American Oil and Gas Reporter - July 2015 - 141

ConventionSection: Texas Independent Producers & Royalty Owners

Oil Export Ban Hurts U.S.,
Industry, TIPRO Says
By Dan Holder

AUSTIN, TX.-As its name indicates,
the Texas Independent Producers & Royalty Owners Association is a very independent group of men and women. And
with a wide range of new opportunities
and challenges emerging for the industry
in 2015, the group of independents remains
cautiously optimistic about the future of
the oil and gas industry, says TIPRO
Chairman Raymond James Welder III.
Members of the Texas group will convene Aug. 6-8 for TIPRO's summer conference to explore what could be in store
for the state's oil and gas operators in the
years to come. The event will be held at
the Hyatt Hill Country Resort and Spa in
San Antonio. Association President Ed
Longanecker reports the meeting will
discuss the new technology trends that
are increasing industry efficiencies and
the expanding list of regulatory challenges
facing oil and gas operators.
"We are pleased to feature respected
leaders from the public and private sectors,
including a leading economist who will
address commodity prices, and global
supply and demand scenarios, in addition
to executives from several companies
that are providing unique technologies
to improve exploration and production
methods, and state regulators responsible
for overseeing oil and gas development
in Texas," Longanecker says.
The annual conference opens with a
reception on Thursday, Aug. 6, Longanecker says, followed by a full day of
presentations on Friday, Aug. 7. Confirmed
speakers include Texas Railroad Commission Chairman David Porter, Citibank
Managing Director and Global Head of
Energy Strategy Seth Kleinman, and Dale
Craymer, president of the Texas Taxpayers
and Research Association. Friday events
close with the chairman's dinner and
casino night. TIPRO's golf tournament
takes place the morning of Saturday,
Aug. 8, on the resort's golf course.
Exporting Oil
Among the many energy issues tracked
by the association, TIPRO says the nation's

TIPRO Summer Conference-San Antonio
Thursday, Aug. 6

1 p.m. Audit Committee Meeting, Hyatt
Hill Country Resort
3 p.m. Board Meeting
5:30 p.m. Welcome Reception

Friday, Aug. 7

8 a.m. Breakfast, Hyatt Hill Country Resort
8:30 a.m. Screening of My All American
Documentary Trailer
9 a.m.-Noon General Session
Opening Remarks, TIPRO Chairman Raymond James Welder III
Morning Keynote Presentation, Jud Walker,
Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, EnerVest Operating
Tax Update, Dale Craymer, President,
Texas Taxpayer and Research Association
Innovation Panel: Brent Halldorson, Chief
Operating Officer, Fountain Quail Water
Management; Bob Sherwin, Chief Ex-

crude oil export ban is of increasing concern to its membership. Welder, president
of Welder Exploration & Production Inc.,
in San Antonio, asserts that is because
the state's oil and gas production will
not maintain its present pace unless the
United States removes the 1970s export
ban on domestically produced oil. The
prohibition only helps the refining community by subtracting $5-$10 from each
barrel of crude, he says.
"The export ban is nothing more than
an accounting gimmick," Welder states.
"In my own view, if the United States
can lift sanctions off Iran, it should be
able to lift the sanctions off Texans,
Louisianans, and Oklahomans. There has
been as much as a $15 a barrel disparity
between world and U.S. prices. This ban
is adversely impacting not just U.S. producers but U.S. security."
Throughout the 1950s and '60s, world
oil prices hovered close to $2 a barrel
while U.S. producers received between
$3 and $4, Welder recalls, in large part
because the Texas Railroad Commission
set allowables, which helped establish
prices. He adds another significant factor
in the higher prices seen domestically was

ecutive Officer, Bionic Soil Solutions
USA LLC; and Dave Milam, Executive
Vice President of Product Management
and Marketing, WellAware
Noon Keynote Speaker, Chad Peterson,
Vice President of the South Region,
Schlumberger
2 p.m. State Legislative Update
2:45 p.m. Economic Outlook, Seth Kleinman, Managing Director and Global
Head of Energy Strategy, Citibank
3:30 p.m. Afternoon Break
6 p.m. Chairman's Dinner and Casino Night
Remarks by Railroad Commission Chairman David Porter
Presentation of Mr. TIPRO Award

Saturday, Aug. 8

7:30 a.m. TIPRO's Annual Golf Tournament,
Hyatt Hill Country Resort
12:30 p.m. 19th Hole Reception and Awards
Ceremony

an understanding by national and state
leaders that it was important to the country
to have a vibrant domestic oil industry.
"We have gone exactly in the opposite
way. It is as if we want to have a vibrant
oil and gas industry internationally but
not domestically," Welder poses. "This
export ban was put in place in the early
1970s under the Nixon administration.
All the other vestiges of that unhappy
time of wage and price controls were removed by either the Carter or Reagan
administrations."
The export ban has been unnecessary
since it was imposed because U.S. production had been declining since the
1970s, he points out. Instead, the major
concern among industry and government
leaders was that the United States was
running out of oil, Welder says. "Thanks
to the ingenuity, hard work and enormous
capital allocation, we have reversed
decades of production declines," he says.
Accordingly, Servando Esparza,
TIPRO's manager of government affairs,
asserts Senate Concurrent Resolution 13,
which urges Congress to end the oil
export ban, was a major priority for the
association this past legislative session.
JULY 2015 141

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