American Oil and Gas Reporter - January 2016 - 137

The Presidential Papers
litically. Until then, the playing field remains tilted against the industry and a
major Atlantic Coast oil field will remain
undeveloped for future generations.
The American Oil and Gas Reporter's
Presidential Papers section reveals a pattern: A vocal environmental opposition
obstructs an entire industry that provides
jobs, economic development, national security and future economic safety. However, states with production differ from
South Carolina because its offshore development is prospective, and therefore,
lacks the financial ability to oppose the
anti-development lobby. It is easy to understand why our state's politicians and
elected officials are unwilling to take a
stand that may cost them in the next
election.
Even so, some South Carolina policymakers have supported developing Atlantic
Coast reserves. During the past year,
SCOGA has met with South Carolina
Congressmen Jeff Duncan and Tom Rice,
its senators, Tim Scott, and Lindsey Graham (all Republicans), and state Representative Stephen Goldfinch, R-Georgetown. Each has attempted to legislatively
promote the industry's job creation and

economic benefits. Others, such as Congressman Mark Sanford, R-S.C., have
become increasingly vocal development
opponents. Votes and funding are keys to
garnering the political support we need.
Calling All Industry Advocates
SCOGA is committed to seeing that
the oil and gas reserves in our state and
federal waters are developed. Our members
also are committed to maintaining the
environmental integrity that is a grant
from past generations. The ability to compromise and meet both of these objectives
has been a principal priority for SCOGA
and industry principals as they develop
policy and business statements. Unfortunately, the green lobby's political agenda
does not share these mutual goals. It is
evident that educating South Carolinians
and developing support will require financial resources.
SCOGA is asking oil and gas companies and other allies to assist us by submitting membership applications and financial contributions. SCOGA will continue to work alongside API and CEA to
provide reliable information about the
value oil and gas exploration, drilling

Southeastern Ohio Oil
& Gas Association
MATT LUPARDUS
Reservoir Planning Manager
HG Energy LLC
Marietta, Oh.

FROM THE PRESIDENT
Endeavor to persevere! This classic
one liner certainly is one that comes to
mind lately, especially here in the Appalachian Basin. With crude oil prices
hovering around $40 a barrel (a 60 percent
drop from last year's levels) and continued
low natural gas and natural gas liquids
prices, our industry's perseverance certainly is being tested.
The pain of low prices and steep negative basis differentials has brought with
it a severe downturn in activity. The Ohio
rig count has decreased from 50 rigs running last January to fewer than 20, a 60

percent drop in just one year. Thousands
of layoffs have occurred and continue to
occur in our region. Unfortunately, continued fallout is likely to continue and
even worsen over the next 12 to 18
months.
Because of these challenging times,
the Southeastern Ohio Oil & Gas Association has focused the majority of its
efforts on identifying ways to help its
membership navigate through the downturn. SOOGA hosted two open forums
in 2015, events which served to provide
a means for our members to discuss

and production offer to South Carolina's
economy. Offshore development can coexist with protecting South Carolina's
fragile environment and wildlife.
The jobs, economic value and boost
to state revenues sure to follow offshore
Atlantic development will benefit our citizens for years to come, but this message
will not convey itself, especially in the
face of fierce environmental opposition.
Any friends of the broader U.S. oil and
gas industry can help SCOGA maintain
its efforts by contributing to or joining
our growing association. Please visit our
website at scoga.us for information on
where to send contributions.
Each and every dollar will be spent to
provide the educational materials, technical
personnel and legal assistance to support
the facts about our industry, safe offshore
drilling and exploration in the Atlantic
coastal waters. SCOGA needs industry
support for committees, public relations,
technical issues, and companies looking
to participate in the Atlantic Offshore
drilling lease program. This is your chance
to be part of a developing initiative that
will benefit South Carolina and the United
States for many years.
❒
issues facing the industry and to create
plans of action to address them. The forums also provided insights from industry
experts regarding commodity prices and
forecasts. SOOGA will host these open
forums again in 2016.
SOOGA also has been busy defending
members from burdensome regulations.
As if low prices weren't enough to deal
with, new federal and state regulations
continue to arise. Proposed Environmental
Protection Agency regulations are coming
at us on a regular basis. Many encumber
the process, and appear to be more about
stopping activity than protecting the environment. Dozens of new or proposed
regulations from multiple agencies continue to inundate SOOGA's members.
Just keeping track of the arrival of new
regulations is a full-time job; deciphering
them and complying requires much more.
SOOGA also has invested much time
and effort over the past year defending
its membership from proposed increases
in the state severance tax rate. Despite
the thousands of layoffs and extremely
difficult times facing the oil and gas industry, discussions of a tax increase went
JANUARY 2016 137

American Oil and Gas Reporter - January 2016

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