American Oil and Gas Reporter - March 2016 - 22

IndustryDigest
IOGCC, GWPC Leading
Gas Storage Initiative
OKLAHOMA CITY-State oil and
gas regulatory agencies are partnering
with the Interstate Oil & Gas Compact
Commission and Ground Water
Protection Council to proactively address
natural gas storage facilities and state
regulations by forming a work group to
recognize aging infrastructure concerns,
identify technological advancements,
and determine regulatory challenges.
IOGCC says the effort will be
coordinated by the States First
Initiative, led by it and GWPC. It says
the initiative will organize a work group
consisting primarily of state regulators
as well as technical experts from
academia, industry, nonprofit
organizations, and federal agencies.
According to the U.S. Energy
Information Administration, 120
entities operate nearly 400 active
underground gas storage facilities in the
lower-48 states, IOGCC cites.
The natural gas storage work group
plans to provide solutions, guidelines
and other regulatory examples to
agencies overseeing the construction,
operation, safety and abandonment of
storage facilities, IOGCC says.
The project will build on IOGCC's
earlier work, including its 2000
Hydrocarbon Storage in Mined Caverns:
A Guide for State Regulators and Natural
Gas Storage in Salt Caverns: A Guide for
State Regulators, first published in 1995.
IOGCC points to the Aliso Canyon
methane leak in California as one
compelling argument for states to revisit
their natural gas storage regulations with a
focus on technological advancements and
aging infrastructure to ensure protection
of health, safety and the environment.
"While the U.S. Department of
Transportation has jurisdiction over the
interstate transmission and storage of
natural gas, the responsibility for
enforcing the safety of storage facilities
rests with state oil and gas agencies.
From a technical standpoint, a uniform
federal regulation is not sound because
of the geology, geography, and potential
risks that vary from state to state,"
IOGCC says. ❒

Speaker Ryan Appoints
Pro-Growth Task Forces
AUSTIN, TX.-Speaker Paul Ryan,
22 THE AMERICAN OIL & GAS REPORTER

R-Wi., has announced six Republican
task forces charged with developing a
pro-growth agenda for the U.S. House
of Representatives, according to a
report from the Texas Independent
Producers & Royalty Owners
Association.
"One of the new task forces will
examine the increasing regulatory
burden imposed by the federal
government," TIPRO says. "The group
will strive to find solutions that will
make it easier to invest, produce, and
build things in America with a
regulatory system that reduces
bureaucracy and eases the burden on
small businesses and job creators while
still protecting the environment, public
safety, and consumer interests."
TIPRO says several Texas
lawmakers have been selected to serve
on this task force, including Agriculture
Chairman Mike Conaway of Borger,
Financial Services Chairman Jeb
Hensarling of Stephenville, and
Science, Space and Technology
Chairman Lamar Smith of San Antonio.
"Everyone agrees that we need to
protect the environment, but we must do
so in a way that is open and honest,"
TIPRO quotes Congressman Smith.
"Unfortunately, the Environmental
Protection Agency and other federal
agencies bend the law and stretch the
science to justify their own objectives.
The Obama administration is actively
going around Congress to commit the
United States to costly new regulations
that will do nothing to improve the
environment, but will impact economic
growth negatively."
TIPRO adds that a second task force
will address constitutional authority,
working to reclaim power ceded to the
executive branch by reforming the rulemaking process, checking on agency
authority, exercising appropriations
power, and conducting more robust
oversight. A third task force will assess
ways to simplify the tax code, reduce
rates, and remove special interests in
efforts to grow the economy. ❒

Gas Storage Levels
Decrease By 502 Bcf
WASHINGTON-Underground
natural gas storage in the United States
stood at 2.584 trillion cubic feet on Feb.
19, 28.7 percent above the five year
average, according to the U.S. Energy

Information Administration. That was
down 502 billion cubic feet from the
3.086 Tcf in storage on Jan. 22, which
was 16.3 percent above the five-year
average. The Feb. 19 storage number
was 614 Bcf more than a year ago when
gas storage stood at 1.970 Tcf.
EIA unveiled new classifications for
natural gas storage on Nov. 13 (AOGR,
December 2015, pg. 16). The agency
says changes in regional trends in natural
gas consumption, production and storage
led it to recategorize its storage regions.
In large part, EIA says, the former East
Consuming region was split into the new
East and Midwest regions, while the
previous West Consuming region was
split into the new Pacific and Mountain
Regions. The new South-Central Region
consists mainly of the states that
comprised the old Producing Region.
According to EIA, gas storage in the
new East region was 512 Bcf on Feb.
19, 18.0 percent above the five-year
average, but 183 Bcf less than Jan. 22,
when storage stood at 695 Bcf, 12.1
percent above the five-year average.
East Region gas storage on Feb. 19 was
103 Bcf more than a year ago.
Gas storage in the new Midwest
Region stood at 645 Bcf on Feb. 19,
33.3 percent above the five-year average
and 166 Bcf less than the 811 Bcf in
storage on Jan. 22, which was 16.0
percent above the five year average. Feb.
19 gas storage in the Midwest Region
was 198 Bcf more than a year ago.
In the new Mountain Region, EIA
says, gas storage was 147 Bcf on Feb.
19, which was 10.5 percent above the
five-year average and 17 Bcf less than
the 164 stored on Jan. 22, which was
4.5 percent above the five year average.
Gas storage in the Mountain Region
was up 19 Bcf from a year ago.
Gas storage in the new Pacific region
was 256 Bcf on Feb. 19, 16.4 percent
above the five-year average and 17 Bcf
less than the 273 Bcf stored on Jan. 22,
which was 6.6 percent above the five-year
average. Pacific Region gas storage on
Feb. 19 was down 23 Bcf from a year ago.
In the South-Central region, gas
storage levels on Feb. 19 were 1.024
Tcf, 38.9 percent above the five-year
average and down 119 Bcf from the
1.143 Tcf in storage on Jan. 22, which
was 24.0 percent above the five-year
average. The Feb. 19 gas storage level
for the South-Central Region was up
317 Bcf from a year ago. ❒
American Oil and Gas Reporter - March 2016

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Oil and Gas Reporter - March 2016
