US Congress may consider natural gas bill in January: IPPA chief

Austin, Texas (Platts)--27Oct2004

The US Congress may take up in a separate bill parts of the stalled
comprehensive energy legislation designed to promote the development of
domestic natural gas, the leader of an independent producers group said in
Austin, Texas. "It's time for a natural gas bill," John Walker, chairman of
the Independent Petroleum Association of America said Tuesday at the group's
annual meeting. Walker said the lobbying group discussed with US Rep Joe
Barton (Republican-Texas) the possibility of re-introducing some of the
gas-related provisions from the energy bill in separate legislation when the
new Congress convenes in January. Barton met with leaders of the IPAA Monday,
but did not address the conference. 

Some of the issues the new legislation might address include: enhanced access
to federal lands for gas exploration; improvements to the Coastal Zone
Management Act; and a measure to ensure that exploration-and-production
companies can continue to use hydraulic fractionation to stimulate production
in older wells.

The bill would also seek overturn moratoria on drilling in portions of the
offshore Outer Continental Shelf and other areas, Walker said. "The nation can
not ignore," the potential gas reserves in these closed areas, "because of
fear," he said. Walker also called for a streamlining of the permitting
process that E&P companies must go through to drill on federal lands. The
current permitting process allows too many procedural challenges, he said.

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