Montana Petroleum Association

Montana Petroleum Association
HEARD IT THROUGH THE PIPELINE

September 12, 2008

Trout Unlimited and the Greater Yellowstone Coalition:
Trout Unlimited and the Greater Yellowstone Coalition hosted a “Meeting on Energy with the Administration” last evening in Livingston, Montana . The audience was about 50 strong and included local ranchers, legislators and quite a few fishermen, as well as GYC’s elite members. The meeting was a panel consisting of Hal Harper, Governor Schweitzer’s Chief Policy Advisor; Mary Sexton, Director of Natural Resources; Jim Albano and Rick Hotaling, BLM, and Scott Bosse of the Greater Yellowstone Coalition.

The local residents were upset with the Department of Natural Resources notification process that did not include local papers. Additionally, Trout Unlimited had asked that all the parcels in riverbeds, or parcels adjacent to the river be deferred from the last lease sale. Those parcels were not deferred, but DNRC increased the setback from 1/8 mile to ¼ mile on state lands adjacent to the river. At the same sale, there were three parcels in Gallatin County that were also protested and those interested parties asked for deferral as well. Those parcels were deferred. The local Livingston crowd was not pleased that one deferral request was granted and the other was not.

Trout Unlimited and the Greater Yellowstone Coalition were clear at the meeting that they intend to engage in the energy debate in this area. There were suggestions by leaders of this group for several legislative changes. The most common was a statewide river setback for all water areas on public AND private lands. Other ideas included additional fees on fishing licenses to develop funds to purchase leases in critical habitat, and the use of local zoning regulations to stop oil and gas development in “critical and pristine” areas.

MPA has detailed notes from the meeting that are available to members upon request. If you would like the notes please contact Dave at dave@montanapetroleum.org.

Energy and Telecommunications Interim Committee (ETIC):
The ETIC last week included a variety of speakers including John Felmy, Chief Economist from the American Petroleum Institute. MPA appreciates the support from API on this important committee meeting. All the speakers did a great job and if you are interested in details of the oil panel discussion you can peruse the minutes at the following site: http://leg.mt.gov/css/Committees/interim/2007_2008/energy_telecom/default.asp

In this meeting Representative Brady Wiseman (D-Bozeman) repeatedly questioned the speakers on the need for a production tax incentive. One of the speakers, Bob Decker of the “Policy Institute” said that he had a Department of Revenue report that showed that the incentives have cost the state over $550 million dollars. MPA is trying to get a copy of that report. The discussion about the drilling incentive led to the following article in the Great Falls Tribune: http://www.greatfallstribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080910/NEWS01/809100303&referrer=FRONTPAGECAROUSEL

MPA anticipates that this issue will be brought up again in the legislative session this January.

Montana Wildlife Federation Wildlife Stipulations:
The Montana Wildlife Federation has asked the Montana Board of Oil and Gas Conservation to adopt Wyoming sage grouse stipulations. The MWF letter is attached.

BLM 2008 BMP Award Nominations
The BLM is seeking Nominations for their 2008 BMP award. If any companies are interested please see the following web site: http://www.blm.gov/wo/st/en/info/regulations/Instruction_Memos_and_Bulletins/national_instruction/20080/IM_2008-180.html

MPA LEGISLATORS’ Briefing Tour UPDATE
The dates and locations of the Legislators’ Briefing Tour and the details are attached. Please pay close attention to the sponsors in each location and sponsors. Please let us know if these are incorrect. If you are interested in sponsoring any of the locations, please contact the MPA office. There can be more than one company per location, and we will divide the amount after the Tour ends. We would appreciate your company’s sponsorship. We will give the sponsors recognition at each location.

The western Montana tour starts on September 23, with lunch in Kalispell and ends on the 25th with lunch in Helena . There may be several of us traveling out of Helena and we could provide transportation. If any MPA members wish to fly into Kalispell and out of Helena contact Dave at dave@montanapetroleum.org. The eastern Montana tour begins with dinner in Billings on October 6th and concludes with lunch in Lewistown on October 10th. Those of you making airline reservations should keep in mind that it is a two hour drive from Lewistown to Billings to catch a return flight. You may also wish to have your travel provider check about airline availability out of Lewistown. It is our understanding that a new operator has an afternoon flight out of Lewistown to Denver . As the dates draw near please keep the MPA office apprised of your plans to participate so we can coordinate group transportation. Also, please take a look at the attached schedules and consider sponsorship for some of the events.

UPCOMING MEETINGS
MPA Board of Directors Meeting – November 20, 2008 – Crowne Plaza Hotel, Billings , MT., 7:30 am.