American Oil and Gas Reporter - January 2020 - 101

nual meeting to order, the Tri-State Desk
and Derrick Club drew a winning ticket
for its 50-50 drawing and offered a 2019
scholarship update. The Board of Directors meeting included recognition of
current board members, committee chairmen and reports, and election of the
2020 Board of Directors.
The evening's events also included INOGA's annual awards to commend those
who have excelled in serving and representing the state's oil and gas industry.
President award recipients were Venditti and Emily VanHaaften with Patrick
Webb Oil Company, both of whom were
lauded for serving INOGA's membership
tremendously.
Countrymark Energy Resources LLC
won the Facility of the Year Award for its
Gremler-Wheeler-Ferdinand Unit facility
in Posey County, In.
Hall of Fame inductees were petroleum
engineer Matthew Stone and Ron Graul
with Locust Street Company Inc., who
were honored for their many years of
dedicated service to the area's oil and

gas industry.
And with that, the gavel sounded, ending another great Indiana Oil and Gas
Annual Meeting. Don't forget to mark
your calendars for next year's events, our
2020 Scholarship Golf outing will be

Friday, June 12 at the Countrymark Refinery in Mount Vernon, Indiana. Our
2020 INOGA Annual Meeting will be
held in October, 2020, at New Harmony
Inn and Convention Center.
❒

The newest honorees to be
inducted into the Indiana
Oil & Gas Association Hall
of Fame are, from left,
Matthew Stone with Stone
Oil & Gas Consulting and
Ron Graul with Locust Street
Company Inc.

Frac Ban Holds Risks, Chamber Warns
WASHINGTON-With hydraulic fracturing under fire from some corners
leading up to the 2020 elections, the U.S.
Chamber of commerce cautions that some
candidates pledge to ban the stimulation
process would be catastrophic for the nation's economy. The Chamber's Global
Energy Institute (GEI) sounded its warning
in an updated report in its "Energy Accountability Series 2020."
According to the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, well operators used
fracturing technology in at least 25 states,
and the practice accounts for 61% of the
country's crude oil production and 78%
of natural gas output.
If a fracturing ban were imposed by
2021, 19 million jobs would be lost by
2025, the analysis shows, and the U.S.
gross domestic product would fall by $7.1
trillion. Job losses in major energy-producing
states would be immediate and severe,
with Texas alone losing 3.0 million jobs.
Tax revenues at the local, state and federal
levels would decline by nearly a combined
$1.9 trillion, as the ban cuts off a critical
source of funding for schools, first responders, infrastructure and other critical public
services, the analysis describes.
"Too often, there is a temptation to
dismiss statements made by candidates
as things said 'off the cuff,' or in the
'heat of the moment,' or perhaps offered
merely to 'appeal to their base,'" GEI

says. "However, candidates' views and
the things they say and do to win the
support of interest groups have a real
impact on how policy is shaped and implemented. That is certainly true on
energy issues, as groups continue to advance a 'keep it in the ground' agenda
that, if adopted, would force our country
to surrender the enormous domestic benefits and global competitive advantages
that affordable energy development have
made possible."
GEI's forecast also predicts energy
prices will skyrocket under a fracturing
ban, with natural gas prices leaping 324%,
causing household energy bills to more
than quadruple, while motorists will pay
twice as much at the pump for gasoline
as oil prices spike to $130 a barrel.
A fracturing ban will have severe impacts on major energy-producing states-
and GEI examines Texas, New Mexico,
Ohio, Pennsylvania and Colorado-but
also affect every state. The report concludes
the economies of Michigan and Wisconsin
would suffer, with cost-of-living impacts
to residential consumers in the two states
growing by $4,700 and $5,100, respectively, between 2021 and 2025.
Under a fracturing ban, less domestic
energy production also means less energy
security, GEI notes, as the United States
would return to a heavy dependence on
imported oil and natural gas. According

to the analysis, that quickly would reverse
the country's rise as a major energy exporter, an achievement that has reduced
the U.S. trade deficit while helping its
allies and trading partners enhance their
energy security.
The increased natural gas prices
caused by a fracturing ban would undermine the progress the United States
made in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, GEI warns. Since 2005, it says
increased natural gas use has helped reduce domestic carbon dioxide emissions
by more than 2.8 billion metric tons,
roughly the equivalent of annual emissions from Australia, Brazil, Canada,
France, Germany and the United Kingdom combined.
"America's energy revolution is delivering enormous rewards for jobs, the
economy and the environment," GEI says.
"We must recognize these achievements
and expand the benefits of U.S. shale to
even more American families, while ensuring that progress achieved to date is
not suddenly reversed by an ill-advised
ban on hydraulic fracturing."
Permian Basin States
A hydraulic fracturing ban would eliminate 3.2 million jobs in Texas by 2025,
while reducing GDP by $1.5 trillion and
state and local tax revenues by $106.6
billion, GEI predicts. To the west, New
JANUARY 2020 101
American Oil and Gas Reporter - January 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Oil and Gas Reporter - January 2020
