American Oil and Gas Reporter - December 2017 - 85

enjoys top status in a $45-$55 environment.
"We actually are in a sweet spot, because
Permian Basin producers can grow while
others cannot," he estimated.
Even so, Goebel continued, "At the
end of 2018 or the beginning of 2019,
we may have a real pinch point and there
have not been material projects. We really
need to start getting sanctioned from a
crew logistics standpoint."
Another participant in the infrastructure
panel was Jarl Pedersen, chief commercial
officer for the Port of Corpus Christi,
who discussed the port's expansion plans,
which he said would fortify its status as
a key launch point for U.S. oil and gas
exports. "Our vision is to be the energy
port of the Americas," he described.
Pedersen said Port Corpus Christi had
signed an agreement with the U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers to begin a $25 million
channel improvement project, which
would deepen the channel and widen it
from 27 to 54 feet. "We already are the
deepest port in the Gulf, but we will be
deeper and that will greatly improve efficiency in terms of transportation costs,"
he related. "The additional export value
we have projected . . . will be $35 billion.
In terms of shipping cost savings, it is
$500 million a year."
However, he said, port officials were
struggling to convince a sufficient number
of federal policymakers that the project
was worth Washington's investment.
Therefore, he urged PBPA members,
"Anytime you talk with a politician, please
mention that this is a very important
project for the nation. We think it checks
all the boxes. It creates jobs, not only at
the port, but in West Texas. It helps our
trade balance. It helps our energy security.
And it helps our allies around the world."
Pederson described the lack of federal
funding as the expansion's chief political
risk. "If we are unable to convince Washington that federal funding is going to
happen, that is going to delay expansion
and impact not only the port, but also the
industry," he advised. "It is a federal designated channel, and that is a cost share.
We have funds available, but if we do
not get matching funding, it is going to
be a big, big problem."
Sovereignty Up And Down
Evan Smith, chief executive officer
and co-founder of the Texas Tribune,
told PBPA about a number of trends he
discerned in Texas politics, such as the
dispute about the extent of local authority.
"There is no more significant narrative
in Texas politics than the fight over municipal governments and local control-
or local liberty, if you prefer," he assessed.

Clashes over the extent of local regulatory
authority will continue to intensify in
Texas, predicts Evan Smith of the Texas
Tribune. Smith's remarks touched on
ways in which the conﬂict was not a precise analog to states' assertions of selfdetermination against federal overreach.

"Let's acknowledge that, though these
mayoralties and city council offices are
nonpartisan offices, they largely are run
by Democrats. At the state level, we have
Republicans (in control). That tension
has blown up the whole concept of local
control as we know it."
He cited the decision of ride-handling
enterprises Uber and Lyft to exit Austin
after a citywide vote imposed a number
of regulatory requirements, which prompted "a minor meltdown" at the legislature,
he said, as lawmakers questioned the
emergence of an inconsistent patchwork
of regulations throughout the state.
"What if someone picks somebody
up with an Uber in Round Rock and
drops them off in Austin? How is that
person supposed to get back?" he posed.
"There was a real issue about inconsistency
across municipal borders, so the legislature
decided to fix it. That conversation extended well beyond the ride-handling
question to things such as bag bans, setbacks and a bunch of other issues."
However, he recalled, oil and gas activity prompted an earlier manifestation
of the issue, when the city of Denton,
Tx., voted to ban hydraulic fracturing in
2014. "Really, that was the nose under
the tent," he characterized. "Everybody
pointed out that the University of North
Texas is in Denton and suggested a bunch
of dirty college students were voting to
ban fracturing. If you look at the vote on
the governor's race in the same election,
(Republican nominee Greg) Abbott won
Denton two-to-one over Wendy Davis,
so I am not sure it was all about a bunch

of liberal hippies that came to town."
He noted that state lawmakers addressed Denton's frac ban in the 2015
session when they passed HB 40, but he
said local authority conflicts were not
subsiding. "This is only beginning," he
predicted. "During the next several legislative sessions, we are going to see a
protracted fight over who gets to decide."
Legally, he suggested, the state seems
to be on firm ground. Although Texas
was not reluctant to assert its authority
against federal incursion during Barack
Obama's presidency, he suggested it was
not a perfect parallel when localities resisted state-level directives.
"The states created the federal government, and the states also created the
cities and counties," Smith observed.
"The state is the sovereign up-and-down,
coming and going, according to the civics
textbooks. But mayors and city council
members hate it, and voters will ask why
their (collective) will is not respected, so
this fight is not going away."
Board Of Directors
During the membership luncheon,
PBPA elected its newest slate of directors.
Elected to one-year terms were Matt
Johnson, Summit Petroleum; Roger
Alexander, Cimarex Energy; Richard Folger, Colbridge Partners Ltd.; Robert Winkler, Frost National Bank; Paul Kenworthy,
Kenworthy Oil; Urban "Obie" O'Brien,
Apache Corp.; and Pat Bond, Gravity
Energy Services.
Directors elected to two-year terms
were Levi Maurer, EnerVest Ltd.; Larry
Edgerton, Weaver; Chris Boehler, Concho
Resources; Jim Newman, Basic Energy
Services; Rosalind Redfern Grover, Redfern & Grover; Nick Taylor, Mexco Resources; and Newt Newton, SM Energy.
Directors elected to three-year terms
were Denzil West, Admiral Permian;
David Christmas, Schlumberger; Tom
Janiszewski, Occidental Petroleum Corp.;
Andrew Rawicki, Chevron; Kevan Taylor,
Plains Marketing L.P.; Jeff Balmer, Encana
Oil and Gas USA Inc.; and Michael Scott,
CrownQuest Operating LLC.
New directors appointed to one-year
terms by Chairman Clint Walker were
Johnny Golden, ConocoPhillips; Matt
Cooper, EXL Petroleum; Matt Hinson,
WPX Energy; Edward Lauer, Lucky Services; Travis Stice, Diamondback Energy;
Larry Richards, Van Zandt Controls; Chris
Gatjanis, Halliburton; Tom Hellman,
Marathon Oil Corp.; Matt Gallagher,
Parsley Energy; Ben Friedman, BCCK
Engineering; Lloyd Stutz, Anadarko Petroleum Corp.; and Eric Dillé, EOG Resources.
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American Oil and Gas Reporter - December 2017

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