American Oil and Gas Reporter - June 2015 - 123

A regular meeting of EKOGA's Board
of Directors followed the afternoon speakers, after which the group was thankful
to host Boyer as its featured guest for a
second consecutive year. As a member
organization in Kansas Strong, EKOGA
is a proud sponsor of the number 15 car
driven by Boyer, an Emporia native and
ambassador for both Kansas and the oil
and gas industry. Boyer's remarks included
a number of stories from the NASCAR
circuit, after which he visited with EKOGA
members and signed memorabilia. The
evening concluded with the midyear meeting banquet.
Wednesday, May 6, featured a golf
tournament at the Emporia Municipal
Golf Course, which was followed by a
lunch provided by Pacer Energy Marketing
LLC. The association extends its thanks

Spectral Neutron logs can help
companies recover previously
overlooked oil and gas, advises Dub Sutton of Century
Geophysical. Sutton spoke
during the first day of EKOGA's midyear meeting, held
May 5-6 at the Community
Building in Emporia, Ks.

to all its sponsors and participating members for making the 2015 EKOGA
Midyear Meeting a success.
❒

Editor's Note: The Eastern Kansas
Oil & Gas Association provided the proceeding report.

With SGEIS Out, IOGA NY Refocuses
HAMBURG, N.Y.-The Independent
Oil & Gas Association of New York always has worked as hard for its conventional operators as it has on behalf of
members working on the Marcellus Shale,
says IOGA NY Executive Director
Bradley Gill, a balance that prevailed
even as industry interest in the natural
gas-bearing shales soared.
The state's decision to bar the highvolume hydraulic fracturing needed to
open those unconventional formations
now provides the association an opportunity to refocus its support for oil and
gas producers outside the Marcellus Shale,
he says.
Speaking in advance of the association's summer meeting, scheduled for
July 7-9 at the Peek'n Peak Resort and
Conference Center in Findley Lake, N.Y.,
Gill emphasizes IOGA NY never has
strayed from the conventional industry.
"The association certainly has pulled
back some of its efforts in the areas of
public education and public relations for
unconventional interests. It took time and
resources to address those areas," Gill
says. "Now, the association will focus
its energies on the conventional industry,
the guys who have been in New York
and supportive of IOGA NY for decades."
The association will work with its
conventional operators on issues such as
new Public Service Commission enforcement initiatives, pipeline siting and inspections, and mapping, maintenance and
odorization standards, Gill says. He adds,
"The association is trying now to be even
more member-benefit driven and member-centric."

Actions by the state government have
taken their toll on membership numbers,
as producers face the added burdens of
drilling in the Marcellus Shale's dry gas
window, shrinking disposal options for
drilling wastes, and low oil and gas prices.
Nevertheless, Gill insists, "The association
is going to survive."
IOGA NY is staying proactive despite
the state's repressive stance, Gill says. It
is holding a series of workshops and
seminars in addition to the Peek'n Peak
summer meeting and the annual convention, scheduled for Oct. 21-22 in Amherst,
N.Y. Quarterly breakfast meetings cover
a variety of topics, from coming DEC
enforcement initiatives, to likely impacts
of the SGEIS and water issues. He says a
series of safety certification workshops
also are being planned.
Operators will get regulatory updates
through scoping meetings being held by
IOGA NY and the New York State Oil
Producers Association, Gill says. "I want
to hold joint meetings to identify the
biggest water acquisition, transportation,
recycling and disposal issues that conventional operators are facing," he says.
"We are doing this in conjunction with
several water sector professionals to try
to bring solutions to the oil and gas industry."
Operating In New York
The news that several towns in New
York's Southern Tier are protesting the
state's opposition to drilling by proposing
to secede from New York and join Pennsylvania has not drawn a lot of public attention, Gill says. "Unless I have been

missing it, it really seems to be a flash in
the pan. Most people refer to it jokingly,
saying it is symbolic or cute, but that secession never will happen," he assesses.
Gill adds that secession requires approval from both states as well as Washington.
Outside the political arena, the state's
operators have received word from the
Department of Environmental Conservation that its supplemental generic environmental impact statement (SGEIS)
is available for review on the DEC website.
With the SGEIS released, Gill says DEC
Commissioner Joseph Martens will have
authority to issue an order prohibiting
high-volume fracturing in the state.
"IOGA NY now is planning to review
the new DEC regulations," he says.
"IOGA NY will be scrutinizing the regulations closely to determine whether
they pass the legal test."
There has not been much public reaction in New York against Governor Andrew Cuomo's ban on high-volume fracturing, but plenty of frustration from
landowners and the industry, Gill says.
He reports at least two groups have indicated plans to sue the state.
New York operators also are assessing
DEC's February release of new regulations
that govern liquefied natural gas vehicle
fueling facilities, Gill says. He adds that
in response to public comments, the
agency has increased facilities' LNG storage volume limit to 70,000 gallons, and
has stated it is open to raising it higher.
Although the LNG regulations will
not impact IOGA NY's members, Gill
says they should help boost the natural
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American Oil and Gas Reporter - June 2015

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