17-06-02 The oil and gas industry must be a "full partner" with the US state government to protect the public health and environment while fostering economic growth, the head of the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission said. Michigan Gov. John Engler, head of the IOGCC, said he believed oil and gas production and a clean environment don't have to be mutually exclusive, adding that "state government is the best place to make sure that happens."
Founded in 1935 to ensure the efficient recovery of domestic petroleum resources, the IOGCC represents the governors of 30 oil and gas producing states. During his keynote address at the IOGCC's midyear meeting in Traverse City, Michigan, Engler cited Michigan's northern Lower Peninsula, a prime recreational area, as an example of the public and private sector working together to protect the area's natural resources.
"State government and the oil and gas industry, working in concert, have made sure that happens," Engler stated. Engler also addressed the controversial issue of allowing the oil and gas industry greater access to known reservoirs in pristine areas.

Even while oil and natural gas demand is projected to increase by 30 % over the next 20 years, Engler said the importance of oil and gas is often misunderstood or overlooked by Americans. And with an increasing amount of oil purchased overseas, much of it from politically unstable or unfriendly countries, the United States needs to take advantage of all of our domestic energy supplies to protect our national security, he said.
"One of our most pressing needs is to educate our citizens on the benefits of unimpeded access to domestic energy resources and on the need for a rational, measured approach to solving the issues we face as a society," Engler said. "I encourage the oil and gas industry to join us in addressing that need."

Dating back to the early 20th century, Texas has served as a model for public-private partnership in the oil industry, said Morris Burns, executive director of the Permian Basin Petroleum Association, an industry group based in Midland.
"Back then, the East Texas fields were being drilled as close as they could be and that ruined the reservoir," Burns said. The Texas Railroad Commission was created by the Legislature to regulate the industry, first by setting and enforcing production allowables and, in more recent times, by setting enforceable standards to protect human health and the environment.
"There are states that do not have a regulatory agency, but Texas does and it does an excellent job," Burns said.

Engler cited recent opposition to directional drilling for oil and gas beneath the Great Lakes as an example of the public simply not understanding the technology and mechanics of oil and gas drilling.
"Never mind that we have a 20-year history of successful directional drilling under the lakes and the concurrence of virtually every scientist who has studied this issue that the drilling is safe," he said. "Education may not show results immediately, but is essential if we hope to be able to advance toward our goals of sustaining and enhancing our prosperity and freedoms and sharing them with the rest of the world."
Burns said the industry has done a "very poor" job of educating the public about oil and gas exploration and production, adding that the entertainment industry hasn't been much help either. "The TV program “Dallas' did us more harm than anything," Burns said. "And unfortunately, there are still people who believe that everyone in the industry is just like J.R."