to stick with facts, Fore contrasted. Nevertheless, industry is fighting
back. Miller noted that Dominion strove
to help employees tout the company's
efforts to benefit the country while it also
strove to build coalitions with other industry and labor groups to stymie negative
proposals, Miller said.
The industry needs to spotlight more
nonproducer businesses to help tell its
story and show the public how hydrocarbons improve citizens' quality of life,
Hannold advised.
"The real success is in shoe leather-
getting out there and doing this on the
ground," Fore said. "Don't be afraid to
show off what we are doing."
Kinder Morgan conducted facility tours
for local leaders in Portland, Or., that
demonstrated how the company's facilities
benefited the entire state, he illustrated,
and also won the support of San Francisco's mayor for additional jet fuel pipeline
capacity at San Francisco International
Airport, he recounted.
The industry is telling its story in
Ohio, which is resonating with citizens,
Hannold assessed. A survey from the
Ohio Oil & Gas Energy Education Program found that 78 percent support natural
gas and oil development in the Ohio
86 THE AMERICAN OIL & GAS REPORTER

Valley, 64 percent oppose a ban on oil
and gas development, while 83 percent
of Southeast Ohioans agree that the oil
and gas industry is producing energy in
cleaner and more efficient ways, 89 percent
say the state's natural gas production
benefits the United States, and 88 percent
say natural gas and oil are important to
their communities, she said.
Lessons From Colorado
Dan Haley, president and chief executive officer of the Colorado Oil & Gas
Association, told OOGA to prepare for
potential confrontations with anti-industry
groups at the ballot box and elsewhere.
"It is important to build your coalitions
now," he advised.
Haley detailed how COGA teamed
with elected leaders, industry groups,
employees and others to turn back Proposition 112 in 2018 and also worked to
legally defeat community bans on hydraulic fracturing. A 2,500-foot setback
from homes, waterways, dry creek beds
and businesses contained in Proposition
112 effectively would have banned drilling
in the vast majority of the state, he said.
When strident activism emerged in Colorado years before, Haley described, the
oil and gas industry was caught flatfooted and failed to respond to early antiindustry attacks. Compounding the challenge was the population influx into the
state, which was largely unfamiliar with
local energy development. Understanding
those changing demographics was critical
in a state that ranks fifth in oil production

and sixth in natural gas output.
Oil and gas accounts for more than
100,000 direct and indirect jobs and a
$31 billion worth of economic impact to
Colorado, Haley detailed, but during a
decade's time, the state's previously close
political balance began to swing increasingly Democratic as the state added
400,000 voters since 2013.
Nevertheless, COGA and its allies
helped defeat the measure 55%-44% at
the ballot box, he recounted. The coalition
put out 40 radio and television commercials, sent mailers to more than 3 million
households, distributed more than 90,000
employee-written postcards and 80,000
yard signs, used truck and trailer magnets
and banners, and conducted the largest
door-to-door canvassing effort in state
history with 875,419 door knocks and
268,269 actual conversations with residents, Haley detailed.
Despite the defeat of Proposition 112,
state Democratic leaders immediately introduced and rushed to pass SB 181,
which expanded local control over the
industry, rewrote the state's Oil and Gas
Conservation Act, removed engineering
and geology seats on the state's regulatory
board, and launched more than a dozen
rule makings, he detailed. Since then,
the number of oil and gas permits has
fallen by half, fewer rigs are drilling, and
uncertainty is high, Haley described.
Legislative Developments
During a break-out session, Amanda

Ohio's oil and gas industry should emphasize strong alliances with other sectors, suggests Colorado Oil & Gas Association President Dan Haley. Haley
said such coalitions proved instrumental
in helping COGA persuade Colorado
voters to reject an anti-oil-and-gas ballot
proposition in 2018.

American Oil and Gas Reporter - April 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Oil and Gas Reporter - April 2020