Ben Shepperd,
PBPA President
The start of June marks the end of the 87th Regular Session in the Lone Star State and Representatives and Senators from across the state are returning to their communities to share the results of a legislative session that began with pandemic, met the challenges of an unexpected winter storm, and continued to persevere with hope that a return to normalcy is just around the corner.
The pandemic brought a slow start to the Legislative Session, and the focus of the concern prior to that was the ongoing question of budget challenges that existed as a result of economic decline brought on due to the spread of Covid-19.
But the winter storm that arrived during the Valentine’s Day Weekend in Texas catapulted the focus of the legislature directly to electric generation, and efforts to ensure reliability for Texans across the Lone Star State.
This focus dominated the major work of the Legislature with the House and Senate and we are largely comfortable with the efforts to ensure stronger natural gas supplies at electric generation facilities, without creating onerous new obligations that would stifle exploration and production, just as we begin to see demand growth as the pandemic ends.
Despite that focus, there were still various efforts to attack the industry and use air, environmental, and other regulatory efforts to threaten the Permian Basin oil and gas industry and the economic benefits it provides schools, transportation projects, public health, and more.
Some of these proposals would have made it impossible to gain permitted approval for activities and would have created new, burdensome policies that would deter business from growing or relocating to Texas, even as we have seen these efforts encourage more and more people and businesses to relocate to Texas.
To that end, PBPA worked aggressively to oppose those efforts and visited with elected officials to demonstrate the incredible progress the industry has made to reduce its sustainability missions and goals as good stewards of the region’s natural resources.
Ensuring timely processing of permits is vital to our industry’s success as the economic rebound begins and we were proud to support increasing funding for our regulatory agencies to ensure they have the resources to promptly process paperwork and other items necessary for Texas economic success.
PBPA also looked forward to what the industry may need and supported efforts to create a new framework for the growing water management sphere, and the rapidly developing carbon sector within the industry. Our industry is innovative and growing, and with our members on the front lines of these changes, state government must change as well.
And as we continue to look forward, in the near term we are looking toward Washington, D.C. While market conditions, including global demand, and public health factors are getting better, the obstacle to growth for Permian Basin producers doesn’t lie in issues with economic fundamentals. Rather, the greatest threat exists with federal overreach in areas that will cripple economic opportunity for thousands of people who live, work, and raise their families in the oil patch.
With all that said, most importantly PBPA has most greatly benefited from our members’ support. Your work makes a real difference and we could not do this work without your input and support. Thank you for ensuring that the future of our community and industry remains brighter than its past and we look forward to working with you throughout the remainder of the year to continue to safely and responsibly develop the natural resources in the Permian Basin.