PITTSBURGH – More than 1,100 people from the oil and gas industry in West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Ohio gathered at the David L. Lawrence convention center Wednesday for the annual Shale Insight conference. The highlight of the day was the afternoon’s keynote address by President Trump, but speakers explored various industry issues throughout the day.
Mike Turzai, speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, is spearheading the legislature’s Energize PA initiative, a package of eight bills that include tax credits, Keystone Energy Enhancement Zones, expanding the state’s gas-fuel pipeline program and streamlining permitting for brownfield cleanup and environmental permits.
Reflecting on the petrochemical tax credit to draw Shell to build the cracker plant near Beaver, with its jobs and economic potential, he said, “Pennsylvania could be like New York” without policymakers who grasp the economic opportunities of natural gas.
New York also sits atop the Marcellus shale but has a fracking ban, and isn’t developing its resources, he said. Meanwhile, Pennsylvania’s average energy cost savings of $1,100 to $1,200 per household is largely due to low natural gas prices. And while he remains opposed to a severance tax, the state’s impact fee has raised $2 billion since 2012.
“We know it’s best for the citizens of Pennsylvania, and citizens of the country, not to mention the globe,” he said. Wholesale electric prices are down 41% since 2008. And gas-fired power helps the environment. The U.S. is reducing its carbon dioxide emissions through conversion to gas for electric power.
Toby Rice, new president and CEEO of the country’s largest natural gas producer, EQT, just passed his first 100 days on the job.
He’s revamping how the company works, he said, making it more efficient. “Our goal is to drive efficiencies. That’s number one.”
One way he’s doing that is by harnessing the company’s technology to use it in a more coherent and cohesive manner. For instance, they’re deploying a company-wide digital work and communications environment, “like a Facebook for work.”
He reviewed the company’s new values under his leadership. One, build trust; two, “Do what you say you’re going to do”; three, teamwork within EQT and with landowners and stakeholders; four, heart, “Care about what you do”; and five, evolution, “the desire to get better every day.”
Low prices, he said, are driving demand for natural gas not just domestically but around the world. But not everyone here is seeing the benefit. His own mother still burns oil in her basement in Boston. He hopes the Trump administration will continue promoting policies to continue increasing access to gas.
:Cheap energy is the catalyst for manufacturing,” he said, and that means jobs, liquefied natural gas to export, and products to trade. While some presidential candidates promote ending use of fossil fules or nationwide fracking bans, he said, gas production is responsible, green and friendly. “Natural gas will continue playing a strong role, even with putting these renewables in place.”
Pipeline projects raise environmental concerns, but two other speakers touched on the need for those projects. Shawn Bennett, deputy assistant secretary for oil and natural gas in the U.S Department of energy, said we can’t export LNG without a viable infrastructure.
And Walt Hufford, with global producer Repsol, said New England’s power rates are 30% higher than Pennsylvania’s because they won’t permit natural gas infrastructure.
Environmental regulators from West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Ohio fielded a few question on issues in their states.
Scott Perry, Deputy Secretary for Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection Office of Oil and Gas Management talked about reforming regulation to keep up with constant changes in the industry.
He said he’s established a mission of making his office a broker of best practices in order to provide the industry best practice documents for them to see the most cost effective solutions available to them.
West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Austin Caperton talked about pipeline expansion, and pipeline workers coming from other parts of the country and the world to work in West Virginia’s hills.
They’re not used to the terrain, he said. “They panic when they get a Notice of Violation.” He has to bring them in and educate them about the permitting process. The permit outlines just the minimum requirements, he tells them. They may have to do more to protect the land and streams.
“This is the opportunity to transform our region and your region and make a link that will last a long, long time,” he said. Keeping the resources here and manufacturing finished products here “is really key to our success.”
TWEET @dbeardtdpEmail David Beard at dbeard@dominionpost.com
