This month marks the twentieth month of operation for the AAPG Geoscience and Energy Office in Washington, D.C., and we, like the rest of Washington, are enjoying the lull that accompanies the Fourth of July recess as the nation’s legislators return to their individual states.
We anticipate that upon their return, debate on energy legislation and defense spending will take center stage – which means August and September promise to be event-filled months for us, too.
We emerged from Congressional Visits Day in early May and immediately embarked on the final planning for the [PFItemLinkShortcode|id:12677|type:standard|anchorText: AAPG/SPE International Multidisciplinary Reserves Conference|cssClass:asshref|title:Read an article that discussed the conference|PFItemLinkShortcode], organized by AAPG, SPE, the World Petroleum Council, the Society of Petroleum Evaluation Engineers and the UNECE Group of Experts of Resource Terminology and hosted in late June by the GEO-DC office.
While we are awaiting the analysis from the 130-plus participants’ responses to the program, the conference was gauged as a strong success by the organizers and the participants.
The conference objective was to bring together a community of senior and influential individuals to explore the impacts and next steps in endorsement of the new SPE/AAPG/WPC/SPEE Petroleum Resource Management System. The spectrum of disciplines of the conference participants included the accounting, banking, investment, analyst, government and consulting as well as the expected geological and engineering representatives. This conference was a first of its kind to make an effort to engage a broad cross section of the international community that creates and uses petroleum reserves and resource data.
The National Petroleum Council, a federal advisory body to the secretary of energy, was scheduled to release its “Global Oil and Natural Gas Report” in mid-July.
The report is a culmination of a vast amount of work, performed at the request of the secretary of energy, in what can only be described as a far reaching and comprehensive evaluation of oil and natural gas demand, supply and alternatives for hydrocarbon fuels in the context of global geopolitical uncertainty projected into the next 25 years.
A significant number of AAPG members contributed to the chapters associated with the endowment and supply portions of the study, which engaged the international producing community – both the government and private sectors – as well as the alternative fuels sector and the “peak oil” community. Electronic copies of the report can be viewed at the National Petroleum Council website.
On July 27, AAPG/GEO-DC sponsored a U.S. Geological Survey Congressional Briefing on Energy and Climate Change.
This briefing, held in the Rayburn House Office Building, was part of a regular series organized by the USGS as part of its charter to provide science information for congressional staff on areas within the prevue of the USGS.
This was the first opportunity for AAPG to display the new position statement brochure that has been prepared by the Government Affairs Committee and approved by the Executive Committee.
AAPG/GEO-DC served as both host and master of ceremonies for this event.
On Aug. 5-9, members of the Government Affairs Committee (GAC) and GEO-DC will staff an AAPG booth at the National Conference of State Legislators (NCSL). This will be the first year that the AAPG will have its own booth for the event, although AAPG has participated for several years in cooperation with several geological organizations through the GAC.
At the conclusion of last year’s NCSL meeting in Nashville, Tenn., the GAC determined that there was merit in having a separate booth for AAPG in order to promote the importance of the petroleum geosciences at the state level.
GEO-DC is cooperating with the Eastern Section annual meeting organizers to coordinate a four-hour session on “Geology and Public Policy.” The session will feature two congressional staffers – one from the House and one from the Senate – who will provide Section participants with a glimpse of what it takes to impact legislation at the Washington, D.C. level.
Work continues on the energy and minerals schools reinvestment act with AAPG members contributing language that helps to provide faculty and students at the historical energy geosciences and energy institutions with financial support and support the rejuvenation of many of these institutions. The legislation would bolster areas that were not fully recognized in the National Academy of Sciences study “Rising Above The Gathering Storm.”
The focus of this legislation will be to endow work force training at all levels, from the training of field personnel to the graduate level university programs.
Together with industry efforts, this legislation could provide a significant boost to both trainers and trainees for the oil and gas industry of the future.