American Oil and Gas Reporter - January 2017 - 24

IndustryDigest
recommendations in a report released
by the work group in December are:
* Improving and expanding the
federal Section 45Q tax credit for
storing captured CO2;
* Deploying a revenue neutral
mechanism to stabilize the price paid
for CO2-and carbon capture project
revenue-by removing volatility and
investment risk associated with CO2
prices linked to oil prices; and
* Offering tax-exempt private
activity bonds and master limited
partnership tax status to provide better
project financing terms.
States also can assist by optimizing
their tax policies to complement federal
incentives, according to the Great Plains
Institute, which says, "Analysis
undertaken for the work group shows
that an optimized approach to state
taxes can add the equivalent of $8 a
barrel of oil to the economics of a
carbon capture project."
Adds Great Plains Vice President for
Fossil Energy Brad Crabtree,
"Complementary federal and state
incentives will narrow the gap between
the cost of carbon capture and revenue
received from the sale of CO2 for EOR,
spur commercial deployment by
enticing private investment in projects,
and bring down the cost of carbon
capture technology as incentives have
accomplished for other energy
technologies."
Montana Governor Steve Bullock,
who along with Wyoming Governor
Matt Mead chairs the State CO2-EOR
Deployment Work Group, says,
"Capturing CO2 from power plants for
use in EOR can provide economic,
environmental and national security
benefits long into the future."
The group's report, Putting the Puzzle
Together: State & Federal Policy Drivers
for Growing America's Carbon Capture
& CO2-EOR Industry, may be found at
http://www.betterenergy.org/EORpolicy.
❒

Coming In February
AOGR talks to independents
about their drilling and development
projects on the drawing boards in the
Gulf of Mexico for 2017, and provides an update on the future of
FPSO-based field development in
deepwater fields.
24 THE AMERICAN OIL & GAS REPORTER

Sgamma Chosen As
The New President Of
Western Energy Alliance
DENVER -The Western Energy
Alliance has appointed Kathleen
Sgamma its new president, promoting
her from vice president of government
and public affairs. She has worked at
the association for more than a decade
and is replacing Tim Wigley, who has
joined the Oklahoma Independent
Petroleum
Association
(AOGR, Dec.
2016, pg. 89).
Western
Alliance Chairman
Daryll Howard,
chief operating
officer of Fuse
Energy, says the
group is proud to
have Sgamma as
SGAMMA
its new president.
"She has been at the Alliance for more
than a decade, and her strong leadership
has contributed substantially to the
success of the organization," he praises.
"In her prior role as vice president of
government and public affairs, Kathleen
has built up our strong advocacy program,
which will be instrumental as we work
with the new Trump administration."
"I am honored that the Board of
Directors has put its trust in me to lead
the organization at this crucial time for
the industry," Sgamma reflects. "For
several years, the Alliance has led the
charge against federal regulatory
overreach, particularly with respect to
environmental and public lands policies.
The oil and natural gas industry is and
should be heavily regulated, as states
and the federal government have been
doing for many decades. However, the
regulatory barrage has gone far beyond
reasonable environmental oversight and
has become a means to hinder American
producers and drive them off
appropriate federal lands. The Alliance
is gearing to engage with the new
administration, and we will be working
to roll back unreasonable regulations as
well as to advance positive policies that
create jobs and economic opportunity in
the West and across the country."
Sgamma is a U.S. Army veteran and
graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology, and the Virginia Polytechnic
Institute and State University. ❒

IOGA Taps Sam Barbee
As Its New Top Staffer
MT. VERNON, IL.-The Illinois Oil
& Gas Association has hired Sam
Barbee as its executive vice president.
Most recently, Barbee was chief
executive officer of the Missouri Auto
Dealers Association, a group for which
he worked two decades in positions that
also included chief lobbyist and field
representative. He
arrives at IOGA
with some
personal ties to oil
and gas that
include parents
who own oil and
gas royalties in
Oklahoma, and an
uncle who worked
for decades in the
Sooner State's
BARBEE
industry.
Moreover, Barbee says he can
discern many similarities about the
challenges faced by independent auto
dealers and those small companies that
produce the resources to fuel those cars.
"I know, appreciate, and understand
that running a family business means
having a lot on the line," he reflects.
According to IOGA President Bryan
Dicus, owner of BJ Dicus & Associates
LLC in Carmi, Il., IOGA's Selection
Committee has made an excellent
choice. "Sam brings many years of
association management experience to
our organization," Dicus affirms. "He is
full of fresh ideas, focus and energy,
which I know will take IOGA to new
levels. Along with the rest of the
Executive Committee, I am excited
about working with him as we move
into 2017 and beyond."
IOGA will strive to maintain and
build on its industry advocacy success,
Barbee relates, but he predicts
organizational growth and development
also will be an emphasis in the coming
years, as the association strives to
increase industry participation and help
members understand its value.
"An industry and its trade group
must have all four wheels on the ground
at the same time," Barbee describes.
"Companies compete with one another,
but when the time comes to take care of
industry matters, everybody has to band
together tightly for their mutual benefit.
I will push for that." ❒
American Oil and Gas Reporter - January 2017

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Oil and Gas Reporter - January 2017
