American Oil and Gas Reporter - January 2015 - 189

The Presidential Papers
in such a run. I am not so sure the larger
"anti" entities would go along with a
green light here after all this head-butting,
but it would depend ultimately on how
they perceived a transition to the White
House advancing their agenda here and
elsewhere.
So that leaves us conflicted in New
York. Would we prefer to see Andrew
Cuomo in the White House and "possibly"
gain a green light in our state for unconventional drilling, or would we rather
see him stay here and continue to wonder
what forces are really driving him to remain so indecisive on this issue...and
how long this indecision will continue?
Will he cave and give industry the green
light after the Department of Health's
pseudo-review is complete and he has
waited the requisite time so his timing
doesn't appear too obvious?
Creative Thinkers
Either way, that is not ours to control,
so we in New York must continue to do
what we can to survive in this industry.
We must become creative thinkers, leasing
and drilling where we are allowed and
where we are welcomed. We must stay
one step ahead of the rest and predict
where we will be critical to industry in
the short-term future. We must continue
to diversify and be flexible in our ventures,
staying able to maneuver and change direction easily and quickly.
Many New York operators are doing
just this by making lease acquisitions in
other states, starting disposal projects
elsewhere (too bad not in New York),
positioning for regulatory compliance
challenges, and in general, just adapting
to the circumstances under which we
find ourselves-if not for long-term survival,
for short-term sanity.
If there is a bright spot, it is the fact
that Republicans regained total control
of the New York State Senate, creating a
stronger insulation from devastating bills
coming out of the Assembly aimed squarely at our industry. While it is no guarantee,
it's at least a slightly better buffer and affords us hope that the legislature won't
beat us down before the governor green
lights at least a pilot drilling program in
key counties across the Southern Tier.
While many of our hurdles are not
dissimilar to what industry faces in other
states, one other, possibly more unique,
challenge that we have in New York is

the difficulty in gaining cooperation from
local and state agencies. Our regulatory
bodies have ramped up their enforcement
initiatives, while at the same time they
remain reticent to work with industry
and foster an open dialogue. In some
cases, we have little idea of what will be
expected from us until such time that the
respective regulating agency drops a heavy
hammer.
Attempts to host meetings between industry and regulators in many cases have
failed, forcing operators to navigate through
the regulatory process on their own, leaving
companies vulnerable to enforcement actions. IOGA NY is making strides in this
area, but much remains to be done on
behalf of producers as the association is
the voice of industry in Albany.
Never in the past 35 years would I
have imagined that our great nation's energy industry would fall prey to the opposition forces as we have; whether that
be from global dynamics, our own government at various levels, nongovernmental
organizations, widespread negative public
opinion, or a host of other sources. In
New York, as across the nation, it has become increasingly difficult for producers
to continue operating and producing as
they have in the past because of new reg-

ulatory enforcement initiatives. But, they
are survivors and will weather these
storms as they have in the past.
Deflated oil and gas prices have some
operators pulling back temporarily on
conventional Upper Devonian (shallow)
oil and conventional gas drilling. However,
there is renewed excitement for the unconventional targets beyond the Marcellus
Shale, as new shale horizons are proving
lucrative in neighboring states. This makes
New York even more interesting as a
multistratigraphic frontier waiting to be
explored. We have towns and counties
that desperately want and need our industry. When the state allows it, many
localities will welcome the chance to
prosper through leasing, drilling, production, and the economic boom that follows.
With recent encouraging comments
made by our governor, our U.S. senator,
Senate majority leader and others, we
await anxiously that long-anticipated
green light to explore these untapped
horizons in New York. When we finally
explore, drill, and produce these unconventional horizons safely and responsibly,
New Yorkers finally will realize that we
were right all along and just needed the
chance to prove it.
Ì

Independent Oil And
Gas Association of
West Virginia
DAVID HANEY
President
E&H Manufacturing Inc
Charleston, W.V.

FROM THE PRESIDENT
IOGAWV was formed in 1959 to represent the independent oil and gas industry
in the state of West Virginia. We have
more than 750 member companies, with
thousands of employees throughout the
state. We represent producers/operators,
royalty owners, marketers, professionals,
allied industries, and others benefitting
from the activities related to the oil and
gas industry. We have members throughout
30 states in the United States and one in
the United Kingdom.

The exploration and development of
the shale formations across our country
have provided Americans with a hope of
energy independence that not too long
ago was just a pipe dream. Advancements
in technologies such as horizontal drilling
and hydraulic fracturing have resulted in
oil and gas production levels beyond our
expectations. The increased values of developed and undeveloped reserves are
supporting the huge investments seen in
upstream, midstream, and downstream
JANUARY 2015 189

American Oil and Gas Reporter - January 2015

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