American Oil and Gas Reporter - April 2022 - 85

API Issues New Pipeline Guidelines
WASHINGTON-As part of a new
initiative to accelerate and bolster conservation,
the American Petroleum Institute
has released new guidelines to
help pipeline and energy infrastructure
operators advance conservation practices
for pipeline rights-of-way. The group
indicates that the new conservation guidelines
build ongoing industry investment
in conservation projects and commitment
to community engagement, as outlined
in API's Community Engagement Guidelines.
According
to API, the latest conservation
guidelines provide pipeline operators
a roadmap for implementing best
practices while meeting safety standards
to help ensure the nation's more than 2.6
million miles of pipelines operate under
a lower-emissions footprint and that habitats
and wildlife in surrounding areas are
sustained for generations to come.
" With thousands of miles of pipelines
crisscrossing the country, our latest
guidelines provide strategies for the industry
to build upon ongoing conservation
efforts, further engage in local communities,
and restore land areas surrounding
operations in a manner that
protects and often enhances the surrounding
environment, " relates API Vice
President of Midstream Policy Robin
Rorick. " The guidelines give pipeline
operators innovative tools and conservation
techniques to address environmental
and climate challenges, from
tackling invasive species in the MidAtlantic
and erosion in the Gulf Coast
to reducing emissions across the country.
Working with conservation groups and
local communities, our industry is committed
to enhancing and protecting habitats
and wildlife all over the United
States while operating under a loweremissions
footprint. "
API points out that companies are
taking action to improve local ecosystems
in a number of ways, and cites
the examples of planting native species
instead of mowing ROWs, cultivating
habitats for native pollinators and increasing
biomass.
The group says its conservation guidance
for pipeline ROWs provides midstream
operators a resource to help
strengthen their conservation efforts.
The guidelines outline recommended
best practices for developing and delivering
sustainable conservation programs,
offering tools to help engage local communities
in the conservation process
and helping operators improve their
presence in the communities in which
they operate. It adds that conservation
programs take a value-driven approach
to ROW land management, enhancing
safety and operational efficiency while
working to improve the community and
environment where pipeline operators
live and work.
Specifically, API says, the ROW conservation
guidelines include adaptable
best practices on using vegetation management,
habitat management and coastal
management techniques to allow pipeline
operators to tailor a program to their
specific environment and conservation
goals, such as protecting endangered
species, improving biodiversity or fighting
erosion. By offering assessments, best
practices and innovative techniques, the
group says its guidelines illustrate the
natural gas and oil industry's ongoing
commitment to environmental protection
and stewardship.
The full text of API Guidance for Conservation
Programs on Pipeline Right-ofWays
can be found at https://www.api.org//media/Files/News/2022/02/10/api-midstream-conservation-guidelines.pdf.
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Industry Continues To Fuel Oklahoma
OKLAHOMA CITY-Oil and gas continue
to fuel the Sooner State in almost
every sense, indicates a report from the
Oklahoma Energy Resources Board.
According to OERB, RegionTrack Inc.
completed the analysis for OERB and
uncovered some compelling numbers.
For example, OERB notes, even amid
the pandemic and economic slowdown
that characterized 2020, the state's oil
and gas industry still was responsible for
$19 billion in state gross domestic product.
Moreover, the industry accounted for
$16.5 billion in household earnings that
supported thousands of families and small
businesses and 145,000 skilled and highpaying
jobs.
OERB indicates that the report highlights
Bureau of Economic Analysis
data that the industry paid $2.66 billion
in business taxes during 2020. OERB
Chairman David Le Norman suggests
the study helps quantify the industry's
meaning to the state. " When you look
at the industry's contributions to Oklahoma,
the numbers tell a story everyone
in the state needs to know, " Le Norman
reflects. " The people of Oklahoma oil
and natural gas are made up of your
neighbors, friends and family. We are
proud of what we do for the state and
are invested in its future. "
That revenue is making a significant
impact throughout Oklahoma localities
too, OERB says, with $410 million in
ad valorem taxes in 2020 and $720 million
in severance taxes in 2021. It goes
on to say that the oil and gas industry
provides the only major source of earmarked
taxes that provide direct funding
for uses such as education and county
roads. " Over the past decade, $2.1 billion
in funds have been apportioned for education,
an average of more than $200
million annually, " OERB observes.
" School districts in 24 counties, many
rural, have received more than $1 million
from industry severance taxes each year
for the past decade. "
The report includes numerous other
findings:
· Oil and natural gas supported almost
25% of total statewide household earnings.
·
More than 85,000 Oklahomans were
directly employed in oil and gas.
APRIL 2022 85
Coming In May
Petroleum Alliance
of Oklahoma
Convention Section
· The average oil and gas employee
earned $136,625 a year.
· Total royalty payments exceeded
$1.9 billion.
· Oil and gas supported almost 25%
of total statewide household earnings.
· In 2021, the oil and natural gas industry
contributed $62.5 million for county
roads and bridges.
· Oklahoma ranks sixth among U.S.
states, with 2.05 billion barrels in proved
crude oil reserves.
· Oklahoma's 35.8 trillion cubic feet
of natural gas reserves rank fifth among
the country's major producing states.
· Oklahoma is the country's fourthlargest
producer of oi land gas.
The report can be viewed or downloaded
at https://oerb.com/economicimpact/.
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https://www.api.org/-/media/Files/News/2022/02/10/api-midstream-conservation-guidelines.pdf https://www.api.org/media/Files/News/2022/02/10/api-midstream-conservation-guidelines.pdf http://api.org/media/Files/News/2022/02/10/api-midstream-conservation-guidelines.pdf https://www.oerb.com/economic-impact https://www.oerb.com/economic-impact

American Oil and Gas Reporter - April 2022

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