Energy experts from across the state say four-year delay must end now or economic and employment opportunities may never be realized.
Albany – Members of the Independent Oil and Gas Association of New York today reminded decision-makers at the Capitol that its small business community will continue to suffer or turn their backs on the state entirely if the future of natural gas development undergoes further delay.
IOGA of NY’s delegation, which included geologists, environmental engineers and scientists; oil and gas developers; attorneys and other industry-related service providers, said regulatory uncertainty, a hostile and extreme opposition, repeated delays in issuing drilling permit guidelines and increasingly stringent regulations continue to keep new business away and are harming existing businesses.
The delegates asked lawmakers, the governor’s office and the Department of Environmental Conservation to allow science to guide the future of natural gas exploration and called for an end to unnecessary and unreasonable legislative proposals.
“Natural gas is cleaner than coal, has been acknowledged as a bridge fuel to renewable energy, is abundant in this state and its development has led to an economic and employment recovery in other parts of the nation,” said Brad Gill, IOGA of NY executive director. “These facts are indisputable. New York, which imports 95 percent of the natural gas it consumes, must become part of its own energy future.”
IOGA members shared Gill’s view and traveled from across the state to deliver their messages.
John Holko is president of Lenape Resources in Alexander in Genesee County and an IOGA of NY director. “Everyone in our industry will embrace reasonable rules and regulations,” Holko said. “But we are nearing a tipping point where overregulation and never-ending delays will lead to the extinction of our industry and the nearly 5,000 direct jobs that already exist here.”
Holko said his small drilling and well-services company has lost employees to Pennsylvania and approximately $15 million in revenue and development capital in the past four years. This income would have had a positive economic ripple effect across Western New York and the Southern Tier, he said.
John Conrad, president and senior hydrogeologist with Poughkeepsie-based Conrad Geoscience Corp., said a significant amount of opportunity already has been squandered as jobs, training centers, business expansion and industry-related processing plants are locating in other states.
“The Marcellus Shale is offering a second chance to the unemployed and struggling landowners, businesses and nonprofits in the Southern Tier and Allegany Region,” said Conrad, whose company provides geologic and environmental consulting services. “If New York’s regulations and permit guidelines are overly and unnecessarily burdensome and costly, oil and gas developers will write off this state. Other states have been able to adjust their regulations to align with what New York already had in place without destroying the environment or the economics of the Marcellus.”
Similar sentiments are being expressed by IOGA of NY members as the state is about to enter the fifth year of an environmental review of high-volume hydraulic fracturing combined with horizontal drilling. While Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio continue to tap the Marcellus Shale for its rich natural gas reserves, New York has lost out.
S. Dennis Holbrook, chief legal officer of Norse Energy, said his company opened an office in Buffalo in 2008, hired 40 professional staff members and had plans to grow to 100 quickly. Eleven people remain in that office.
“These are real jobs and real incomes we are losing,” Holbrook said. “Our hopes for a robust business here have dwindled as quickly as the staff.”
Nancy Schmitt, co-founder and president of Manhattan-based Taum Sauk Capital Management, said development of inexpensive natural gas fuel new manufacturing opportunities and be the foundation for a reenergized economy.
“I do not see a long-term driver to help return manufacturing to the United States and New York,” Schmitt said. “Natural gas can be that driver. There is tremendous potential here.”
Gill concluded, “New York has accomplished a great deal over the past year. However, New York will continue to struggle with our reputation of being unfriendly – even hostile – to businesses and entrepreneurs unless the state can establish reasonable rules for engagement. Our industry has a stellar environmental record in New York. We are asking for the opportunity to allow businesses to grow and put New Yorkers to work.”
