Oct 17, 2016 Independent Oil, Gas Producers: Combined Onshore Regulations Will Increase Costs on Our Businesses
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA) said it is reviewing the final onshore rulemakings issued today by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and reiterated producers’ serious concerns that the BLM’s inflexible regulations will lead to significant cost increases and threaten America’s energy self-sufficiency.
“We are carefully reviewing today’s final rule regulating onshore oil and gas operations on federal lands. We are, however, displeased that three BLM regulations are, in essence, going into effect at the exact same time. We believe the collective costs that these three regulations will impose on America’s small businesses and job-creators have not accurately been taken into consideration. Releasing these final regulations all at once in the waning months of this administration’s term is both disingenuous and careless policymaking,” said Dan Naatz, IPAA’s senior vice president of government relations and political affairs.
“While we understand the need for modernizing some of these rules, the federal government’s rulemaking approach has been inherently prescriptive. It would lock in costly technologies that will likely become obsolete in a few short years, while the industry continues to advance and technology improves. The White House regulatory affairs office should immediately retract these three regulations, conduct further review on the inflexibility and the comprehensive costs of these rules, and collaborate with industry stakeholders in developing sensible, performance-based rules that are workable for both industry and government regulators.”
America’s independent producers account for over 90 percent of oil and natural gas wells drilled in the United States, support more than 200,000 American jobs, and send more than $10 billion in additional revenue to the U.S. Treasury each year through royalties and other payments. However, additional layers of costly regulations and bureaucratic red tape are making it increasingly difficult for independent producers, small businesses with an average of 15 employees, to continue responsibly developing America’s abundant oil and natural gas resources – threatening the very jobs, national energy security, and royalty revenues that these businesses seek to generate.
On behalf of its member companies and their technical teams, IPAA submitted comments in October 2015 on Onshore Order 3 and in December 2015 on Onshore Order 4 and Onshore Order 5. IPAA also submitted supplemental comments in December 2015 on Onshore Order 3 after the public comment period was extended. IPAA and its member companies were never invited by federal regulators to discuss or work towards solutions to their concerns before these three rules were finalized.
About the Independent Petroleum Association of America
The Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA) is a national upstream trade association representing thousands of independent oil and natural gas producers and service companies across the United States. Independent producers develop 90 percent of the nation’s oil and natural gas wells. These companies account for 54 percent of America’s oil production, 85 percent of its natural gas production, and support over 2.1 million American jobs.
