American Oil and Gas Reporter - November 2023 - 32

IssuesUpdate: Indiana Oil & Gas Association
Finish Line In Sight For
Regulatory Revamp
By Del Torkelson
EVANSVILLE, IN.-Strong crude
prices offer Indiana's oil and natural gas
industry a broader menu of options,
reflects Indiana Oil & Gas Association
President Charles Venditti.
" It helps companies' cash flow to
invest in their assets and businesses, " relates
Venditti, who is based in Evansville
as pipeline integrity manager with TRC
Companies. " You have more choices
when the price is $70-$90 a barrel. When
the price was $50 a barrel, people really
had to look hard at where their investments
were going and be a lot more careful in
picking which projects to tackle.
" Five years ago, many operators chose
to minimize costs and risks by working
over or investing in existing wells, " he
adds. " Higher oil prices encourage many
of them to drill a new well or implement
a waterflood. "
Venditti indicates the state's producers
still overwhelmingly pursue vertical wells
that average about 3,000 feet in pursuit
of small reservoirs that may have been
passed over during decades past. Even
so, he observes that companies continue
to experiment with new approaches. For
example, one of the area's larger operators
has enjoyed enough success with a new
stimulation treatment that other Illinois
Basin companies are trying it.
Regulatory Update
Venditti acknowledges that Hoosier
State oil and gas companies confront the
same challenges with federal regulatory
overreach that afflict the industry throughout
the country. At the state level, INOGA
is working with the Indiana Department
of Natural Resources to improve its oil
and gas regulations.
DNR's Division of Oil and Gas began
revising those regulations more than a
decade ago, Venditti recounts, and after
a few years implemented a version that
required more work. Some aspects on
32 THE AMERICAN OIL & GAS REPORTER
" I think the new regulations will be
workable for both industry and DNR. We
appreciate the collaboration with the division. "
-Charles Venditti
President INOGA
which INOGA urges improvement deal
with administrative requirements that arguably
serve no regulatory purpose, but
saddle companies with new obligations.
" A small company with two guys and
a truck typically has those guys spending
most of their time in the field, " Venditti
says. " We need to find ways to enable
them to continue to do work that is profitable
to their business, which is oil production,
not spending time on low-value
administrative tasks. "
The division's leadership says it wants
to complete the revision soon, Venditti
reports, a desire INOGA has long shared.
" When I came on as president, many on
the Board of Directors agreed that our
top goal was to see this rule package
completed and approved, " he recounts.
" We are sitting down with DNR on almost
a monthly basis to collaboratively work
through every section of the rules. That
is ongoing, we are most of the way
through the biggest issues of concern. "
Venditti expresses hope the process-
including the administrative law judge
review, public comment and final revisions-can
be completed in six-nine
months. " I think the new regulations will
be workable for both industry and DNR, "
he predicts. " We appreciate the collaboration
with the division. "
Another issue INOGA is monitoring,
which touches both the state and federal
levels, deals with carbon dioxide injection.
Venditti notes Indiana is developing
rules for CO2 injection wells, but is not
seeking regulatory primacy to oversee
them. " Indiana decided to allow the Environmental
Protection Agency to continue
to run the CO2 injection program,
but the state still needs its own permitting
structure, " he explains. " After that is
complete, work will begin on the pipeline
regulations. Right now, the requirements
for running a CO2 pipeline in Indiana
are undefined. "
Venditti mentions that some portions
of the state's industry are paying close
attention to how Indiana crafts its process.
" A company in eastern Indiana plans to
capture CO2 from an ethanol plant and
put it in the ground for 45Q credits, " he
illustrates. " It has been involved with
DNR and the legislature in the rulemaking
process. "
Federal Uncertainty
The federal issues with INOGA's attention
include EPA's planned revisions
for OOOOa air quality new source performance
standards that deal with new
well sites' greenhouse gas and volatile
organic compound emissions monitoring.
" EPA also has been working for two
years on this revision and also including
new emissions controls for existing wells, "
Venditti observes. " We expect those at
American Oil and Gas Reporter - November 2023

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