Proposed Rules from the Oil and Gas Workgroup of the TBPG.

The Texas Board of Professional Geoscientists has proposed new rules that have been published in the Texas Register.  The Proposed Rules and Amendments were published in the September 30, 2011 edition of the Texas Register. Some of these proposed rules are  related to oil and gas community.  These rules have been under development by an Oil and Gas Workgroup for almost two years.  The intent of the publication of these rules is to garner constructive comments so that a wider discussion of the topic would be possible.  TAPG encourages all its members whether or not you practice in the oil and gas industry to read and provide comment on these rules.  If you have questions then please feel free to email TAPG at TAPG@Hal-pc.org.  I will do my best to find an answer or get an explanation.

Comments on the proposed rules may be submitted in writing to Charles Horton by mail to TBPG, PO Box 13225, Austin TX 78711; by fax to 512/936-4409; or by e-mail.  Please submit comments before October 31, 2011. If you would please send TAPG a copy of your comments as well.  Stay informed and check the TAPG Blog, https://tapg.wordpress.com/, and the website TAPGONLINE.ORG for more information.

New Draft Adviory Opinion Regarding Academic Research from the Board!!

The Texas Board of Professional Geoscientists have received a new request for advisory opinion.  The question is as follows:

Re:  Does any and all geoscientific work that is conducted through an academic institution or non-profit research institution or for-profit organization automatically qualify as “geoscientific research” for purposes of Texas Occupations Code §1002.252(4)?

The Draft Opinion:

No. Most work which is conducted for the purpose of influencing legislation, regulation, or for the benefit of the public, in addition to work which is supported by or in collaboration with private entities, requires a Professional Geoscientist taking responsible charge of a geoscientific report or a geoscientific portion of a report, in compliance with Texas Occupations Code §1002.251(c).

This was  published in the September 23 edition of the Texas Register.  We have 30 days from publication to comment.

Any interested person may submit written comments concerning this Advisory Opinion Request and Draft Opinion to:  Charles Horton, Executive Director, P. O. Box 13225, Austin, Texas78711, or by e-mail to chorton@tbpg.state.tx.us or by fax to (512) 936-4409.  Comments must be submitted no later than 30 days from the date of the posting in the Texas Register.  Please reference Advisory Opinion Request #6.

ASU Grant urges students to rock in geosciences

From the San Angelo Times:

Angelo State University faculty were awarded $165,000 dollars to be used on field trips.  The funding is a grant from the National Science Foundation to be used as part of a project started by ASU.  This project is designed to get students interested in pursuing careers in the Geosciences.   The project is called  “Pathways for Inspiring, Educating and Recruiting West Texans in the Geosciences,” .  It will “also  offer a summer workshop for 40 science teachers, which will be followed by professional development during the school year.”

To read more about this program Click Here

New European Research Council Secretary General appointed

Geoscientist Donald Dingwell has been named as the new Secretary General of the European Research Council

A geoscientist, Donald Dingwell, head of the Department for Earth and Environmental Sciences at Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich, has been appointed as Secretary General of European Research Council (ERC), replacing Andreu Mas-Colell, who returned to his academic position as professor at Pompeu Fabra University, Barcelona, a year ago. Since then, the post has been vacant.

Dingwell will takes up office on 1 September, but changes to the organisation of the ERC mean his term will end in December 2013, when the post will be merged with the role of ERC president.

The new secretary general, appointed by the ERC’s Scientific Council, is himself an ERC grant holder, being awarded an Advanced Grant in 2009.

Dingwell holds German and Canadian nationalities. The ERC President Helga Nowotny said this international vantage point and background will enable Dingwell to contribute “to the ERC’s international outreach and strategy”.

The role of the Secretary General is to act as the ERC Scientific Council’s permanent representative in Brussels, liaising between the Council, the ERC’s Executive Agency and the European Commission. Changes in governance, due to be introduced at the start of the next EU Framework Research programme Horizon 2020, in January 2014, will see the ERC appoint a permanent Brussels-based ERC President, making the role Secretary General redundant.

Federal report ups Marcellus Shale estimate.

There is a 40-fold difference between what the United State Geological Survey believed was the potential of the Marcellus Shale a decade ago and what its scientists now know about the rock formation.

Today, USGS released an updated Marcellus estimate of how much gas is in the ground and how likely it is that gas companies can get to it using current technology.

It’s a lot — an average of about 84 trillion cubic feet. Plus, there’s about 3 billion barrels of natural gas liquids in the ground that have a reasonable chance of being recovered.

To read more Click Here.

Houston energy firms issued subpoenas in New York

Houston-based Goodrich Petroleum Corp   .and Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. and Fort Worth-based Range Resources Corp  received subpoenas in New York inquiring about some of their natural gas wells, Reuters reports.

The subpoenas — issued by New York’s attorney general and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission — seek whether the firms accurately described how much gas their wells are likely to produce in the coming decades.

The investigation will be closely watched by the industry because the New York attorney general is using a New York law called the Martin Act, which gives broad power over businesses and allows an unusual amount of information to be obtained and publicly disclosed.

‘Legendary’ oilman Cy Wagner dies

Longtime Midland oilman Cy Wagner Jr. died Tuesday in Midland at the age of 77.

His survivors include his wife, Lissa Noël Wagner and their five children. Funeral services are pending.

Born and raised in Tulsa, Wagner earned a degree in geology from the University of Oklahoma and developed an extensive background in geologic work in the Permian Basin. In 1962, he and Jack Brown famously formed Wagner & Brown Ltd. on nothing more than a handshake, building the company into a successful privately held independent exploration and production company.

“Cy has been my partner in business and my best friend for almost 50 years,” said Brown in a statement. “He was a very astute businessman who was always thinking and planning on the next move before we had completed the effort before us — a true visionary. He was an outstanding geologist and businessman who had the uncanny ability to combine his knowledge and insight in bringing so many successes to Wagner & Brown. His planning and efforts will continue to be the foundation blocks for the future of Wagner & Brown. My prayers and deep love go to Cy’s dear family and friends.”

State Rep. Tom Craddick said in a statement, “Nadine and I are devastated by Cy’s passing and our thoughts and prayers go out to Lissa and the entire family, including his devoted staff at Wagner and Brown who he considered his extended family.

“Not only have we lost a dear friend, but Midland and the West Texas area have lost the most generous and selfless man who served as an inspiration to all around him. Cy’s legacy will include his success in oil and gas exploration and production, how he educated generations about the business he loved, and his leadership that modeled best practices in the industry. Most notably his legacy will also include Cy’s philanthropic spirit and ability to inspire others to give that will live on in Midland College, the (Wagner Noel) Performing Arts Center, the Petroleum Museum, the Advanced Technology Center, the Center for Energy and Economic Development (CEED), and throughout our entire community. Cy will be missed, but never forgotten.”

Ben Shepperd, president of the Permian Basin Petroleum Association, commented, “Everybody in the PBPA family and the oil and gas industry are deeply saddened. Cy was a true legend in the oil and gas industry and in the Permian Basin. He will be deeply missed. Our thoughts go out to the family.”

In the mid-1980s, Wagner and Brown drew national attention when they invested in T. Boone Pickens Jr.’s bids to acquire Gulf Corp., Phillips Petroleum and Unocal Corp.

“Cy was certainly a legendary oilman,” Pickens said in a statement. “He and Jack Brown found a lot of oil. But he didn’t just make money; he was generous with it as well, and a significant giver to the University of Oklahoma.”

Officials at the University of Texas of the Permian Basin also mourned Wagner’s passing. Through endowed scholarships, building donations and other offerings, the Wagners helped raise the profile of the school. His vision for West Texas was “a major impetus behind the construction of the CEED building, which has brought in over $30 million in federal and state grants since it opened, and serves as an important unifying force for Midland and Odessa,” according to a press release from UTPB.

School officials also credit the Wagners for their leadership during the fundraising campaign for the Wagner Noel Performing Arts Center.

UTPB President David Watts commented, “Cy Wagner was a giant in terms of his influence on West Texas. UTPB would not be the university it is today without the Wagner and Noel families’ generosity.  The spirit of the entire region has been lifted and Midland and Odessa are miles closer because Cy Wagner saw opportunities for building positive change.”

Wagner served on the board of visitors for the International Programs Center at the University of Oklahoma and on the Development Board of the University of Texas of the Permian Basin.

The business partners were named to the Petroleum Museum Hall of Fame in 1999 and were the 2010 Permian Basin International Oil Show Honorees.

Read more: ‘Legendary’ oilman Cy Wagner dies – Mywesttexas.com: Top 

Texas Groundwater Ownership Bill Signed into Law

A long-awaited groundwater ownership bill was signed into law by Texas Governor Rick Perry on June 20. SB 332, by State Senator Troy Fraser (R-Horseshoe Bay) and State Rep. Allan Ritter (R-Nederland), clarifies that landowners own the groundwater below their land as real property.

Landowner groups across Texas worked alongside members of the Texas Legislature to ensure that SB 332 was passed and made law.

SB 332 states, “The legislature recognizes that a landowner owns the groundwater below the surface of the landowner’s land as real property.”

The bill goes on to say that landowners are entitled to drill for and produce the groundwater below the surface of real property. SB 332 reaffirms this landowner ownership, but still allows local groundwater conservation districts the ability to manage the groundwater.

SB 332 will go into effect on September 1.

To read more, visit www.ntxe-news.com/artman/publish/article_70289.shtml

Transfer of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality’s (TCEQ’s) Surface Casing Program to Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC)

Article 2 of House Bill 2694, passed by the 82nd Texas Legislature and signed by the Governor, transferred from the TCEQ to the RRC duties relating to the protection of groundwater  resources from oil and gas associated activities.

Specifically, the law transfers from the TCEQ to the RRC, effective September 1, 2011, duties  pertaining to the responsibility of preparing groundwater protection advisory/recommendation letters. After the transfer, the RRC will be responsible for providing surface casing and/or groundwater protection recommendations for the following activities:

• Exploration, development, or production of oil & gas resources – new drilling, other drilling activities including, but not limited to, enhanced recovery injection wells, injection wells for brine mining, injection wells for underground storage of hydrocarbons, seismic exploration and cathodic protection wells, well integrity tests, plugging of abandoned wells, core holes, and micro-seismic boreholes;
• Subsurface disposal and injection of oil & gas waste – saltwater disposal wells; and
• Anthropogenic carbon dioxide injection wells and geologic storage facilities under the RRC’s jurisdiction.

The TCEQ and RRC staff are working cooperatively to facilitate the transfer, including transfer of staff to the RRC, no later than September 1, 2011.

TCEQ and RRC staff will make every effort to minimize disruptions to Surface Casing program customers and groundwater protection advisory letter applicants during the transition.

By the week of August 29th , the agencies expect to move the TCEQ’s surface casing staff to the RRC office, located in the William B. Travis Building, 1701 North Congress. Details on specific office location, as well as phone numbers, will be provided as those details are finalized. This notification will be updated periodically as necessary to provide updated information and guidance on changes that impact groundwater protection advisory letter applicants.

Please continue to submit applications for groundwater protection advisory letters to the TCEQ until further notice. If you have any questions pertaining to this notification, please contact the TCEQ’s Surface Casing Program at (512) 239-0515 or by electronic email at SC@tceq.texas.gov.

Warren Paul Davis, Geologist,

Warren Paul Davis died Wednesday, Aug. 25, 2011. Services will be at 11 a.m. Tuesday in Moore’s Southlawn Chapel, Tulsa and at 2 p.m. Wednesday in First Baptist Church, Sweetwater. Burial will be in Mulberry Cemetery in Sweetwater by Moore’s SouthLawn

Mr. Davis was born Jan. 26, 1955, in Shamrock to Waddell and Vina Davis. He graduated from Shamrock High School in 1973. He attended Panhandle State University in Goodwell and West Texas State University in Canyon, Texas, obtaining Bachelor of Science degrees in biology and geology. He married Kimberly Hagerman of Pampa on Aug. 19, 1978.

Originally employed by the city of Amarillo as a chemist/biologist, he returned to college and redirected his career into petroleum geology. Paul primarily worked the U.S. Mid-Continent and Rocky Mountain regions specializing in secondary recovery oil projects, but enjoyed some prospecting time in South America, southeast Asia and western Siberia.

He took advantage of Anadarko’s early retirement program, retiring from Kerr-McGee / Anadarko Petroleum in 2006. Formerly a member of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists and Tulsa Geological Society, he had belonged to numerous geological libraries and societies in Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas. At retirement he was a licensed geologist in Kansas and a licensed geoscientist in Texas.

A rock hound since childhood, he always felt fortunate to work in a field he thoroughly enjoyed. Similarly, Paul was very interested in paleontology, anthropology, archaeology and history. He was always on the hunt for another piece of Native American or Western art for his collection.

Of all his professional and avocational interests, none held more value to him than his family. Kim was an amazingly devoted wife and the love of his life. He adored and was incredibly proud of his three children. Paul held dear the time he spent with his family including activities in the Boy Scouts and Girls Scouts of America and their church.

Paul is survived by his wife of 33 years; three children, Michael of Tulsa, Matthew of Canyonand Holly of Amarillo, Texas; his father of Shamrock, Texas; two sisters, Debbie Townsent and husband Jerry of Amarillo, Texas, and Darla McDowell and husband Mark of Shamrock, Texas; grandmother, Mellie Stone of Burns Flat; two uncles; three aunts; seven nephews; three nieces, one great-nephew, four great-nieces and dozens of cousins.

The family suggest memorials be to St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital or other favorite charity.

Sign the online guest book at http://www.moorefuneral.com.

Amarillo Globe-News, Aug. 28, 2011