American Oil and Gas Reporter - September 2015 - 127

ConventionSection: Permian Basin Petroleum Association
to protect freshwater zones."
Robertson points out that findings
from a Southern Methodist University
study further support arguments that fracturing does not influence seismic activity
around the city of Azle, Tx., northwest
of Fort Worth. "As far as fracturing goes,
studies show there is no correlation between that activity and increased seismic
activity," he says.
Also on the federal front, PBPA members continue to monitor policymakers'
sentiments about easing the country's
crude oil export ban as the market adjusts
to an anticipated increase in global supplies
from the accord between Iran and the
five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council plus Germany.
"Before the agreement, there was a
strong feeling in the industry that we
were gaining ground on lifting the ban,"
Robertson says. "I don't know how much
the deal with Iran will change anything,
but I think it has added another arrow in
our quiver of points about lifting the
export ban. If you are going to allow a
country that has a history of supporting

terrorism to export crude oil to the benefit
of its citizens and government, how can
you continue to prevent your own citizens
from exporting crude oil?"

State Oversight
Amid developments at the federal
level, PBPA continues to influence policymakers and legislators in Austin, Tx.,
and Santa Fe, N.M. The association saw
no major negative initiatives pass either
state's legislature, Campbell says, and
the group helped the industry score a
major victory in Texas with passage of
HB 40, which ensured state regulatory
authority over hydraulic fracturing after
residents of Denton voted last fall to ban
the practice inside the city limits.
"The bill keeps control of hydraulic
fracturing inside the RRC," Campbell reports. "State regulatory authority has been
established there, and that is where it
should stay. We often hear complaints that
cities have no control of fracturing but
that is not true, because cities can establish
setbacks. They have surface control and
can have fire and safety restrictions from

an access standpoint, but if a local ordinance
or vote actually shuts down hydraulic fracturing, that is taking minerals. Cities did
not lose control of surface rights, but the
RRC rightly controls the subsurface."
Passage ensures that operators statewide
are subject to the same drilling and completion rules, Robertson says. "Companies
must be able to continue to work off the
same science and fact-based regulations,
no matter where in Texas they operate,"
he reasons. "The state has made every
effort to keep regulations up-to-date with
changing technologies, and has done a
good job of protecting citizens and making
sure things are done right. Operators
know if they move from one part of the
state to another, the source of the rules is
the same and that operations will not be
halted by drastic regulatory changes."
The bill provides an exception that
allows municipalities to enact, amend or
enforce an ordinance or other measure
that regulates only aboveground activity
related to an oil and gas operation as
long as the regulations are considered
commercially reasonable and do not pro-

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American Oil and Gas Reporter - September 2015

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