American Oil and Gas Reporter - April 2020 - 83

pages 82-84_Layout 1 4/8/2020 10:45 AM Page 83

ConventionCoverage: Louisiana Oil & Gas Association

From left, Representative Jean-Paul Coussan, R-Lafayette, and Senators Kirk Talbot, RRiver Ridge, and Bob Hensgens, R-Abbeville, participate in a panel presentation at the
Louisiana Oil & Gas Association that discussed tort reform and coastal lawsuits.

thorize only the Department of Natural
Resources and state attorney general to
file lawsuits to ensure CZMA compliance.
Another Senate initiative is Senate
Concurrent Resolution No. 7. It urges
elected officials in Cameron, Jefferson,
Plaquemines, St. Bernard, St. John the
Baptist and Vermilion parishes and the
city of New Orleans to dismiss the 43
coastal lawsuits filed against oil and gas
companies operating in the state. It asserts
those lawsuits violate the CZMA.
Looking past coastal lawsuits, Senator

Talbot pointed out Louisiana had the
country's second-highest insurance premium rates, and was expected to soon
occupy the top spot, after Michigan passed
a tort reform package in its last legislative
session. He added the oil and gas industry's
need for tort reform was only part of the
statewide demand for a new insurance
system.
Talbot said joining a task force to
study Louisiana's insurance industry
taught him that the problem was not state
regulation. Louisiana is one of the few
states where insurance companies cannot

raise their rates without insurance commission approval, he noted. Trucking
companies also are suffering, Talbot pointed out, asking "How do we grow our
state and enrich our economic potential
when you cannot ensure a commercial
vehicle?"
Representative Coussan argued that,
although resolving concerns over coastal
lawsuits and vehicle insurance both are
important to the state, the former must
take precedent.
"Without tort reform on the oil and
gas lawsuits, we are treading water and
there will not be anything for the trucks
to deal with," he said. "Four years ago,
we gave all stakeholders an opportunity
to speak before the Natural Resources
Committee, but that was without bills.
Now, everyone will be at the table to discuss particular bills, so we will be fleshing
out the actual issues. That will be the
time for everyone to come and make
their case to the committee."
Coussan noted that oil and gas operators
still had many legislative allies, and they
remain ready to oppose any anti-industry
bills. "We are going to push and push,"
he promised. "My objective at the Natural
Resources Committee is simple: What
are the policies that we can advocate that
are going to create jobs and attract capital
for the state of Louisiana?"
❒

CCUS Offering Opportunities To State
LAKE CHARLES, LA.-Louisiana's
position as a major energy producer is
secure, but it has the opportunity to
expand its range by continuing to develop
the infrastructure needed to capture, store
and use carbon dioxide, asserted panelists
at a joint meeting between the Louisiana
Oil & Gas Association and the Louisiana
Mid-Continent Oil & Gas Association.
During a discussion on carbon capture,
utilization and storage (CCUS), Jan Sherman, a petroleum engineer with Shell,
said she had been analyzing the company's
portfolio of downstream U.S. assets, seeking potential sites to capture and store
the gas.
"It's basically capturing the CO2, dehydrating and compressing it, getting it
into a pipeline, and then injecting it more
than a mile down, into either depleted
gas or oil fields or saline reservoirs,"
Sherman described. "The Gulf Coast has
a significant opportunity to implement

CCUS. It has the emissions density and
engineering and operations capabilities
coupled with the geologic environment
that allows for storing a large volume of
CO2-for not only the region but for the
country as a whole."
New governmental policies and improved technologies could set Louisiana
up to be a forerunner and early implementer of CCUS, Sherman predicted.
Jason Lanclos, director of the energy
office and technology assessment division
at the Louisiana Department of Natural
Resources, pointed out the state had
many of the components needed for a
successful CCUS program. It ranks fifth
nationally for CO2 emissions, providing
a consistent source; its extensive pipeline
system allows for efficient gas transportation; and its geology provides safe,
long-term storage.
"The state's geology is such that its
saline reservoirs can take a lot of carbon

dioxide for a long time. You see a lot of
estimates about hundreds of years of storage potential, both onshore and offshore
Louisiana," Lanclos said. However, he
cautioned, requirements for a Class VI
permit for CO2 injection could disrupt
Louisiana's CCUS plans.
The U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency controls well regulation, except
when it has granted specific primacy to
state agencies. Many states have primacy
for Class II wells used to dispose of oil
and gas waste fluids, but only North
Dakota has secured primacy for the
Class VI wells used to inject CO2 into
underground formations. Lanclos pointed
out it took the state six years to secure
that distinction.
Louisiana is working toward Class VI
primacy, reported Stephen Lee, director
of the injection and mining division at
the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources. He said the division ran the
APRIL 2020 83

American Oil and Gas Reporter - April 2020

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