Montana Petroleum Association

Montana Petroleum Association
HEARD IT THROUGH THE PIPELINE

February 25, 2008

Climate Change Advisory Council Recommendations:
First a little background. Over that last two years the Governor’s Climate Change Advisory Council (CCAC) has been meeting to develop recommendations for the Governor to address climate change issues in Montana. Recently the Legislature’s Environmental Quality Council has placed the 54 CCAC recommendations on their website in the form of a survey in an effort to collect public input. The entire climate change report can be viewed here: http://www.mtclimatechange.us/CCAC.cfm

MPA created a climate change task force to monitor and address the issue last summer. Since December we have been working on the climate change recommendation survey to develop an MPA response. The MPA response CCAC survey is attached. Comment from the EQC indicate that they will give more weight to the actual comments on the survey as opposed to the numerical ranking. Also they encourage industry to respond as well as other groups. So far there have been over 600 responses to the survey. MPA encourages all our members to take a few minutes and complete the survey. Our tack force developed recommendations can be used as guidelines for your responses. The EQC is trying to determine if any of the recommendation have wide support and those recommendations may become EQC bill drafts for the 2009 session. Keep in mind that even if the EQC only chooses a few recommendations to support, most of these ideas will become bill drafts in the upcoming session by various individual legislators. Responses to this survey could become a means to support these ideas before the 2009 legislature.

Again, please take a few minutes and complete the survey. The deadline for action on the survey is February 29th

Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission Information Request:
Public Lands Committee is interested in compiling information on successful wildlife/oil and gas habitat BMP’s or projects to specifically designed to mitigate wildlife impacts, or special “showcase” efforts that could form a basis for wildlife BMPs. If you have any success stories please submit to me and I can compile the information accordingly for review by the committee in Calgary in May. If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to contact me. I would appreciate your feed back no later than Friday March 7th, thank you for taking the time to support this project.

Amy Wright
Federal Projects Manager
Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission
405-525-3556 X 117
amy.wright@iogcc.state.ok.us

MEETINGS OF INTEREST:

MPA Planning Meeting:
The MPA Planning Meeting is scheduled for June 17-18 with an opening reception on the evening of June 16th. The 2008 Planning Meeting will be held at the River Rock Lodge in Big Sky, Montana. This is a beautiful part of the State and we are sure to have many topics to discuss in preparation for the 2009 Montana legislative cycle. Space at the main lodge is limited and we ask that you contact Bobbie to secure a room reservation (please see attached registration form). As the meeting time draws near, MPA will provide a list of recreational opportunities for you to consider while attending the meeting. Again, please get your room reservation confirmed by contacting Bobbie at MPA@montanapetroleum.org Thank you for your early response.

IOGCC Mid-Year Meeting:
The Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission annual mid-year meeting is May 4 – 6, 2008 in Calgary. Online registration is available now…registration is discounted if it is received before April 9. A meeting flier is attached and more information can be found on the IOGCC Website at: www.iogcc.state.ok.us/events.html

The meeting will focus on the Alaska Gas Pipeline; the impact of federal and state land access closures on reserves and the potential cost to consumers; Canadian oil and natural gas production technology; developments in carbon capture and geologic storage technology and regulation; net receipts sharing and an overview of its impact on public lands; and much more.

THANK YOU TO 2008 NEW AND RENEWED MEMBERS (2/6/08 – 2/25/08):
CBM Associates, Inc.; CHS Inc.; Coalbed Natural Gas Alliance; ExxonMobil; Helis Oil & Gas Company, L.L.C.; Hydrometrics, Inc.; Process Engineering Associates, LLC; Three Forks Resources; WBI Holdings Inc.

If you did not receive a renewal membership packet, please contact Bobbie Gardner at the MPA office immediately by emailing mpa@montanapetroleum.org or calling 406-442-7582. Thank you.

Montana Petroleum Association
HEARD IT THROUGH THE PIPELINE

February 5, 2008

Sage Grouse News:
The Western Watershed Project (WWP), the plaintiff in the suit against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), have met with the Service and Judge Winmill and agreed on timelines for reviewing the decision of listing the sage grouse as an endangered species. The agreed upon timeline is as follows:

February 2008: Service will publish notice in Federal Register that it is conducting a new status review for greater sage-grouse, and allowing 90 days for public comment;

August 2008: Service will file a status report advising the Court and parties of its progress in conducting a new status review and its understanding of the current status and anticipated publication date for the updated WAFWA Sage Grouse Conservation Assessment;

December 2008: Assuming the updated Conservation Assessment is published in November 2008, as currently anticipated, Service will publish notice in Federal Register of that fact and allow additional public comment for 60 days;

May 2009: Service will issue new listing determination on greater sage-grouse.

One of the reasons listed in Judge Winmill’s January 30th order listing the timeline was that the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (WAFWA) is updating their Sage Grouse Conservation Assessment which will be done in November, 2008. This document will play an important role it the USFWS review of the sage grouse decision. Judge Winmill’s order is attached.

At the same time, MPA received a copy of a white paper on sage grouse from Jeff Hagener, Director of the Montana, Department of Fish Wildlife and Parks. The paper has been drafted by experts in several western state wildlife agencies in an attempt to compile the “best available science” on the issue. Professors Naugle and Holloran are extensively used, but other work is not, including Renee Taylor’s paper released in the fall of 2007. MPA will continue to monitor and work with our wildlife agency on this issue. The multi-state science group paper is attached.

Climate Change:
The Montana Environmental Quality Council has placed the recommendations from Governor Schweitzer’s Climate Change Advisory Council on their website in a survey format. The EQC wants to hear from the public on which recommendations they support and which recommendations they don’t support. MPA is working to develop position statements on some of the recommendations. The survey comment deadline is February 29. MPA urges members to become familiar with the survey and climate change report. We will have recommendations to membership by February 25, and we urge as many people in industry as possible to log on and complete the survey.

Survey Website: http://leg.mt.gov/css/climate_survey.asp
Climate Change Advisory Committee full report: http://www.mtclimatechange.us/CCAC.cfm

Montana Tech Sponsors Well Control Class:
The Montana Tech Petroleum Engineering Department is pleased to announce a special Well Control training class which will occur at the Montana Tech campus. For more details and registration go to the links provided below.
http://www.mtech.edu/mines/pet_eng/Well%20Control%20Training%20Opportunity%20Announcement%20_2_.pdf

http://www.mtech.edu/mines/pet_eng/Well%20CAP%20registration%20form.pdf

Montana Society of Petroleum Engineers Scholarships:
There are two applications, one for Montana high school seniors and one for college students enrolled in a Montana college. Both require a petroleum engineering related field of study. MPA encourages you to share these applications with any interesting student. The applications are attached.

Mark your calendar:
2008 mpa Planning Meeting – June 16-18, River Rock Lodge, Big Sky, Montana. More information to follow.

THANK YOU TO 2008 NEW AND RENEWED MEMBERS (1/22/08 – 2/5/08):
Anschutz Exploration Corporation; Beartooth Oil & Gas Co.; ConocoPhillips; Enbridge Energy Company, Inc.; Encore Operating L.P.; Northern Border Pipeline Company; True Oil LLC

If you did not receive a renewal membership packet, please contact Bobbie Gardner at the MPA office immediately by emailing mpa@montanapetroleum.org or calling 406-442-7582. Thank you.