American Oil and Gas Reporter - March 2023 - 36

ConventionSec tion: Pennsylvania Independent Oil & Gas Association
Weaver says that even though Wolf appears
to have done everything possible
to ram it through, the outcome remains
in question. " It is not really in effect, but
that may change, " Weaver describes.
" Litigation brought forth by the House
of Representatives-which considers it
a tax that must be brought by the legislature-remains
a factor. Meanwhile,
Shapiro has indicated he is not quite as
gung-ho about RGGI as Wolf. "
With the elections sending 50 new
lawmakers to Harrisburg, Democrats now
hold a 102-101 majority in the House,
while Republicans have a 28-22 Senate
majority, Weaver reports. " Democrats
have not controlled the House in more
than a decade, " he notes. " However, their
majority may make our legislative wish
list irrelevant. "
Nevertheless, Slagel suggests, the Republicans'
Senate control may provide a
firewall against anti-oil-and-gas bills. " We
hope that balance will prevent anything
too far afield from emerging out of the
general assembly, " he relates. " A lot of
House Democrats also come from areas
with natural gas development, so they
have an interest in it too. "
The bottom line, he assesses, appears
to be that bills with the potential to significantly
help or hurt the industry will
lack sufficient legislative support to pass.
" This session will be about playing defense, "
Slagel predicts. " We are not asking
for anything and simply want to keep the
hounds at bay so nothing crazy comes out
that will put additional burdens on the industry.
But at least we have not heard
anything from Shapiro about a severance
tax like we did from Wolf every year. "
Regarding new laws passed by the
previous legislature, Weaver says Pennsylvania
producers still are learning
about the impact of Act 153, which imposes
mineral payment reporting requirements
and deadlines for unconventional
wells. Although PIOGA had reservations
about the final version that passed,
Weaver acknowledges, the association
is taking a wait-and-see approach. " We
thought one simple sentence could fix
the entire thing, but instead of taking
our advice, (bill proponents) exempted
the conventional industry. "
The potential complications arise from
royalty payment deadlines that fail to account
for when each producer involved
in a well receives payment, he explains,
which risks unnecessarily complicating
companies' accounting processes. " How
am I supposed to remit payment if I don't
know how much I will be paid? " Weaver
poses. " However, it is early and only has
been in effect for a couple months, so we
will see how it plays out. "
Spring Conference
The oil and gas leaders who will gather
for PIOGA's convention have demonstrated
an upbeat collective mood of late,
Slagel assesses. " There's an attitude that
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36 THE AMERICAN OIL & GAS REPORTER
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American Oil and Gas Reporter - March 2023

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