Christine Hansen, Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission(IOGCC) executive director since 1993, was named to the newCommittee on Natural Gas for the National Petroleum Council (NPC).The committee, formed at the request of U.S. Secretary of EnergyBill Richardson, has been charged with a reassessment of its 1992study “Potential of Natural Gas in the United States,” and willreport back to Richardson by mid-1999.The study will focus on thecapability of the industry to meet growing gas demands and alsowill compare the 1992-98 actual supply-demand with projections madein the 1992 study.

The earlier study concluded that abundant domestic gas supplyexisted and could be produced at prices that would allow bothexpansions of the market and continued development of theresources. The study recommended the government allow competitivemarket forces to continue to develop.

The new study will be undertaken in two steps. In the firststep, a qualitative description of the market’s evolution and anevaluation of the 1992 findings and recommendations will beundertaken. The second step will be to address the future through2015 or 2020 with an analysis of various demand scenarios.

The analysis of supply potentials will address a variety of keyissues including access to resources, import potential, impact oftechnology, decline rates and capital, manpower and equipmentneeds. Supply potential will then be compared to demand todetermine potential bottlenecks in the distribution system. Thisanalysis will include the identification of infrastructurerequirements, right of way and other regulatory issues, and gasstorage.

Peter I. Bijur, Texaco CEO, will chair the committee. H.Leighton Steward, Burlington Resources vice chairman, will be thecommittee’s vice chairman for the supply issue. William A. Wise, ElPaso Energy CEO, will serve as the committee’s vice chairman forthe distribution issue.

Joe Fisher, Houston

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