American Oil and Gas Reporter - January 2016 - 143
The Presidential Papers
eral Assembly, industry supported legislation signed into law setting up a process
for the accelerated disbursement of funds
held in a state-maintained escrow fund.
This bill will result in the release of gas
royalty funds, some long held in escrow,
to the rightful owners.
On the gas utility side, the general assembly enacted bipartisan legislation that
creates a framework for new regulatory
tools allowing infrastructure expansion
into some areas that have no access to
natural gas. VOGA also worked to defeat
legislation targeting the Atlantic Coast
and the Mountain Valley Pipeline projects.
That legislation would have restricted access to rights of way for surveying and
testing purposes.
VOGA's public relations effort to positively impact the public's perspective continued to show results during 2015. Through
the use of social media, the association's
website, both paid and earned media, and
public-speaking opportunities, VOGA has
raised the association's and the industry's
profile in the public energy discussion
while also serving as a reliable resource
for natural gas information. We use every
opportunity to amplify our message, including providing bumper stickers and car
magnets to our members, which leads to
some interesting parking lot conversations!
During our fall board meeting, in addition to hosting guests including Virginia
state Senator Ben Chafin and Delegate
Israel O'Quinn, we were proud to have
as our guest speaker, Carroll Dale, a Virginia native, Virginia Tech Hall of Fame
member and receiver for the Super Bowl
champion Green Bay Packers of 1967
and 1968.
As the Super Bowl prepares to celebrate
its 50-year anniversary in 2016, Dale
provided reflections about the football
and life lessons he learned under the
leadership of Coach Vince Lombardi. He
spoke about the Packers' commitment to
excellence, the value of teamwork and
the ability to excel under adversity. His
comments offered a compelling perspective on themes that apply to our industry
today, even as we look for opportunities
Western Energy
Alliance
JAVAN 'JAY' OTTOSON
President and Chief
Executive Officer
SM Energy Company
Denver
FROM THE CHAIRMAN
Our industry has made remarkable
contributions to the energy security and
prosperity of the country in the past few
years. The economic recovery and job
growth that have occurred during President
Obama's term in office largely are the
result of both our innovative applications
of technology to develop oil and gas resources and the industrial renaissance
spurred by the resulting plentiful and inexpensive energy supplies. Increased production and use of natural gas also has
contributed to significant reductions in
greenhouse gas emissions.
Unfortunately, these achievements are
not appreciated by our industry's entrenched opposition. The modern envi-
ronmental movement requires the maintenance of a constant atmosphere of crisis
in order to justify their continued existence
and fundraising. Our success has surprised
the green groups, who believed generally
that we rapidly were running out of oil
and gas resources. This has made it more
difficult and expensive for those groups
and their allied politicians to justify and
implement impoverishing energy policies
intended to mitigate potential risks from
climate change.
As a result, the strategy of the extreme
anti-hydrocarbon coalition has shifted toward encouraging local "not in my backyard" activism and federal regulatory overreach to block and delay development of
to make more natural gas available to the
market and cope with challenges and
benefits directly and indirectly related to
the shale revolution.
Looking ahead, VOGA expects another
active year of energy-related issues in
2016. As has been the case in recent
years, energy in general and natural gas
in particular will be high profile issues
this year. VOGA is prepared to continue
to advocate for its member companies as
needed as issues on all fronts arise.
Throughout the course of 2015, VOGA
member companies experienced economic
challenges, reorganizations, mergers and
spinoffs. Despite these hurdles, we believe
this is an exciting and historic time to be
in the natural gas business, and we have
shared optimism that somewhere down
the road commodity prices will find a
level that offers both opportunities for
producers and value for consumers. As
always, VOGA members will work together to weather these challenges and
make the most of the opportunities presented to us in 2016.
❒
hydrocarbon resources wherever and whenever possible. Their game plan on a federal
level is to use various means to justify expanding regulatory schemes and installing
an overlapping web of new federal regulations, which will make it very difficult
to develop large resources on federal lands
and override state regulatory authority for
oil and gas development.
Active Defense
As chairman of Western Energy Alliance, I want to stress the importance of
actively defending against excessive rules
and fighting regulatory overreach. This
approach requires thoughtful and wellcoordinated initiatives to relentlessly address the administration's actions at every
stage-from initial dialogue to substantial
engagement in rule makings to legal
action when necessary.
As chief executive officer of SM Energy, I understand the pain we all face in
our businesses because of low commodity
prices. I understand the difficult choices
we all have to make in budgeting and
spending for playing regulatory defense
and committing resources to advocacy.
That is why the Western Energy Alliance is so vital to our success. The association is the industry source of credible,
JANUARY 2016 143
American Oil and Gas Reporter - January 2016
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Oil and Gas Reporter - January 2016
Contents
American Oil and Gas Reporter - January 2016 - Cover1
American Oil and Gas Reporter - January 2016 - Cover2
American Oil and Gas Reporter - January 2016 - Contents
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