The American Petroleum Institute is contending that a US Department of Energy panel that examined natural gas drilling in shales failed to fully recognize the efforts of both the oil and gas industry and state regulators.
The industry group is filing 10-pages of comments on the report on shales to correct what it sees as gaps between what the Natural Gas Subcommittee to the Secretary of Energy's Advisory Board recommends and efforts already under way by state regulators and industry to resolve those issues. The subcommittee recommended measures to improve transparency and increase data collection.
"There was some good news in the report," API's Director for Upstream Erik Milito told reporters on a conference call, "but many industry programs are ignored."
Milito pointed to API standards for cementing and casing as one example of an existing standard the seven-member subcommittee overlooked.
He said the subcommittee's lack of a member with current field experience in drilling in shale plays contributed to this gap in knowledge.
Texas A&M petroleum engineering professor Stephen Holdritch, a pioneer of fracking techniques who sold his services company to Schlumberger in 1997, was a panel member, as was Stanford geophysicist Mark Zoback, a member of the National Academy of Engineering who helped investigate the Deepwater Horizon well blow out.
Milito declined to criticize either scientist, but insisted a subcommittee member with experience in shales in the last two years would have helped guide the subcommittee better.
API took particular exception to the subcommittee's recommendations that the federal government, mainly the Environmental Protection Agency, increase its efforts at collecting data on air emissions in shale plays.
"Incorrectly, the report states that EPA's [July 28 amendment to regulations for air emission from oil and gas operations] does not address many existing types of sources, including emission associated with hydraulic fracturing," API's comments said.
"The 600-page EPA proposal does, in fact, address many existing types of sources in the gas production sector."
API says "errors and omissions" in the subcommittee's report lead to an unnecessary impression of "ambiguity" in the current state of shale gas extraction.
"States have effective regulation," Milito said. "To eliminate confusion we urge the subcommittee to recognize these programs" as well as the gas industry's record of continuous improvement in operations.
With the subcommittee now tasked with recommending a timeline of specific actions by November 15, API will continue its efforts to "clarify" the eventual action plan that the panel will produce, Milito said.
"What is needed is a gap analysis," he explained. "Where are the gaps? Where are the states? Where is industry?"
The seven-member subcommittee headed by former CIA Director, now-MIT professor, John Deutch, produced their report after 90 days and five public hearings that involved major gas producers, environmentalists and state regulators, as well one community in the heart of the Marcellus Shale boom, Washington County, Pennsylvania.
Energy Secretary Steven Chu named the panel on orders from President Obama to find immediate steps to reduce the environmental impact of shale gas extraction while increasing public acceptance of the practice.
