The Energy Council recently held its June, 2015 “State and Provincial Trends in Energy and the Environment” conference in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The Honorable Jorge Luis Lavalle Maury, a member of the Senate of the Republic of Mexico, discussed efforts by Mexico to make strategic reforms that will open very large untapped oil and gas deposits to foreign investors and companies. These changes have already drawn a significant amount of interest.
Of particular importance to me, was the discussion by Ms. Carol Lloyd, Vice-President of Engineering for Exxon-Mobil of the National Petroleum Council’s Arctic Energy study. This ground-breaking study found that the arctic oil and gas resources off Alaska’s coast can and should be explored and developed, while continuing to make advances in technology and operations that will protect the environment. I have always believed in planning for the long term and while shale oil has been booming in the lower 48, that trend is not expected to last more than a decade. If we start now, it will take about a decade to develop our Arctic oil and gas resources to replace the shale oil and gas. This is critical for our national energy security, and has the potential to create thousands of good paying jobs and spur economic development in Alaska.
Mr. Andy Drake, Vice-President of Spectra Energy Transmission discussed the importance of pipeline safety and active engagement of the public and stakeholders in developing a pipeline safety plan. Striving for zero incidents and active engagement are positive efforts that I support and will encourage companies in Alaska to adopt.
Similarly, Mr. Jim Carlson, Executive Director of the Kansas Natural Resources Coalition, emphasized how important it is for local communities to engage in federal land planning and other agency rulemakings to make sure they account for the human, economic, industrial, and social impacts of their actions. Since many communities in Alaska are surrounded by federal land or can be heavily impacted by federal agency actions such as listings under the endangered species act, I strongly recommend communities and citizens take a very active role in federal agency rulemakings. Often, you only get one chance to participate and then it is gone.
Energy Council meetings continue to provide leading edge discussion and study of oil and gas issues that are relevant to Alaska.
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