Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission

In the early days of oil exploration, drilling was governed by the law of capture, which states that the owner of land on which a well resides has the right to any oil from that well even if it was drained from the land of his neighbors. This provided an incentive for each landowner to extract the oil as fast as possible. Each state tried to regulate its own oil by such measures as proration, the limiting of production to some fraction of capacity; but then two great oil fields, the Oklahoma City Oil Field and the East Texas Oil Field, were discovered. This, along with the Great Depression, led to significant waste and very low prices, with catastrophic effects on the industry. The problems were large enough that the states recognized the need for cooperation. From 1933 to 1935, oil was regulated under the National Industrial Recovery Act and the Petroleum Code, which in effect left production control in the hands of industry representatives, with no representation for the states. and the idea of an interstate compact was revived. The Compact On December 3, 1934, Oklahoma Governor-elect E. W. Marland met with the governors of Kansas and Texas to discuss an interstate compact. According to founding Commissioner, Texas Governor James V Allred, the idea for the interstate compact originated with the American Petroleum Institute. The stated purpose of the compact was to "conserve oil and gas by the prevention of physical waste thereof from any cause". States that ratified the compact agreed to enact legislation for this purpose. Article VI of the compact constituted "The Interstate Oil Compact Commission," renamed as the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission in 1991, and its duty was to make recommendations for preventing the physical waste of gas and oil. Relative to other interstate compacts, this one—described as "brief and general"—was not a regulatory compact.. Its popularity and success were attributed to this general nature, with the commission serving as a forum for sharing best practices and the compact giving member states the freedom to adopt them. The production controls of the IOGCC and the Texas Railroad Commission have been cited as precursors to the establishment of OPEC's caps on member state oil production. ==Organizational structure==

Initially the commission had six members: Colorado, Illinois, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas. It now has 31 member states, 7 non-oil-producing associate states, and 10 international affiliates (including 7 Canadian provinces and territories). Georgia became the first associate member in 1946. Many representatives are state regulators overseeing gas and drilling, but as of 2010 at least seven were industry executives and lobbyists. Influential members during the commission's early years include Ernest O. Thompson, Warwick M. Downing, Hiram M. Dow, and Executive Secretary Earl Foster. Transparency and accountability Several bylaws govern the IOGCC. The compact did not provide for any resources to support IOGCC; a later bylaw stipulated that its expenses would be paid "from voluntary contributions from the member states and other sources of revenue approved by the Commission". These sources, including federal grants, have been sufficient to allow the commission to function. IOGCC uses an Oklahoma government email address and domain but it is not a state, not a federal agency and does not have to register to lobby the federal government. A plethora of information is available, but relatively little of it has come directly from the organization itself. In its early years, the commission's meetings were praised for their openness. IOGCC now claims an exemption from the Open Public Records Act and has removed a provision within its bylaws that formerly said its records are open to the public. ==Activities==

To identify best practices, IOGCC surveys member states and assesses their activities. It catalogues innovative programs, shares this information with states, and hosts biannual meetings that bring together representatives from government, the oil industry, and environmentalists. Policy IOGCC is an advocate for states' rights, arguing that state regulation is more effective than "one size fits all" federal regulation. As well as creating reports, it creates model statutes as a guide for legislation by states. From 1935 to at least 1957, the commission's legal committee was credited with leading development of [oil and gas] conservation law in the United States. In 2005, the organization claimed credit for the so-called Halliburton Loophole, which exempted hydraulic fracturing from the Energy Policy Act. Carbon sequestration A large part of the human contribution to global warming is from the emission of carbon dioxide (CO2) as a result of burning fossil fuels. One way to reduce the contribution is to capture the CO2 before it enters the atmosphere and sequester it by injecting it underground in depleted oil and natural gas fields, saline formations and coal beds. Recognizing that the oil and gas industry has a lot of experience with injecting CO2 into the ground for enhanced oil recovery, the IOGCC launched the Geological Sequestration Task Force in 2002 to investigate the issues surrounding sequestration. A two-phase study was funded by the Department of Energy. Phase I concluded that the states had the knowledge and experience to regulate sequestration safely. In phase II, which began in 2006, the task force prepared a report that included a model statute for the states, with explanations on how to implement it. Public relations and publications The commission also engages in extensive public relations efforts. Publications include Compact Comments, The Oil and Gas Compact Bulletin, and numerous technical reports. This award has four categories: Environmental Partnership (for partnerships with industry led by non-industry organizations); Energy Education; Small Company and Large Company. == References ==