American Oil and Gas Reporter - January 2015 - 20

IndustryDigest
America's wild-caught seafood and
supports a $2 billion annual fishing
industry. It also is an economic engine
for tourism in Alaska, driving $100
million in recreational fishing and
tourism activity every year.
The decision to prevent all future oil
and gas leasing also indefinitely extends
a temporary withdrawal that Obama
issued in 2010 and was set to expire in
2017, the administration says.
According to administration, the
North Aleutian Basin Planning Area,
which includes Bristol Bay, is 32.5
million acres; a portion of which was
leased in the mid-1980s, but never
developed because of litigation.
The Alaska Oil & Gas Association
says the move clarifies that Bristol
Bay's off limits indefinitely.
"This area has not been on the oil
industry's radar screen for decades
because of a moratorium," President
and Chief Executive Officer Kara
Moriarty states. "Although it might not
be prudent today to consider oil and gas
leasing in Bristol Bay, it is unclear why
President Obama would choose to
address this issue in such absolute
terms, particularly given it could have
been addressed more properly through
the established leasing process.
"Today's actions serve to undermine
this nation's ability to achieve an 'all of
the above' energy strategy that
corresponds to our constantly evolving
energy needs (because) this action takes
Bristol Bay off the table for

consideration for generations," she
continues.
The National Ocean Industries
Association also references the
president's professed "all-of-the-above"
energy strategy, saying that the
administration has closed more offshore
areas to oil and gas leasing than it has
opened.
"No truly new acres of federal
offshore areas have been opened for oil
and gas leasing over the past six years,"
the association clarifies. "In fact, more
than 85 percent of the Outer Continental
Shelf remains off the table to oil and gas
leasing. It is disappointing to witness
this continued pattern of unilaterally
removing areas from consideration
before fully understanding the amount
and potential of energy resources they
hold."
NOIA emphasizes that it represents
the entire offshore energy industry,
including renewable energy producers,
while also supporting an all-of-theabove energy strategy.
"That includes opportunities to
explore truly new offshore areas for
both renewable energy opportunities
and oil and gas," NOIA affirms. "Where
is the balance? It is the president's
prerogative to create new closures, but
he also can open new areas, and we
certainly encourage him to do so in the
upcoming five-year offshore oil and gas
leasing program." Ì

Jeffrey L. Ventura (left),
president and chief executive officer of Range
Resources, accepts the
2014 Chief Roughneck
Award from David J. Rintoul, senior vice president
of tubular business for
U.S. Steel Tubular Products Inc., during the Independent Petroleum Association of America's
annual meeting membership luncheon, Nov. 13 in
Palm Beach, Fl. U.S. Steel
recognized Ventura and
Range Resources for pioneering the Marcellus
Shale unconventional
natural gas play. Rintoul
cited Ventura and his
team for "a commitment to protecting the environment, operating safely, and engaging
the communities where they operate." Ventura joined Range Resources in 2003 as
chief operating officer. He became a director in 2005, and was named CEO effective
Jan. 1, 2012.

20 THE AMERICAN OIL & GAS REPORTER

AFPM To File Suit Over
EPA's Fuel Standards
WASHINGTON-The American Fuel
& Petrochemical Manufacturers trade
association has filed a notice of intent to
sue the Environmental Protection
Agency for failure to issue the 2015
Renewable Fuel Standards.
According to AFPM, the Clean Air
Act requires such a notice as the first
step in initiating formal litigation about
EPA's failure to promulgate the annual
renewable fuel volumes to the RFS.
EPA should have finalized the 2015
RFS rule on or before Nov. 30, 2014,
but did not, the association observes.
"For some reason, the Obama
administration feels that it is above the
law and does not need to comply with
the statutory deadlines of the RFS,"
AFPM President Charles T. Drevna
comments. "At this point, we have no
choice but to take the matter to court.
Today, obligated parties are left to sit
and wait for EPA not only to propose
the 2015 standard, but actually to issue
a final rule for 2014, which we now
know that EPA has no intention of
doing until sometime in 2015.
"This disregard for the law and
obvious contempt for the obligated
parties are reasons why Congress needs
to repeal or significantly reform this
badly broken program," he continues.
According to the association's letter
to EPA, the agency's failure to allow
time for public comment on the 2015
RFS means AFPM members will have
no knowledge of their obligations and
requirements until the 2015 compliance
year has started.
AFPM maintains this trend of
tardiness is not new for the agency, and
notes EPA has failed to release the
2012, 2013, and 2014 RFS mandates
before each year's deadline. Moreover,
the group says, the gap between the
deadline and the actual finalization has
increased each year.
"This is not what Congress
intended," the letter suggests. "Rather,
Congress imposed specific, recurring
statutory deadlines for the RFS program
to provide obligated parties with
sufficient lead time to plan RFS
compliance strategies and to ensure that
all parties know before each compliance
year how the program will operate." Ì

American Oil and Gas Reporter - January 2015

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