American Oil and Gas Reporter - March 2022 - 38

ConventionSec tion: Pennsylvania Independent Oil & Gas Association
Pennsylvania Industry
Beginning Upturn
WEXFORD, PA.-Like someone rescued
from a desert island after years of
severe and imposed dieting, many oil
and gas companies are adjusting to the
welcome realization that procuring their
figurative next meal is almost certainly
going to be easier than it generally has
been for the past decade.
Pennsylvania Independent Oil & Gas
Association President and Executive Director
Dan Weaver says Keystone State
oil and gas companies welcome this
change in fortune. " Everybody likes the
prices, " he reflects. " It is not like people
are rolling in money, but it can allow
them to make up for the deficits from
some really rough years. "
The state's operators and service companies
seem to have more spring in their
step than they did a year or two ago, confirms
PIOGA Chairman Gary Slagel,
government affairs specialist for Steptoe
& Johnson PLLC in Southpointe, Pa. He
attributes that optimism not only to
stronger commodity prices, but also Washington's
move to address orphan wells.
HR 3684, the infrastructure bill Congress
passed in November, allocates $4.7 billion
to create an orphan well program. Early
estimates suggest Pennsylvania could be
eligible for $330 million of that funding
(AOGR, February 2022, pg. 74).
" An influx of money for orphaned and
abandoned wells can go a long way toward
allaying some concerns, " Slagel considers.
Those funds should allow many service
companies to enjoy a welcome baseline
of activity, Slagel notes, and even some
Appalachian Basin producers have decided
to get in on the act. " Diversified Energy
Co. is jumping into it and has purchased
a service company that will allow it to
benefit from some of the orphan well
monies, " he illustrates.
Slagel says the good news extends to
the association itself. " Some larger PIOGA
members who had dropped out in recent
years have come back into the fold, " he
reports. " An uptick in profits has brought
them back. "
Despite these encouraging signals,
Weaver acknowledges that the industry
is not yet putting the pedal to the metal.
38 THE AMERICAN OIL & GAS REPORTER
" The administration's actions seem
consistent with its overall theme that the
world needs to do something about climate
change and the United States is going to take
the lead. "
-Gary Slagel
PIOGA Chairman
At least in the year's early months, he
assesses, many companies have focused
more on mergers and acquisitions than
adding rigs or launching new projects.
" Many companies are trying to work
their way through Covid, " he reflects. " I
get the feeling that every move remains
very calculated. "
Furthermore, Weaver notes, companies
still must weigh numerous public policy
concerns. As an example, he points to
longtime Pennsylvania Department of
Environmental Protection Deputy Secretary
for Oil and Gas Scott Perry's decision
to leave the agency. Although many PIOGA
members also have a strong rapport
with DEP Director of Bureau of Oil and
Gas Planning and Program Management
Kurt Klapkowski, who took over many
of Perry's duties in the interim, Weaver
relates, the change still adds another unknown
variable about the future.
" There is a lot of regulatory uncertainty
at the state level, but that is not all, "
Weaver says. " For being a state trade association,
we sure have to deal with a lot
of federal issues. "
These matters and more will be addressed
during PIOGA's 2022 Spring Meeting,
scheduled for April 6 at Pittsburgh's Rivers
Casino, Weaver says. " We are excited and
looking forward to it, " he comments. " I
hope we get to see a lot more people in
person. We have a solid agenda that meets
everybody's needs in one shape or another,
and I truly believe attendees are going to
benefit from the insights it offers. "
General Assembly
With the general assembly session
well underway, PIOGA indicates it is
following many bills, including:
· HB 1947, which prohibits local
natural gas bans or discriminating against
utility services based on nature or source;
· SB 806, which seeks to ensure that
royalty owners are afforded clear assessments
of the payments made to them
through oil and gas leases;
· HB 2242, which amends the state's
administrative code such that the DEP
would finalize regulatory decisions currently
overseen by the state's Environmental
Quality Board;
· SB 945, which requires the state to
sell any credits created by governmentowned
renewable energy projects and
redirect the money to plugging abandoned
oil and gas well; and
· HB 199, which aligns the Pennsylvania
tax code's treatment of oil and
gas percentage depletion with the federal
approach.
PIOGA reports HB 199, HB 1947 and
SB 806 all have passed the House.
As he considers the legislative outlook,
Slagel points out that election year dynamics
always loom large during sessions in which
the governor is in his final year. That may
be even more the case when the opposite
parties control the executive and legislative
branches. " Guys are lining up for the next
gubernatorial race in our Republican-dominated
House and Senate, " Slagel observes.
Weaver concurs that political consid
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