Independent oil and natural gas producers Monday called on the Obama administration to meet with them face-to-face to discuss their concerns with the federal government’s proposed rule on hydraulic fracturing (fracking).

“Our organizations submitted detailed [written] comments…We would like the opportunity to meet with you and discuss our concerns with the proposed rule in further detail,” wrote Barry Russell, CEO of the Independent Petroleum Association of America, and Tim Wigley, president of Denver-based Western Energy Alliance, in a letter to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar.

The rule will have “significant consequences” for industry and the federal government, they said. “Placing additional regulatory costs on small producers looking to operate on federal lands hardly seems to be a wise choice for a nation hungry for new energy supplies,” Russell and Wigley said.

“The proposed rule is unnecessary, excessive and requires actions that no state currently regulating oil and natural gas production deems necessary, based on their decades of regulatory experience. The effort will also place undue economic burdens and time delays on independent producers that will inevitably drive many smaller companies away from exploring for oil and natural gas on federal lands.”

The proposed rule, which was issued by Interior’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in May, would require companies to publicly disclose chemicals used in their fracking operations on federal and Indian lands (see Shale Daily, May 7). Industry and some states contend the rule would duplicate regulations already in place in states where BLM lands are located. They further claim that the federal government lacks the experience to effectively oversee fracking.

BLM’s “proposed rule with its one-size-fits-all federal approach to regulating well construction, disclosure and water management overrides states which have been successfully regulating oil and natural gas activities for decades with an exemplary safety record,” Russell and Wigley said.