American Oil and Gas Reporter - July 2015 - 21

abruptly disrupting oil and gas
operations.
Underground water injection is an
integral part of the state's oil
production, the association says. At
least 75 percent of California's oil
production depends on enhanced oil
recovery methods, including steam or
water injection to reduce oil viscosity,
CIPA's motion states. If wells used for
disposal of produced water are taken
into consideration, it says that number is
even higher.
"CIPA is uniquely situated to
intervene to protect its members'
property, business and other interests
throughout the state, and to pursue its
essential mission of helping its members
provide adequate, reliable and affordable
sources of energy to the public," the
petition concludes. "If CIPA is not
present in the above-titled action, it will
be unable to defend against petitioners'
claims on behalf of its members and on
behalf of the common interests of the oil
and gas industry in providing a reliable
supply of petroleum and petroleum
products to the state."
EPA audited California's Class II
underground injection control program
in 2010 and concluded DOGGR's
aquifer protection fell short of SDWA
requirements, the agency reports in its
notice of proposed rule making. The
federal complaint said the state had
permitted injection wells into aquifers
or portions of aquifers that qualified as
underground sources of drinking water
under the act, but had not yet been
exempted. EPA also said 11 aquifers
historically treated as exempt may not
be exempt.
DOGGR says it has initiated a
proposed rule making to bring its Class
II UIC program into compliance with
the SDWA. ❒

Industry Groups Attack
EPA's Volumes For RFS

WASHINGTON-The U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency has
overestimated how much ethanol
consumers will purchase, and the
American Fuel & Petrochemical
Manufacturers warns U.S. fuel supply
may not be able to handle those
volumes in its proposed biofuel
requirements.
The Clean Air Act requires EPA to
set annual renewable fuel standard
volume requirements for four categories
of biofuels. The agency released the
standards May 29. According to EPA,
domestic biofuel use in 2014 will reflect

the amount of that fuel in use during
that year. Standards for 2015 and 2016-
and the 2017 biodiesel standard-will
increase steadily over time. It says the
earlier volume requirements set cornethanol levels at 15 billion gallons for
both 2015 and 2016.
Under the agency's proposed RFS
volumes for cellulosic biofuel,
measured in ethanol equivalent, the
2014 volume of 33.0 million gallons
increases to 106.0 million gallons in
2015 and 206.0 million gallons in 2016.
AFPM says the proposal is overly
ambitious and demonstrates why
Congress must act to repeal the RFS
standard. "In acknowledging that the
proposal seeks to force more ethanol
use that the marketplace can handle,
EPA is playing Russian roulette with
fuel supply and consumers," says
AFPM President Chet Thompson.
Jack Gerard, president and chief
executive officer of the American
Petroleum Institute, urges EPA to
ensure Americans can access the fuel
they want and safely use in their
vehicles until Congress repeals RFS.
He says the Congressional Budget
Office has determined consumers could
see increasing fuel prices unless RFS
mandates end. API is asking the agency
to set the final ethanol mandate to no
more than 9.7 percent of gasoline
demand to help avoid the 10 percent
ethanol blend wall-the most ethanol
that can be sold under legal
requirements or physical constraints on
how much can be blended into each
gallon of gasoline.
Thomas Pyle, president of the
American Energy Alliance, says the
RFS has been broken since its
inception, distorts the market, and has
no environmental benefits.
"Once again, EPA has deluded itself
into thinking it can simply mandate the
commercial cellulosic biofuel industry
out of thin air. EPA's unrealistic
projections for cellulosic biofuel
underscore the arrogance of
Washington politicians who think they
know what is best for the economy and
the American people," Pyle says. ❒

Atlantic Basin May Add
3.8 MMbbl/d Of New Oil,
Wood Mackenzie Says

HOUSTON-By 2025, megaprojects
offshore Brazil and Norway will add 3.8
million barrels a day of new-supply
crude from the Atlantic Basin, a Wood
Mackenzie study predicts. Since most
JULY 2015 21
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