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IPANM needs representation for critical Methane meetings
Public Stakeholder Meetings Begin Next Week; Large Industry Turnout Needed!
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Information on this email that went out yesterday has been updated to show the exact location of the July 29 Farmington Public Meeting. See highlight below.
Dear Members and Friends of Oil & Gas,
We have several critical, upcoming public meeting dates regarding Methane that we are asking members and supporters of Oil and Gas to attend.
The State has scheduled a series of Public Methane Stakeholder Meetings as follows:
- 1-5 p.m. July 29, San Juan Community College, Farmington
4601 College Blvd, Farmington, NM 87402, IT Building, Room 7103
- 1-5 p.m. July 30, University of New Mexico School of Law, Albuquerque
- 8:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Aug. 7, Nuclear Waste Partnership Building, Carlsbad
See last month's news release from the state for more information. We expect these meetings will be highly political, but would encourage IPANM members to attend in high numbers. You do not need to speak at these meetings unless you want to, however, it is extremely beneficial to get there early (up to an hour ahead of time) to secure a seat in the meeting room. Your attendance will create one less seat available to people who want to put Oil & Gas out of business. This will be especially true in the producing basins. We know that environmental groups are mobilizing for these meetings.
Regardless of the expected rhetoric at these public meetings, IPANM has been ensured a voice and continued "seat at the table" as a Methane Rule is developed in the next year ahead. However, these three upcoming opportunities may well represent our only chance to send a clear message to the state administration that there is strong public support for oil & gas and a need for responsible and reasonable regulation vs. the politics of an overly burdensome regulatory framework that will cripple our independents and industry.
Related to Methane, we have additional information to share.
- IPANM Board President John Thomas was in Santa Fe in May and provided critical perspective from independent operators regarding existing state regulations on methane and air quality. He's was selected as an official observer on the STRONGER group, tasked to develop a final assessment of New Mexico's current methane regulatory authority. A final report from STRONGER is due mid-summer. We may hear more about this report at our Annual Meeting from state regulators.
- Representatives of IPANM's Methane Workgroup have met with New Mexico Environment Department Secretary James Kenney several times in Santa Fe the past two months. Sec. Kenney offered insights on the process and upcoming stakeholder meetings regarding the Methane Rulemaking process. While the meetings have been light on policy specifics, our takeaway is that IPANM will need strong, vocal support and data on well economic viability from individual member companies moving forward to push back against a potential, overly stringent Methane Rule. The IPANM Methane Workgroup is assembling data now to support reasonable regulations vs. arbitrary, non-science based regulations.
- IPANM's Methane Workgroup has been already pushing for the need for reasonable thresholds for methane emissions to ensure economic viability for our members. However, it is clear that the state's initial "hints of their positions" call for higher threshold emission standards equal to, or greater than federal regulations. More specifics will be discussed at our Annual Meeting later this week.
- At our Annual Meeting on Friday, July 26 in Albuquerque, there will be a special Methane Roundtable discussion with both Secs. Kenney (Environment Department) and Propst (Energy/Oil Conservation Division). You will not want to miss this discussion, which will include opportunities for questions. If you haven't already done so, sign up to register for our Annual Meeting at attend.
- PLEASE BE AWARE: Whether we like it or not, a Methane Rule is coming to the State of New Mexico. Our hope now is to advocate for reasonable thresholds based on sound-science, and measuring requirements that will flexible for our operators.
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Please feel free to email IPANM Executive Director Jim Winchester if you have any questions or concerns.
Regards,
--John
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