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drilling permit (Form W-1) was filed.
There is also an administrative procedure for balancing overproduction from a
specific oil lease, Miller said.
Under Statewide Rule 86 (horizontal
drain-hole wells), he said the RRC was
proposing first and last "take point" lan-

guage, no perforation zones, off-site tract
penetration points, stacked lateral provisions, and a "box rule" with a suggested
50-foot distance limitation.
The provisions would apply to
"statewide rule fields" and other fields
where special horizontal field rules had

been adopted, but did not include those
provisions, Miller said.
Some of the criteria for UFT fields are
qualification requirements, procedures
for designation, allowable assignments,
and specific amendments to field rules, according to the summary.
❒

Expanding Market Key For Natural Gas
FORT WORTH-Despite low oil and
gas prices, efforts continue to expand the
market for natural gas as the world prepares
for more energy demand in the future, the
director of Texas Christian University's Energy Institute told members of the Texas
Alliance of Energy Producers at their
Nov. 5 board meeting in Fort Worth.
Institute director Ken Morgan told
Alliance members during a luncheon address that efforts continued unabated to
promote natural gas as a viable transportation fuel. He noted that Cummins had announced a new technology that combined LNG and diesel to create a zeroemission fuel. He said school districts continued to move buses away from diesel to
natural gas, and mentioned that UPS had
initiated an endeavor to roll out 1,000 new
natural gas trucks. General Electric is
working on a home refueling unit for CNG
vehicles, he added.
"Get ready, things are about to change,"
Morgan declared.
On the larger stage, he observed that
global energy demand was expected to rise
by 100 quadrillion Btu over the next 15
years, the equivalent of current U.S. energy consumption. "It's another United
States worth of energy (demand) in 15
years," Morgan reiterated.
While the United States consumes 20
percent of the world's energy, China has
moved into a tie with Europe for second
at 16 percent, he pointed out, and demand
growth is expected to continue elsewhere.
In the meantime, the Energy Institute
continues to state the case for additional domestic energy supplies to meet growing
needs at home, Morgan said, while attempting to correct misinformation about the industry's water use and other practices.
For example, he said Texas Water
Development Board figures showed the
Barnett Shale accounted for less than 2 percent of water usage in the region, while
waste and leaks accounted for 30 percent.
The industry must continue to address
where it places disposal wells while driving home the point that disposal wells by
and large operate safely, Morgan added.
"Don't put disposal wells where you
have faults," he urged. "This is not rocket science. It is good underground work."

In the meantime, the public must know
that oil and gas operators are involved in
a volatile business and take risks daily for
the good of the nation, he said. And part
of those risks are bringing liquefied and
compressed natural gas to market for
motor fuel, and supplying additional natural gas for base-load power generation,
Morgan enumerated.

Elect Vice Chairman
Alliance members also heard the latest
on federal and state developments affecting their businesses and elected Robert W.
Osborne as vice chairman.
Osborne, who has been involved in the
oil and gas business since 1971, serves as
vice president and 50 percent owner of Cobra Oil & Gas Corporation in Wichita
Falls, Tx. Cobra operates properties in
Texas, Alabama, Arkansas, Kansas,
Louisiana, Michigan, North Dakota, Utah
and Wyoming, according to an Alliance
announcement.
A graduate of the University of
Arkansas, Osborne will become chairman
of the Alliance Board at the association's 2016 annual meeting, April 19-20
in Wichita Falls, said outgoing Chairman
George Rogers. In addition to serving on

the Alliance Board, Osborne was a vice
president of the North Texas Oil & Gas
Association, which merged with the West
Central Texas Oil & Gas Association in
2000 to form the Alliance.

Congressional Actions
Assessing developments in Washington, Alliance government relations adviser, former Congressman Charles Stenholm,
D-Tx., applauded the election of Wisconsin Republican Paul Ryan as speaker of the
house. "I personally believe Ryan can become a great speaker," Stenholm averred.
"His challenge is going to be to find followers."
The leadership makeup in Congress
could be especially beneficial to Texas,
which has seven members serving as
committee chairmen, Stenholm said.
He added that the possibility still existed in late fall for the House leadership
to find a way to insert a provision in mustpass legislation to allow for exports of U.S.
crude oil. The key to passage is finding
compromises with Senate Democrats
likely to oppose lifting the export ban,
Stenholm said.
"I ask those who believe gridlock is
good to rethink that," he offered.

Former Congressman
Charles Stenholm (left),
D-Tx., who advises the
Texas Alliance of Energy
Producers on government relations, listens
as Alliance government
relations consultant Bill
Stevens addresses the
association's Nov. 5
board of directors meeting in Fort Worth.

DECEMBER 2015 113

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