American Oil and Gas Reporter - January 2016 - 136

creases. If that holds true, many of us
will anticipate lower APD fees once the
new electronic system is completed and
paid for.
In addition, OGCC will institute new
rules for flaring and venting in 2016.
Any operators who plan to conduct either
of these operations are strongly encouraged
to examine these new rules. The draft
rules follow commission policy and practices that have been in place for several
years.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency continues to push its
regulatory agenda. We anticipate several
proposals in 2016 to address air quality,
including one that may aggregate oil and
gas facilities' emissions. This could impact

permitting significantly, to the extent that
wells, facilities and gas plants may be
required to be permitted under a single
program and possibly prior to any development.
PAW remains engaged with the
Wyoming Department of Environmental
Quality regarding ozone matters. We are
concerned that DEQ may propose new
control requirements in an attempt to prevent additional ozone creation. However,
DEQ data support the view that Wyoming
does not have an ozone problem and therefore, any new controls are unwarranted.
Although the industry endured a barrage of attacks in 2015, there were not
too many surprises on the regulatory, legislative and environmental fronts. However,

SOUTH CAROLINA
OIL & GAS ASSOCIATION
JUSTIN SUTTON
DIRECTOR
GREEN ENERGY FUELS
PAWLEY'S ISLAND, S.C.

FROM THE DIRECTOR
The South Carolina Oil & Gas Association is pleased to present its annual
update of our state's offshore and onshore
activity. The past 12 months have seen
dramatic activity toward implementing
the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management
authorizations to begin 2-D seismic testing
off the Atlantic Coast between Georgia
and Virginia. The goal is to confirm
seismic information that has been gathered
during the past 30 years, which indicates
a large potential oil and gas reserve.
The anticipated federal waters that
will be involved in the first Atlantic lease
program are 50 nautical miles from the
Eastern Seaboard coastline. SCOGA has
been active in helping educate the South
Carolina public about the associated benefits and environmental issues. It is difficult
and expensive to provide sufficient information to offset environmentalists' assault on the oil and gas industry in general,
and the prospect of developing a major
offshore formation specifically. Industry
participants share federal regulatory and
environmental agencies' goal to assure
the environmentally safe development of
as much as $6 billion of recoverable oil
and gas reserves.
Beginning in early 2015, BOEM issued
its first request for public awareness fo-

rums. That resulted in the first of several
public forum meetings in Charleston,
S.C., and attendees included representatives of SCOGA, the American Petroleum
Institute, the South Carolina Department
of Health & Environmental Control, the
Consumer Energy Alliance and local citizens. Not surprisingly, the meeting also
drew a large contingent of activists representing the Coastal Conservation
League.
The public forum allowed citizens to
review the information BOEM scientists
had prepared to assess the safety of offshore seismic testing. It considered endangerment issues to whales, dolphins
and various fish species from the high
frequency testing. It also examined the
50-mile offshore boundary and the time
required to develop the Atlantic coastal
lease program.
Speakers discussed safety developments in the industry, especially the Macondo papers. Scientists discussed the
effects on commercial and recreational
rig fishing. BOEM scientific testing
reports were cited to indicate that seismic
testing never had killed whales or dolphins.
Each issue was discussed with the best
available information and supported a
safe 2-D seismic development program.

136 THE AMERICAN OIL & GAS REPORTER

market conditions proved more challenging
than many predicted. A number of properties changed hands as companies looked
to clean asset portfolios and align business
strategies. Enduring commodity price
weakness impacted Wyoming and the industry through revenue and budget shortfalls, employee layoffs and drilling program suspensions, with consequences for
local economies. Many predict 2016
prices promise more of the same, in
which case the impacts on the economy
and jobs will continue.
Nevertheless, history demonstrates
Wyoming will fight at every turn as one
of the country's leading energy development states. It is my hope that commodity
prices will recover soon.
❒
On May 1, 2015, the DHEC issued a
conditional coastal zone consistency
report to allow 2-D seismic testing in
South Carolina's coastal zones. That was
met with a motion to intervene on July
31, 2015, by the South Carolina Coastal
Conservation League, and the South Carolina Wildlife Federation. All parties are
awaiting a conclusion to those arguments,
but no proceedings have been scheduled.
Tilted Playing Field
Our experience on the Atlantic Coast
is no different from the issues that have
caused Shell Oil Co. to abandon a 10year development program in the Alaskan
Arctic. It also has been happening in
every U.S. oil and gas producing state.
The green lobby is well-funded and organized. Its effectiveness does not necessarily rely on factual information, but
the movement nonetheless manages to
delay projects that will benefit our country's defense and economy.
Strategic oil reserves, along with new
jobs and state royalty revenue, are deemed
insignificant to the environmental lobby
as it works to prevent 2-D seismic testing
off South Carolina's coast. These legal
machinations and local political efforts
have stopped development and frozen
hiring plans. Meanwhile, where do companies find private funding to fight the
environmental issues?
The forum is no longer balanced, but
heavily tilted toward environmentalists'
objectives, which has allowed them to
raise legal objections that have halted
proposed testing programs. The oil and
gas industry must wait on accurate seismic
data to determine the Atlantic Coast's
reserves and economic opportunity.
SCOGA believes it needs a strong
membership base, and that can happen
only with a developing upstream industry
that will defend itself financially and po-

American Oil and Gas Reporter - January 2016

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