America’s Natural Gas Alliance (ANGA) Wednesday announced that Martin J. Durbin, a top lobbyist at the American Petroleum Institute (API), has been named president and CEO, effective May 1. Durbin comes to ANGA after serving as executive vice president at API, where he led advocacy efforts on behalf of the oil and gas industry.
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API, Groups Argue SEC Dodd-Frank Reporting Rule in Court
The American Petroleum Institute (API) and a coalition of business groups appeared before the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit Monday to challenge the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) implementation of Section 1504 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act, which requires companies registered with the agency to publicly report how much they pay governments for access to oil, natural gas and minerals.
Industry Briefs
Natural gas drilling continued to decline in 4Q2012, despite an uptick in exploratory gas drilling for the period, the American Petroleum Institute (API) said. “In the year-to-date comparison, gas well completions have decreased 26%” to 9,752 wells in 2012 from 13,128 wells in 2011, said API, which represents major oil and gas producers. At the same time, oil drilling rose in the period, with exploratory and development wells up 15% and 16% respectively from year-ago figures. “The oil and natural gas industry expanded oil drilling in 2012, thanks in large part to access on private and state lands,” said API statistics director Hazem Arafa. A year-to-date comparison of oil wells drilled yields a 25% increase in total well completions between 2011 and 2012 (26,213 to 32,652).
Industry Briefs
Natural gas drilling continued to decline in the fourth quarter, despite an uptick in exploratory drilling, the American Petroleum Institute (API) said in a report on well completions. “In the year-to-date comparison, gas well completions have decreased 26%” to 9,752 wells in 2012 from 13,128 wells in 2011. At the same time, oil well drilling rose, with exploratory and development wells showing a 15% and 16% increase respectively from 4Q2011 numbers. “The oil and natural gas industry expanded oil drilling in 2012, thanks in large part to access on private and state lands,” said API Statistics Director Hazem Arafa. A year-to-date comparison of oil wells drilled yields a 25% increase in total well completions between 2011 and 2012 (26,213 to 32,652).
MSC Reaching Out to Promised Land Audiences
MSC also released a longer video on social media channels and is asking viewers to submit their questions about natural gas production and use. The video includes a series of clips from a variety of news programs detailing the economic benefits of developing the Marcellus Shale.
Gas Ignored in Replacing Idle California Nuke, Report Finds
Natural gas is little more than an afterthought in a recent Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) report that recommends a combination of distributed generation and demand-side resources be applied as soon as possible to make up for the continuing outage at the 2,200 MW San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (Songs) along the Southern California coast.
Industry Briefs
The American Petroleum Institute (API) has launched a television and print ad campaign in Washington, DC, and in several states to drive home the importance of a favorable tax code in developing domestic domestic oil and natural gas and creating jobs. “Taxes on the industry are a key energy issue, and, as our Election Day polling showed, voters are skeptical about targeting the industry for higher taxes. To encourage members of Congress who are part of that conversation with voters, we’re launching new television and print advertising inside the [Washington, DC] beltway and in selected states,” said Khary Cauthen, API senior director of federal relations. Both the print and television ads will run for two weeks in the DC area, as well as New Mexico, North Carolina, Virginia, Arkansas, Alaska, Colorado and Louisiana. President Obama has proposed eliminating $4 billion annually in tax breaks for oil and gas producers. “Raising our taxes is not the answer. We already are taxed at a higher rate than [many] other industries,” an API spokesman said.
API Ad Campaign Opposes Higher Oil, Gas Taxes
The American Petroleum Institute (API) launched a television and print ad campaign on Wednesday in Washington, DC, and in several states to drive home the importance of a favorable tax code in developing domestic domestic oil and natural gas and creating jobs.
Industry Briefs
Natural gas well completions in 3Q2012 were down considerably from a year ago, according to the American Petroleum Institute’s latest well completion report, which indicated that 2,209 gas wells were completed in the period, a 35% decline from y3Q2011; oil well completions rose by 18% to 8,580. “The oil and natural gas industry expanded oil drilling in the third quarter…thanks in large part to access on private and state lands,” said Hazem Arafa, director of API’s statistics department. Overall, well completions — including oil and gas wells — maintained high levels from a year ago, with 12,291 wells completed during the third quarter, according to the API report. Total exploratory well completions in the third quarter remained the same (700 wells), and total footage drilled rose 3% to 91.985 million feet.
Industry Briefs
With $2.375 million in grants from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), the Gas Technology Institute (GTI) is working on two projects with Northwestern University researchers and a startup they have created, NuMat Technologies to develop lightweight, affordable natural gas vehicle (NGV) fuel tanks for passenger cars, along with natural gas compressors that can fuel the vehicles in the home or office settings. The projects are part of DOE’s Methane Opportunities for Vehicular Energy program. GTI plans to develop “a low-pressure adsorbent material” to be used in gas storage tanks designed exclusively for NGVs to overcome the current heavy, large tanks that must withstand pressures of up to 3,600 psi, which adds to the cost and weight of the NGVs compared to gasoline and diesel vehicles. GTI received $1.5 million from DOE to develop the advanced adsorbed natural gas technology for fueling tanks and $875,000 to develop a unique low-pressure NGV fueling technology.