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Montana Petroleum Association
HEARD IT THROUGH THE PIPELINE
July 13, 2007
MPA Annual Meeting
Attached are the agenda and registration forms for the 2007 MPA Annual Meeting in Billings. These will be mailed to you early next week. This meeting is your Association’s effort to bring decision makers to the membership to discuss serious and topical issues facing our industry. As you can see, we will cover a variety of issues and you will have the opportunity to ask questions to the most knowledgeable people on the subject.
MPA again offered a fishing day on the Big Horn River that filled up immediately. If there are folks who would like to attend the meeting and would have liked to fish please let me know. There are other opportunities, particularly on the Yellowstone River that we could arrange for you. Also let us know if you would like to be placed on a Big Horn River waiting list. If we have cancellations we can get you signed up.
Please note that this year’s Annual Meeting includes a wildlife roundtable on the afternoon of August 27th and a workshop for mineral royalty withholding on the afternoon of August 29th. The withholding workshop will be presented by staff at the Montana Department of Revenue and will be a great place to get your questions answered.
I appreciate very much the generous sponsorships for the MPA Annual Meeting. I encourage all of you to take a few hours out of your busy schedules and attend.
Split Estates Brochure
As you recall, the last legislative session passed a bill that increases the notice period that operators are required to give surface owners before accessing their property. In addition, operators will be required to provide a copy of the laws regarding surface use and damages and a brochure that is being developed by the Montana Legislative Council. A draft copy of the brochure is attached. If you have any comments please send them to Dave at dave@montanapetroleum.org . We will consolidate them and give to the Legislative Council Staff.
Interim Legislative Water Policy Committee
The 2007 Legislature passed HB 304 by Kevin Furey (D-Missoula) that created a Water Policy Interim Committee. They held their first meeting in Dillon, MT last week, and have a very robust schedule of meetings across the state during the interim. This was an organizational meeting to discuss their work plan which will be finalized next month. This Committee intends to develop legislation for the 2009 Legislative Session. Such legislation could have a negative impact to our industry. Their draft work plan, future schedule, court documents and a series of papers can be viewed on the following web site: http://leg.mt.gov/css/lepo/2007_2008/water_policy/meetings/meetings.asp
Montana Petroleum Association
HEARD IT THROUGH THE PIPELINE
July 2, 2007
MPA Annual Meeting
Please mark your calendars for the MPA Annual Meeting which is scheduled for the afternoon of August 27th through August 29th. Mr. Terry Hildestad, CEO of Montana Dakota Utilities will be our keynote speaker at the Petroleum Industry Appreciation Day Luncheon. We will be sending the meeting registration forms out in the next couple of weeks.
WILDLIFE
MPA is working on a wildlife segment the afternoon of August 27th. Recently our industry has come under attack by a well organized wildlife campaign led by Trout Unlimited and the National Wildlife Federation, and other “sportsman’s” groups. Many of you have probably seen the numerous articles in various papers across the west. In this month’s issue of Montana Outdoors there is an article you might find interesting:
http://fwp.mt.gov/mtoutdoors/HTML/articles/2007/CBM.htm
Montana Outdoors is published by the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks and has a very broad national distribution. It is these kinds of articles that are being used to turn public sentiment against our industry. We need a response of our own, but most importantly we need to work with wildlife resource agencies to ensure that our operations can continue on public and private lands. So, please plan to attend our wildlife seminar on May 27th, and perhaps we can find working solutions with wildlife agency personnel.
Environmental Quality Council
The Environmental Quality Council held its first meeting of the 2007-08 interim last week. Mr. Brian Cebull and Mr. Douglas McCrae were reappointed as public members. Mr. John Brenden and Ms. Diane Conradi are new public members for this interim. Besides the typical oversight and statutory duties of the council they will spend a considerable amount of time studying climate change and reviewing the activities of the Governor’s Panel on Climate Change. This panel will be releasing its recommendations next week. The directors of the departments of Environmental Quality, Natural Resources, and Fish, Wildlife and Parks gave an overview of the issues each will face in the next two years. Director Hagener spoke of his agency’s concern about the impact of energy development on wildlife, specifically sage grouse. Director Hagener thought that Montana needs a new model for energy development, one that puts the needs of wildlife first (see article above). Senator Story stated that the council should have an opportunity to hear FWP and industry discuss the issue some future meeting of the EQC. The approved work plan, membership and meeting schedule can be found at:
http://leg.mt.gov/css/lepo/2007_2008/default.asp
EPA Effluent Guideline Program
Last week many of us first heard about the EPA’s intent to survey industry and review the Coal Bed Natural Gas section of the 2006 Effluent Guidelines. There have been several conference calls set by EPA to discuss the issue. The last of the initial calls set by EPA will be held on July 10. In addition, MPA and IPAMS have worked with EPA to set another call, which is now scheduled for July 24th at 1:00 PM MDT. The phone number is (866) 358-1366, conference code 2025661014#. The presentation slides for these teleconferences are posted at http://www.epa.gov/guide/plan.html (which links to http://www.epa.gov/guide/304m/2007/cmb-slides.pdf).
Climate Change
The MPA Climate Change Working Group held a conference call on June 14th. We were fortunate to have Mark Lambrecht from PPL Montana on the call to review what to expect from the Governor’s Panel on Climate Change will recommend at its final meeting on July 10th. Mark is one of the industry representatives on the panel and they we have a meeting on July 9th, at which time they will release their panel recommendations. MPA will have another meeting at noon on July 10th at Montana Contractor’s Association Conference Room. Please see the call in information below:
Dial In Number: 866-482-6958
Passcode: 1111012
TONGUE RIVER INFORMATION PROJECT
Due to rising interest in energy development and local concerns over water and soil quality near the Tongue River, the Board of Oil and Gas Conservation (MBOGC) recently released two scientific reports on the effects of coal bed natural gas development on farming and irrigation in the Tongue River Basin. The studies focus on the potential impact of coal bed natural gas (CBNG) activities on the basin's soil and water conditions since 2003. Those who are interested can find the reports on the MBOGC: http://www.bogc.dnrc.mt.gov.
