American Oil and Gas Reporter - June 2014 - 145

ConventionSection: Western Energy Alliance
that favor the interests of independent
exploration, drilling and production companies operating in the Rockies and the
western United States. Those interests
include advocacy to Congress and regulatory authorities on environmental, public
lands access and wildlife policy issues.
"We are the voice of the oil and natural
gas industry in the West," Wigley describes.
The Alliance "continues to lead the
effort on engaging with federal agencies
for reasonable and responsible access to
federal lands, managing Endangered
Species Act reform, and discussions on
liquefied natural gas exports," Miller says.
"The Alliance will continue to lead the
industry in those efforts and I look forward
to what we will accomplish together on
behalf of the industry and the thousands
of families it supports."
The association notes that it produces
an annual briefing book that is designed
to provide a comprehensive review of issues and policy trends. It offers members
a useful reference from which to draw
during meetings with legislators, staff,
regulators and media during occasions
such as the group's call-up trips to Washington.
The latest briefing book includes fresh
polling data from research the Alliance
commissioned in March. Among the findings, three-fourths of voters favor increasing U.S. oil and gas development,
compared with only 19 percent of voters
who oppose it, the association reports.
And while more than half of voters have
a favorable impression of how oil and
gas are produced, the research finds,
when it comes to sources of information
about the industry, most voters consider
company employees living and working
in communities with industry activity to
be more credible than the companies that
employ them. "It is not surprising that
people are more willing to believe what
they hear from their neighbors than a
company or trade group," Wigley reflects.
The survey also builds on previous
polls that explore voter attitudes about
hydraulic fracturing, he notes. According
to Wigley, previous polls show people
respond favorably when they learn that

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Special Report:
Horizontal & Innovative Drilling

oil and gas companies have been fracturing
since 1947 and have applied the technology
to more than 1.2 million wells.
The Alliance says the 2014 survey
further examines messages that tend to
improve opinions about the industry. It
finds that people view the industry more
favorably when they learn that regulation
and best practices include plans and procedures for responding to accidents, emergency drills and regular safety meetings
with employees and contractors. Also,
by regulation and best practice, chemical
handling and management are included
in operational procedures, and many states
require hydraulic fracturing chemical constituent disclosure.
The survey reveals decided political
and gender gaps between the supporters
and opponents of hydraulic fracturing,
the Alliance notes. Republicans express
support for fracturing 63 percent to 18
percent, while 32 percent of Democratic
voters say they support the practice, and
42 percent oppose it. Men back fracturing
55 percent to 29 percent, while women
are more evenly split, with 38 percent
saying they support it and 32 percent
saying they do not.
Endangered Species
According to Kathleen Sgamma, the
Alliance's vice president of government
& public affairs, the group's emphases
include working to expand industry access
to public lands and fighting regulatory
excess, such as efforts that misuse the
ESA to prevent or delay development instead of protecting species.
"We have to challenge the U.S. Fish
& Wildlife Service to base its decisions

on science," Sgamma holds. "There are
many examples of USFWS making decisions based on what it calls science that
does not meet the most basic scientific
standards. This practice makes a mockery
of scientific objectivity."
The Alliance is on record supporting
federal legislation to shift the ESA's focus
to species recovery and allow listing only
for species truly at risk of extinction. It
also seeks to reduce the impact of environmentalist litigation and halt "sue and
settle" deals between anti-development
groups and federal agencies. "The ESA
should be reformed to put the emphasis
back on protecting and recovering species
and away from serving special interest
groups and their lawyers," Sgamma advises.
The Alliance's chief issues include
protecting oil and natural gas provisions
in the federal tax code, maintaining multiple use mandates for public lands, identifying and reducing permitting delays
associated with National Environmental
Policy Act, continuing access to the West's
water supplies, and touting the benefits
of natural gas power generation with
regard to reducing carbon dioxide emissions.
"The oil and natural gas industry is a
huge source of prosperity for the country,"
Wigley points out. "The tremendous increases in domestic oil and gas production
contribute more than $300 billion to the
U.S. economy every year. The Alliance's
role is to continuously advocate for policies
that allow the industry to replicate the
type of success it has brought to the
Bakken Shale in other parts of the West."
❒

FERC OKs Rate Structure For MarkWest's Pipeline
DENVER-The Liberty Ethane
Pipeline, built by MarkWest Energy Partners LP to transport purity ethane from
its Majorsville complex to its Houston
complex in Washington County, Pa., has
received approval for a rate structure
from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
MarkWest says the 34-mile pipeline
has direct access to several ethane takeaway projects. The project will move
40,000 barrels a day, and will provide
access to several ethane pipeline systems,
including Enterprise Liquids Pipeline
LLC's ATEX pipeline as well as Sunoco
Pipeline LP's Mariner West and Mariner
East pipelines.

In its petition to the agency, MarkWest
said it will offer committed shippers a
15-year primary term, with options for
additional five-year terms at negotiated
rates and volume levels.
MarkWest Energy Partners LP and
MarkWest Liberty Ethane Pipeline LLC
announced a binding season for the Liberty
Ethane Pipeline in November, which was
extended to December. The company
says it was seeking 90 percent firm commitments, with the remainder available
to uncommitted shippers.
FERC approved the petition for a declaratory order approving the pipeline's
overall tariff and rate structure.
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JUNE 2014 145

American Oil and Gas Reporter - June 2014

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