American Oil and Gas Reporter - June 2022 - 89

help stakeholders navigate the environmental
review and permitting process. It
also calls for assessing environmental review
and permitting information collection
requirements to consolidate or simplify
reporting requirements and identify more
efficient ways to collect information.
The White House indicates the final
element of the plan-using agency resources
and environmental reviews to
improve impact-calls for sufficient levels
of skilled agency staff and effective use
of budgetary resources. Therefore, it continues,
agencies should:
· Prioritize available resources to address
workforce needs and implementation
of the initiatives in the plan;
· Use best practices for accelerated
hiring and coordinating with other agencies
to efficiently use existing resources, such
as conducting collaborative field studies
and funding liaison positions; and
· Leverage technology, data and tools
to efficiently and holistically assess environmental
and community effects, including
information on climate change effects,
and identify ways to use new technology
to collect, analyze, share and publicly
communicate relevant information.
The administration also says it is seeking
to demonstrate agency accountability
by requiring agencies with environmental
review and permitting responsibilities to-
within 90 days of the action plan-complete
initial plans for their strategies to implement
it. Agencies such as the Office of
Management and Budget and the Council
on Environmental Quality will review
those draft plans and offer feedback, and
after 30 days of receiving guidance from
OMB and CEQ, the agencies are to
finalize their plans.
❒
ANTI-SLAPP LAW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
FROM PAGE 45
But it is scary when you are not even allowed
to pursue it. Governments are using
this anti-SLAPP tool to take away our
only recourse. "
That chilling trend has immediate implications,
Zierman warns. " The governor
has admitted he lacks authority to stop
fracturing permits, but he is doing it anyway, "
he reports. " What do we do about
it? If we cannot even go to court that is a
troubling development. "
The freedom to go to court to protect
constitutional rights is a major source of
reassurance for business owners who engage
in activities some politicians love to
pick on, Layton observes. If government
entities enact policies that take property-
whether through outright confiscation or
roundabout ways that render the property
unprofitable-producers have a constitutional
right to reimbursement.
Ultimately, Layton expresses hope that
anti-SLAPP suits do not prove a longterm
impediment to that. " These suits are
180 degrees from the law's intent, " he reflects.
" I do not understand all the legal
particulars of the anti-SLAPP law, but I
understand the general concept of keeping
a larger entity from harassing a smaller
one with frivolous claims to an extent that
leaves it unable to have its day in court. "
In mid-May, as he was looking forward
to CIPA's convention, Zierman predicted
that the event would go a long way toward
restoring members' morale. " It will be
good to be in person again, " he said.
" Networking is a big part of this industry.
We are going to have important conversations
with legislators and other speakers
about all the issues that affect us. For all
those reasons, it will be wonderful to get
back together. "
" What California producers have
missed the most is hope, " Layton adds.
" It was not long ago that low oil prices
and financial pressures were piled atop
all the challenges associated with the increasing
cost of regulatory compliance.
Now, cash flow is up for everyone in our
industry. Even if companies are not able
to drill as much as they would like and
permits are slow, we now have hope there
is something worth fighting for, and that
gives us the reason to keep fighting. " ❒
Sempra Makes LNG Deal With PGNiG
HOUSTON-Sempra Infrastructure and
the Polish Oil & Gas Co. (PGNiG) have
entered a heads of agreement (HOA) for
the purchase of approximately 3 million
tonnes per annum of liquefied natural
gas delivered free-on-board from Sempra
Infrastructure's portfolio of North American
LNG projects.
According to Sempra, the HOA contemplates
negotiating and finalizing definitive
20-year LNG sale-and-purchase
agreements for 2 Mtpa from the Cameron
LNG Phase 2 project under development
in Louisiana, and 1 Mtpa from the Port
Arthur LNG project under development
in Texas. The HOA also provides PGNiG
the opportunity in 2022 to reallocate volumes
from the Cameron LNG Phase 2
project to the Port Arthur LNG project.
Additionally, Sempra Infrastructure and
PGNiG say they expect to continue working
toward a framework to reduce, mitigate
and report greenhouse gas emissions
across the LNG value chain.
Sempra Infrastructure notes it is developing
the Cameron LNG Phase 2 project,
which is expected to include a single
LNG train with a maximum production
capacity of approximately 6.75 Mtpa of
LNG, while also debottlenecking the existing
three LNG trains at the facility in
Hackberry, La.
In April, Sempra Infrastructure signed
an HOA with the Cameron LNG partners
to develop the Cameron LNG Phase 2
project. In addition, Sempra Infrastructure
also is developing the proposed Port
Arthur LNG project, an approximately
13.5 Mtpa, fully permitted facility on a
3,000-acre site in Jefferson County, Tx.
The agreement underscores Sempra's
commitment to use long-term LNG sales
to contribute toward greater energy security
for Poland and other global partners, says
Sempra Infrastructure President Dan Brouillette.
" Our relationship with PGNiG is
core to this commitment, and we are
excited to continue working closely with
it to advance more reliable, secure and increasingly
clean energy solutions, " he says.
" The agreement paves the way for negotiations
of detailed terms that would provide
PGNiG with LNG from a reliable and
highly valued infrastructure partner, " relates
Iwona Waksmundzka-Olejniczak, PGNiG
SA president. " Here in Poland, LNG is already
one of the cornerstones of our diversified
strategy to enhance Polish energy security,
as well as to strengthen the commercial
potential of the PGNiG Group. We are determined
to further expand our operations
in this direction and are therefore taking
steps to secure access to adequate natural
gas volumes in the future. "
Sempra notes the HOA is a preliminary,
nonbinding arrangement, and the development
of the Cameron LNG Phase 2
and Port Arthur LNG projects remains
subject to risks and uncertainties, including
reaching definitive agreements, securing
all necessary permits, signing engineering
and construction contracts, obtaining financing
and incentives and reaching a
final investment decision for each project.
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JUNE 2022 89

American Oil and Gas Reporter - June 2022

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