Commissioner Philip N. Asprodites met with his Texas counterpart, Charles Matthews, Chairman of the Texas Railroad Commission, in January to discuss the current status of the oil and gas industry. The Office of Conservation and the Texas Railroad Commission regulate the oil and gas industries in their respective states. Commissioner Asprodites and Chairman Matthews discussed possible severance tax relief on oil production when the price drops below a certain level. Commissioner Asprodites supports the proposal of the Louisiana Independent Oil and Gas Association that would redefine incapable wells as stripper wells when oil prices fall below fifteen dollars a barrel, thereby suspending the collection of severance taxes on incapable wells. The fiscal impact of such a freeze would be less than three million dollars to the state treasury.

The Department of Natural Resources is continuing with its efforts in assisting oil and gas exploration and production companies in bringing their operations back on line and getting fuel flowing. The Department’s Office of Conservation is currently in the process of contacting 126 operators with producing wells in a 17-parish region for information regarding the status of their production operations.

The Louisiana Department of Natural Resources (DNR) will hold a two-day Oil and Gas Seminar on Sept. 13-14 in New Orleans at the Windsor Court Hotel. The seminar will be attended by employees of oil and gas companies from Louisiana, Texas, Oklahoma, and Mississippi.

According to a recently completed report by the LSU Center for Energy Studies, Louisiana realizes close to a billion dollars in economic activity associated with oil and gas drilling and production activities on state-owned leases. The report, entitled Analysis of the Economic Impact Associated with Oil and Gas Activities on State Leases, examines the economic, tax, and revenue impacts associated with companies that lease land and water bottoms from the state.

The state Department of Natural Resources (DNR) will hold an “Oil and Gas in Louisiana: From SONRIS to Sunset” seminar in New Orleans on September 22-23.