While proposals to open up untouched areas in Alaska and off the U.S. coasts have gotten more headlines, the Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA), whose members produce 75% of the domestic U.S. gas supply, is happy with provisions in the current energy bill that will increase access to federal lands in the lower 48 and provide financial incentives for small producers to drill.

“We’re not asking to drill in national parks and wilderness areas. We simply want better access to national forests and public lands controlled by the Bureau of Land Management, where we have been successfully operating for decades,” Diemer True, IPAA chairman, said in a press briefing Friday. This involves streamlining the permitting process and removing restrictions that limit drilling windows to very short time periods.

True said despite the need for more gas, rigs are sitting idle because of the limited times when producers are allowed to drill on public lands. While it may appear there is a large area available for permitting and drilling, it really is not available because the timing restrictions due to wildlife activities make it impossible to complete a project.

True pointed out that producers now have new technology which enables them to drill, while leaving only “the smallest footprint” on the landscape.

In addition, tax incentives that will leave the small independents with more cash for drilling will help to increase domestic supplies, True said. Many of the 5,000 IPAA members are privately held and most have less than 20 employees. That puts them “under the radar of Wall Street” investment, True added. Since small independents’ capital investment comes from their own cash flow, the government can incentivize increased production simply by leaving more money in their pockets.

And the $5-7 billion over 10 years it could cost the federal government in lost taxes is not a lot to pay. “Those dollars will go back into exploration in this country.”

True acknowledged that imported LNG and Alaska gas could add to U.S. supplies, and the U.S. needs all of it. But he noted there are problems with developing those sources, and the nation cannot afford to ignore its baseload supplies. He pointed out the conflicting federal policies that encourage natural gas use as a clean fuel, and at the same time make it increasingly difficult to find and produce natural gas in this country.

Without a balanced program, government will resort to “reactive policies” when supplies are threatened that will be more expensive. A balanced program of supply development “would minimize volatility and lower prices,” True said. A “just in time” approach to inventory just doesn’t work in the natural gas business.

Much of the government support IPAA would like to see is included in the current draft of the energy bill, and they are hoping the provisions will be retained in the final bill. One thing the bill does is direct more funds be spent on processing drilling permits. But there is still the task of staffing and setting up procedures on the administrative end, said Lee Fuller, IPAA vice president of government relations, and it all takes time. Currently, those opposed to drilling are resorting to litigation directed at government processes for issuing permits.

Some of the more controversial provisions of the bill, such as the move to open portions of the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) to drilling, have more of a chance because of the energy scares the nation has experienced this year, Fuller said. The ANWR provision “is no longer viewed as a dealbreaker.” There aren’t as many senators this year who would vote against the bill just because it includes ANWR drilling.

As for the National Petroleum Council Report which recommended lifting the drilling moratoria on the Outer Continental Shelf surrounding the United States, True said no one expected “instant change.” But, he noted, the restrictions are based on incidents and industry practices that have long been extinct, such as the Santa Barbara oil spill in 1969. “It’s like saying you can’t fly the Goodyear blimp over the Super Bowl because the Hindenburg crashed.”

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