American Oil and Gas Reporter - September 2020 - 87

pages 85-91_Layout 1 9/21/2020 2:19 PM Page 87

TFPA is not focused solely on the refining sector. Considering the modern
economy's ravenous appetite for products
derived from hydrocarbons, McGraw
says, there is a lot of running room to
support American jobs with links to oil
and gas production. "We are talking about

all kinds of jobs that were shipped away
at every level," he points out. "What if
we went back to manufacturing more of
our own pharmaceuticals or plastics in
the United States? That could bring back
a lot of the jobs that have been moved
overseas."
❒

PBPA Faces Multifront Battle
Against Tighter Restrictions
MIDLAND-There are the new rules
from New Mexico governing methane emissions and from Texas covering flaring, possible Endangered Species Act listings, and,
of course, election year considerations.
Those are only some of the issues on
the minds of Permian Basin Petroleum
Association members as summer gives
way to autumn. And though 2020 precludes a normal convention at which they
can learn about and discuss such matters,
the association is rolling with the punches
and holding a virtual annual meeting,
complete with two keynote speakers, a
legislative panel and presentations on
several other matters pertinent to the Permian Basin's oil and gas companies.
"Unfortunately, COVID-19 has
changed the calendar a lot," reflects PBPA
Chairman Kyle McGraw, president of
Trinidad Energy LLC in Midland. "The
fun of networking has gone by the wayside,
but that is what we have to do right now.
The presentations will be good, though."
Rulemakings
According to McGraw, New Mexico's
draft methane rules for oil and gas activities
loom large among PBPA priorities. The
New Mexico Environment Department
and the Oil Conservation Division within
the state's Energy, Minerals and Natural
Resources Department released proposals
for comment in late July. The drafts cover
a broad swath of industry equipment, segments and scenarios, including monitoring,
record keeping and emission standards
for engines, turbines, compressor seals,
control devices, equipment leaks, storage
tanks, glycol dehydrators and heaters.
With about 700 member companies,
McGraw observes the association has a
wealth of collective expertise to tap, and
he lauds the members of PBPA's Methane
Rule Subcommittee for devoting considerable time and effort to preparing the
group's comments. "PBPA has rolled up
its sleeves on that," he affirms. "The
members of that subcommittee have
worked really hard on those comments."
PBPA President Ben Shepperd also
highlights the intense effort of members

who worked to represent the industry's
interests. "In New Mexico, PBPA is proud
of the efforts of member companies to
collaborate and work to review hundreds
of pages of the NMED and OCD Methane
Rules," he reports. "After hours and hours
of video conferencing, our members
worked diligently to be responsive to
these agencies' request for comments. It
was a difficult task, but at the end of the
day PBPA's relationships with agencies
in New Mexico will continue to allow us
to work with officials and develop the
best, most meaningful rules possible."
Meanwhile, the Texas Railroad Commission in early August proposed amendments to its Statewide Rule 32 intended
to reduce the amount of natural gas flaring
in the Lone Star State (AOGR, August
2020, pg. 19). The modifications RRC
proposes include:
· Requiring operators to provide more
specific information to justify the need
to flare or vent natural gas;
· Shortening the period an operator
may flare gas 50%-80%, depending on
circumstances;
· Linking flaring to specific production
properties to facilitate compliance with
production reporting requirements; and
· Allowing the state to offer incentives
for operators to use technologies to reduce
gas flaring volumes.
As it evaluates these changes, McGraw
says the association is confronting familiar
issues with its efforts to prevent threatened
or endangered classifications for the dunes
sagebrush lizard and lesser prairie chicken
under the ESA. In mid-July, the U.S.
Fish & Wildlife Service issued a 90-day
finding of warranted on a petition to list
the lizard, including a notice of intent to
prepare an environmental assessment for
a candidate conservation agreement with
assurances for the species.
McGraw notes that extensive efforts by
PBPA and many of its individual members
to prevent a listing have proven successful
thus far, but cautions that the victories are
not permanent, since petitioners can simply
revive their pleas later. "We thought we
won the battle over the lizard, but people
SEPTEMBER 2020 87

http://apergyals.com/product/affirmed-powerfit-motor/

American Oil and Gas Reporter - September 2020

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