Some of the nation’s top independent producers plan to meet in Houston in mid-March to formulate their action plan for the American Natural Gas Alliance (ANGA), a spokesman told NGI Thursday.

Chesapeake Energy Corp., Devon Energy Corp. and Newfield Exploration Co. are three of more than 20 producers that already have joined the alliance, according to ANGA President Rod Lowman.

“Companies are calling every day” to join, Lowman told NGI. “After the first organizational meeting, we’ll know a lot more…I can tell you that it already is a good mix of large and small independents. We’re getting a lot of interest in this…”

ANGA wants to lead the charge to promote “the benefits and the abundance” of gas supplies in the United States, Lowman said. “The realities of the world we are in today are not the same as they once were…We’re in a different place than we were before.”

While the Obama administration has called for less dependence on foreign oil and a switch to more environmentally friendly fuels, natural gas, Lowman said, is an obvious choice.

Newfield CEO David Trice, who was tapped to chair the group, said earlier this week that ANGA’s mission is to “increase market appreciation” for U.S. gas and to explain how the country’s abundant supplies offer a “dependable solution to the most challenging energy and environmental issues” (see Daily GPI, Feb. 26).

The idea of forming a producer-led gas group came about in December at a get together of producers, said Lowman. What they wanted was an organization whose only focus was on the benefits of gas and the strength of U.S. reserves.

ANGA’s mission sounds similar to the American Clean Skies Foundation, which was formed in 2007 with Chesapeake’s backing to promote natural gas to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (see Daily GPI, April 23, 2007). But Lowman said ANGA doesn’t want to deviate from its one message: to educate policymakers and the public about natural gas.

Basically, it will be about branding and marketing, said Lowman, who previously held similar positions at the Abundant Forests Alliance and the American Plastics Council (APC). He also served as executive vice president of the American Chemistry Council (ACC).

“We take natural gas for granted,” he said. “It just is what it is, and we don’t think about it…We want to make natural gas part of the conversation, whether it’s at home or on Capitol Hill.”

Nothing is off the table long term for ANGA, said Lowman.

“There are so many opportunities…We will be talking about how natural gas can fit into the mix as a transportation fuel. We’re talking about promoting CNG [compressed natural gas]…There are many longer-term opportunities and a lot of issues that are challenging the nation. Natural gas needs to be in the mix for power…for consumers. It has to be part of the infrastructure. Everything’s on the table.”

The Houston conference is to be private, Lowman said. For information about ANGA, contact Hill & Knowlton’s Michael Kehs at (202) 944-5125.

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