American Oil and Gas Reporter - November 2015 - 18

IndustryDigest
The state allows companies one year
to drill, complete and begin producing
new wells. One newspaper account of
the NDIC meeting quotes Helms saying
he expects about 100 wells to reach that
deadline each month in December
through March.
On its flaring regulations, NDPC
says the NDIC approved a 90-day
rolling credit that, on application by the
operator, may be applied to the
operator's gas-capture target under
"extenuating circumstances."
According to the NDIC guidance, an
operator may accumulate credits for
volumes of gas captured during the
most recent three months that exceed
the operator's gas capture goal. The
commission may apply all or a portion
of the credit to a month in which the
operator cannot meet his gas capture
goal. NDIC says credits cannot be
transferred to another operator, and
unused credits expire after three
months.
The extenuating circumstances to
which the credits may be applied are:
* Surface landowner, tribal or
federal government rights-of-way
delays;
* Temporary midstream downtime
for system upgrades and/or
maintenance;
* Federal regulatory restrictions or
delays;
* Safety issues;
* Delayed access to electrical
power; and
* Possible reservoir damage.
At its Sept. 24 meeting, the NDIC
delayed a gas capture goal of 85 percent
by Jan. 1, 2016, that it approved in 2014
until Nov. 1, 2016, and set new goals of
80 percent by April 1, 2016, 85 percent
by Nov. 1, 2016, 88 percent by Nov. 1,
2018, and 91 percent beginning Nov. 1,
2020 (AOGR, October 2015, pg. 24).
At its Oct. 22 meeting, NDIC also
instructed the Department of Mineral
Resources to conduct an annual flaring
target review and report to the NDIC
each December, NDPC reports. ❒

Texas Universities Urged
To Show Frac Support
North Texans for Natural Gas, a
coalition supporting gas development,
is organizing a petition drive urging the
leaders of the University of Texas and

18 THE AMERICAN OIL & GAS REPORTER

Texas A&M to publically support
hydraulic fracturing in West Texas.
Revenues from oil and gas development
on the state-owned properties support
the universities.
"A small but committed group of
critics has been using fear tactics to
call for an end to oil and natural gas
development on lands that benefit both
UT and A&M," the petition reads.
"Funds from this development provide
a reliable energy source for all Texans,
keep tuition low for students by
supporting the UT and A&M
endowments, create jobs for Texans,
and enhance our energy security.
Please stand with us by defending
continued oil and natural gas
development on university lands, and
reject calls from those who are
advocating for bans on American
energy development."
According to the Texas Permanent
University Fund website, it holds land
grants for 2.1 million acres in 24 West
Texas counties. Oil and gas activities
increased the university endowment
from $8.8 billion in 2008 to $19.0
billion by August 2014, with 2014
distributions totaling $650 million. The
fund allows 17 schools in the UT and
A&M systems to keep tuition low and
invest in new campus buildings and
libraries, the website indicates.
North Texans for Natural Gas'
petition calls on UT Chancellor
William McRaven and A&M
Chancellor John Sharp to defend oil
and gas development on university
lands.
The petition is a response to a joint
report by the Environment Texas
Research and Policy Center and
Frontier Group that alleges oil and gas
development is harming the
environment. The group asserts
fracturing operations are consuming
large amounts of water during drought
conditions, releasing methane, and
introducing pollutants into
groundwater.
Both the Texas Independent
Producers & Royalty Owners
Association and Texas Alliance of
Energy Producers have pointed their
members to the coalition's website.
Its website indicates North Texans
for Natural Gas is supported by four
North Texas energy producers: Devon
Energy Corp., EnverVest Ltd., EOG
Resources Inc. and XTO Energy Inc. ❒

Industry Disappointed
By DOI's Cancellation
Of Arctic Lease Sales

WASHINGTON-Citing a lack of
industry interest, the U.S. Department
of Interior in October cancelled two
Arctic Outer Continental Shelf lease
sales scheduled for 2016 and '17. But
the real lack, industry spokesmen
quickly fired back, is the federal
regulatory certainty necessary to make
Arctic exploration feasible.
On Oct. 16, DOI announced it was
cancelling Chukchi Sea Lease Sale 237,
scheduled for 2016 under the 2012-17
OCS leasing schedule, as well as
Beaufort Sea Lease Sale 242, scheduled
for 2017.
Citing Royal Dutch Shell's decision
a few weeks earlier to abandon its
exploratory drilling in the Chukchi Sea,
Interior Secretary Sally Jewell said, "In
light of Shell's announcement, the
amount of acreage already under lease
and current market conditions, it does
not make sense to prepare for lease
sales in the Arctic in the next year and a
half."
In the same announcement, DOI
notes that its Bureau of Safety and
Environmental Enforcement denied
requests by Shell and Statoil to
temporarily suspend their leases that are
due to expire in 2017 in the Beaufort
and in 2020 in the Chukchi seas.
National Ocean Industries
Association President Randall Luthi
calls DOI's actions "extremely
disappointing and short-sighted,"
adding: "Without a doubt, this is the
most energy ignorant administration in
our lifetime."
Luthi continues, "Shell proved that
exploration and drilling can be done
safely in the Arctic, but the real
challenge was navigating under the
regulatory thumb of the federal
government. The Arctic likely will
continue to be explored by other
countries such as Russia and China,
while the U.S. oil and gas industry is
unfortunately forced to sit on the
sidelines."
Noting that DOI cites a "lack of
commercial interest" in the Arctic OCS,
the Consumer Energy Alliance
responds, "Commercial interest in the
Arctic is directly related to the lack of
regulatory consistency and certainty,
and the absence of coordinated
American Oil and Gas Reporter - November 2015

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Oil and Gas Reporter - November 2015
