See our earlier moratoria study stories here, and here.

SNL Daily Gas Report, by Mark Hand.  Continued restrictions on industry access to oil and gas resources on federal lands could cost the United States more than $2.35 trillion in cumulative gross domestic product and nearly 13 million jobs through 2030, according to the results of a new study administered by the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners...On Feb. 15, members of the Moratoria Study Group discussed the report at NARUC's winter committee meetings in Washington, D.C. The members went to great lengths to tout the report's fairness and balance. Hamilton emphasized that the study resulted in "a very unbiased report," while Dave Harbour, moratoria study group vice chairman and a former regulatory commissioner from Alaska, said the report was "not colored by bias."John Broderick, moratoria study group official observer and senior economist at the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, said he considered the report "a very balanced work." He added: "It's not just an industry study." Bob Pickett (NGP Photo), chairman of the Regulatory Commission of Alaska and a moratoria study group participant, said that when he agreed to join the group, he initially thought "this has the potential to be controversial." But he said he ended up impressed with the study's dedication to the model used in its forecasts and with how the study considered the interests of businesses.

Alaska Dispatch by Rena Delbridge.  On Cook Inlet natural gas: "...years of massive tax credits for oil and gas production in Cook Inlet haven't gotten the state far. Production is on the decline and deliverability during peak times isn't a sure thing in Southcentral."

"After the Oil and Gas Moratoria Report...."

Notes From: Dave Harbour, reporting from Washington D.C.

 (See Related Stories Over the Next Week, latest)

Monday, a Study Group composed of regulatory commissioners, consultants, government and university economists and non-profit association sponsors met to deliver their energy research report, responding to a National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) resolution issued in July 2007 (our earlier story), entitled, "Developing Reliable Research Regarding the Social, Economic and Environmental Effects of Maintaining Domestic Energy Exploration and Production Moratoria On and Beneath Federal Lands."  The forum was NARUC's Winter Meeting in Washington D.C, 

The report (Executive Summary available here), increased government estimates of the U.S. domestic natural gas resource base from 1748 Trillion Cubic Feet (Tcf) to 2034 Tcf, and increased the estimate of crude oil resources from 186 billion barrels of oil (Bbo) to 229 Bbo.   It also revealed that the cost to American citizens of not developing resources could result in increased energy imports, increased gassoline, natural gas and electricity prices, along with decreased jobs, gross domestic product and family disposable income. 

Opening NARUC's Committee on Gas meeting last Monday, Chairman O'Neal Hamilton (NGP Photo, upper-l) reported on the over two-year-long effort undertaken to complete the research project envisioned by the organization's resolution.  He introduced your author, who as a commissioner emeritus served as the Study Group's volunteer vice chairman.  After hearing about the research process employed by the Study Group, the Gas Committee members received a briefing of the research results from Rick Irby (NGP Photo, above-r), of the Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC).  Irby, the study's project manager was supported by Jay Ratafia-Brown (NGP Photo below), the lead author and researcher..

Other Study Group participants gave individual perspectives about the value of the study to the country.  These included Jenny Fordham, Natural Gas Supply Association (NGP Photo-l) and her associate, David Murphy;  Chris McGill, American Gas Association (NGP Photo-r), John Broderick, Bureau of Land Management; Grace Soderberg, Edison Electric Institute; Regulatory Commission of Alaska Chairman Bob Pickett, Dr. Michelle Foss, of the University of Texas Center for Energy Economics, Bureau of Economic Geology; and David Holt, President of the Consumer Energy Alliance; Commissioner Emeritus Don Mason, Louie Binswanger, TECO.   

Wednesday, NARUC's board of directors adopted a resolution acknowledging completion of the almost 2-year long study.

Other reports:

Alaska Business Monthly: NARUC Gas Committee Receives Final Report Detailing Oil/Gas Moratoria Impacts 

Alaska Source Link.  NARUC receives final report....

Association of Corporate Counsel - Lexology -Dot- Com: A report issued by the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) concludes that continuing oil and natural gas exploration and production moratoria off the U.S. East Coast would likely have significant negative effects on the U.S. economy. The model used in the study predicts, among other things, that by 2030, U.S. crude oil production will decrease by 15% annually, oil imports from OPEC countries will increase 19%, and U.S. gross domestic product will decrease on average 0.52% each year. A copy of the report's executive summary can be foundhere. 

The American Gas Association (AGA) today (2-15-10) commended the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) for administering a study that closely examines the financial, social and environmental impacts of our nation’s oil and natural gas moratoria. 

Bloomberg News: Drilling Bans to Cost U.S. $2.36 Trillion, Industry Study Says (Note: This headline could be misleading; the study was initiated as a public interest project by the nation's regulatory commissioners who asked for and received financial and volunteer support from a variety of government and university experts along with private companies and non-profit associations.  -dh)  Another Bloomberg story by Daniel Whitten.

Colorado Springs Utilities.  Washington, DC – The American Gas Association (AGA) today commended the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) for administering a study that closely examines the financial, social and environmental impacts of our nation’s oil and natural gas moratoria. 

Congressman Bill Cassidy.  According to the NARUC study released Monday, maintaining the current moratoria on onshore and offshore energy production until 2030 will:

• Result in the loss of 13 million jobs in the energy economy
• Increase consumer energy costs by $2.35 trillion cumulatively
• Increase natural gas prices by 17 percent
• Increase electricity prices by 5 percent
• Increase gasoline prices by 3 percent
• Reduce Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by $2.36 trillion.
• Reduce domestic crude oil production by 9.9 billion barrels – an average annual decrease of nearly 15 percent
• Decrease domestic natural gas production by 46 Tcf – an average annual decrease of nearly 9 percent
• Increase imports from OPEC by 4.1 billion barrels, resulting in cumulative payments to OPEC of $607 billion.
• Increase natural gas imports by nearly 15.7 Tcf – an average annual increase of almost 75 percent.

Citizens for Growth Facebook.  New Study Reinforces Need to Responsibly Develop Domestic Energy Offshore Consumer group calls untapped domestic oil and gas resources “a game-changer” for the economy....

Consumer Energy Alliance.  America’s reliance on foreign countries for its energy will grow by 19 percent over the next 20 years, accelerating the transfer of U.S. wealth to members of OPEC by more than $600 billion. That’s just one of the startling conclusions found in a new report issued today by the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) at the group’s winter meeting in Washington – all, assuming a scenario in which policy-makers keep intact decades-old restrictions on accessing America’s abundant, available energy resources.

Craigs List - Sacramento.  What Did the Study Find?  If the Federal government never allows access to the lands previously under moratoria, the study projects, there will be fewer jobs, lower economic output, higher energy prices, more oil and natural gas imports, and larger outlays to the Organization of Petroleum Exporters (OPEC). Gross Domestic Product (GDP) will be $2.36 trillion less between 2009 and 2030, the study’s time horizon. That amounts to an average decrease of 0.52 percent annually in GDP.[v] Employment in energy intensive industries is projected to be almost 13 million jobs lower,[vi] at a time when we desperately need jobs in the United States to spur economic growth and consumer spending. 

E-Book. Gas Moratoria Report.

Elowonganpekerjaan, #8.  In July 2007, NARUC's Gas Committee and Board of Directors adopted a resolutionauthorizing the Association's participation in a public-private partnership to study the impact of existing moratoria against energy exploration and .... NARUC is a non-profitorganization founded in 1889 whose members include the governmental agencies that are engaged in the regulation of utilities and carriers in the fifty States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. ... http://offshore-oil-jobs.bompus.com/new-report-impacts-of-gas-moratoria/

Energy Assurance Daily.  A public/private Study Group commissioned by the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) reported February 15 the results of a two year study to determine the financial and environmental impacts of maintaining the moratoria restrictions on the development of offshore oil and gas resources in the United States.  The “Moratoria Study” used a Federal government modeling program relied upon by Congress and the Administration for analyzing the energy outlook under existing laws and projecting the impacts of new energy policy proposals.  

Energy Intelligence.  In a study released Monday, the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) said the economic impacts of maintaining the moratoria would be significant and would drag down US economic growth over the next two decades.

Fox News-Dow Jones by Ian Talley.  Although Congress lifted the official 30-year moratorium for drilling on many new areas off the U.S. coast, the administration has in principle maintained the moratorium by not opening new, unscheduled areas for development. The Interior Department under the Obama Administration has held several previously-scheduled lease sales and approved two Arctic exploration licenses for blocks the industry says may have great potential.  "Our research allows policy makers to know the extent of the resource base and the effects that maintaining the restrictions would have on the country," said O'Neal Hamilton, chairman of the NARUC study group that ordered the review.

Google Finance.  Restricted domestic production would lead to expanded oil and gas imports, "resulting in inferred increased domestic and global environmental effects associated with such imports," it noted. "The effect of maintaining domestic moratoria results in even greater domestic and global environmental effects associated with counterbalancing imports." 

Groundwork/IOGCC.  February 15, 2010 (Oil & Gas Journal) Continuing US offshore oil and gas leasing moratoriums from 2009 through 2030 would decrease US oil production by 9.9 billion bbl—or an average 15%/ year—and natural gas production by 46 tcf—or 9%/year—a study commissioned by the National Association of Regulatory Commissioners concluded. The study, which NARUC released on Feb. 15 during its 2010 winter meeting in Washington, DC, also predicted that US oil imports from members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries would climb by 4.1 billion bbl, or an average 19%/year, during 2009-30 if US offshore leasing bans continue. This would result in $607 billion more in payments to OPEC producers

IHS.  GS-1 - Developing Reliable Research Regarding the Social and Economic Costs of Maintaining Domestic Energy Exploration and Production Moratoria On and Beneath Federal Lands.  This resolution states that NARUC shall coordinate and participate with interested government, consumer, public policy, business and industry organizations to fashion for the president, Congress, and state policy makers a factual and useful study entitled: The Social, Economic and Environmental Effects on America's Citizens of Maintaining Moratoria On Domestic Energy Exploration and Production On and Beneath Federal Lands.

Inside Louisana News.  ...a new report from the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) demonstrating the economic and social economic benefits of domestic energy production.

Lexis-Nexis: Resolution Acknowledging Successful Completion of NARUC's July 18, 2007, Resolution Task Authorizing Development of, "Reliable Research Regarding the Social, Economic and Environmental Effects of Maintaining Domestic Energy Exploration and Production Moratoria On and Beneath Federal Lands"The resolution, upon recommendation of the Committee on Gas, accepts the research product in response to the July 18, 2007 Resolution; commends the Moratoria Study Group, NARUC Staff, SAIC and GTI for their combined efforts to fulfill the task set forth by the July 18, 2007 Resolution; and encourages broad distribution of the study results as specified in our original July 18, 2007 Resolution.

David Dismukes,  Advisor (2008). National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (“NARUC”). Study Committee on the Impact of Executive Drilling Moratoria on Federal Lands.

Doug Mood.  Currently serving on the NARUC study committee addressing the economic impacts of the Outer Continental Shelf Moratoria.  Oil and natural gas reserves in the OCS are enormous and the public and congress should have access to good, sound analyses of the economic impacts of this moratoria.

Doc Hastings.  According to the NARUC study, maintaining the current moratoria on both onshore and offshore energy production until 2030 will have the following projected impacts: Employment in energy intensive industries will decrease by nearly 13 million jobs. (Etc)

EnergyXXI.  Today, the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) released the findings of a comprehensive study that details the impacts of continued moratoria on exploration for oil natural gas.  The study was done by experts from Science Applied International Corporation (SAIC) and the Gas Technology Institute and sponsored by a variety of organizations, including the U.S. Chamber’s Institute for 21st Century Energy.  Christopher Guith (NGP Photo), vice president for policy at the Chamber’s Energy Institute, made the following statement regarding about the study’s findings: “The report released by NARUC today confirms the need to open up more areas for exploration of oil and natural gas.  The consequences of inaction are clear: higher energy prices, more imported oil, and stunted economic growth.  “The study brings to a close more than two years of work and establishes a reliable baseline of oil and gas resources available in the United States. There is much to be learned from it—for instance, it reveals that America has 16 percent more natural gas and 23% more oil reserves than previously estimated by the Department of Energy.

Fox News.  Although Congress lifted the official 30-year moratorium for drilling on many new areas off the U.S. coast, the administration has in principle maintained the moratorium by not opening new, unscheduled areas for development. The Interior Department under the Obama Administration has held several previously-scheduled lease sales and approved two Arctic exploration licenses for blocks the industry says may have great potential.  "Our research allows policy makers to know the extent of the resource base and the effects that maintaining the restrictions would have on the country," said O'Neal Hamilton, chairman of the NARUC study group that ordered the review.

Institute for 21st Century Energy.  Today, the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) released the findings of a comprehensive study that details the impacts of continued moratoria on exploration for oil natural gas.  The study was done by experts from Science Applied International Corporation (SAIC) and the Gas Technology Institute and sponsored by a variety of organizations, including the U.S. Chamber’s Institute for 21st Century Energy.

Institute for Energy.  The National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) has just released a study that looks at what these additional oil and natural gas resources would accomplish in those areas.[i] NARUC commissioned Science Applications International Corp. (a consulting and modeling company) and the Gas Technology Institute (a natural gas consulting group) to perform the study.[ii] Although the study was sponsored by electric utilities and oil and natural gas companies,[iii] its reviewers included administration officials in the Department of Energy, the Energy Information Administration, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and the Bureau of Land Management.[iv]

IPAA Washington Report.  Also developing from the NARUC meeting was the release of a detailed report on the economic andproduction impacts of continued federal onshore and offshore moratoria through 2030. IPAA is a sponsor of the study.  According to NARUC, the study "results determined that maintaining traditional energy exploration and production moratoria on federal lands would result in an alternative domestic energy future that, '...increases the cost and restricts the availability of domestic oil products and natural gas...' in all economic sectors and regions of the country."

Jewish Blogging.  SAIC’s NEMS-NARUC model results determined that maintaining traditional energy exploration and production moratoria on Federal lands would result in an alternative domestic energy future that, “…increases the cost and restricts the availability of domestic oil products and natural gas…” in all economic sectors and regions of the country.  

Lexis-Nexis.  "The previous Administration and Congress removed oil and gas moratoria on public lands over one year ago, but required actions to access the energy resources thought to exist there have not been taken," said O'Neal Hamilton, chairman of the study group and commissioner for the Public Service Commission of South Carolina. "Our research allows policy makers to know the extent of the resource base and the effects that maintaining the restrictions would have on the country. Our public interest work is dedicated to giving decision makers information upon which they can rely in developing America's national energy policy."   ...   On Feb. 15, members of the Moratoria Study Group discussed the report at NARUC's winter committee meetings in Washington, D.C. The members went to great lengths to tout the report's fairness and balance. Hamilton emphasized that the study resulted in "a very unbiased report," while Dave Harbour, moratoria study group vice chairman and a former regulatory commissioner from Alaska, said the report was "not colored by bias."John Broderick, moratoria study group official observer and senior economist at the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, said he considered the report "a very balanced work." He added: "It's not just an industry study." Bob Pickett, chairman of the Regulatory Commission of Alaska and a moratoria study group participant, said that when he agreed to join the group, he initially thought "this has the potential to be controversial." But he said he ended up impressed with the study's dedication to the model used in its forecasts and with how the study considered the interests of businesses

Master Resource, by Dave Harbour.  At the NARUC Winter Meeting in Washington D.C. last week, a Study Group composed of regulatory commissioners, consultants, government and university economists, and non-profit association sponsors released their energy research report: ANALYSIS OF THE SOCIAL, ECONOMIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECTS OF MAINTAINING OIL AND GAS EXPLORATION AND PRODUCTION MORATORIA ON AND BENEATH FEDERAL LANDS (Assessment of the Combined Relative Impacts of Maintaining Moratoria and Increased Domestic Onshore and Offshore Oil and Gas Resource Estimates).

National Journal by Chuck Gray (NGP Photo).  NARUC strongly supports improved energy efficiency as the first option forachieving greater energy security, but conservation alone will not be enough to address anticipated demand. To become truly energy independent, Congress and the Obama Administration will need to keep all options on the table—efficiency, renewables, fossil fuels, natural gas, and nuclear. All of these fuels have domestic components, and all must be considered if we are going to wean ourselves from inhospitable foreign energy sources.  Over the past several years, NARUC has endorsed calls for lifting the Outer Continental Shelf moratorium in an environmentally and economically responsible fashion. 

Northern Gas Pipelines, by Dave Harbour.

OCS Advisory Board Presentation, Dr. Michelle Foss (NGP Photo).  Slides 11-13.

Oil and Gas Journal.  WASHINGTON, DC, Feb. 25 -- US Rep. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) urged House Natural Resources Committee leaders to schedule hearings on the economic costs of continued delays in offshore oil and gas development a week after the first major report on the subject was released. 

Oil Daily.  In a study released Monday, the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) said the economic impacts of maintaining the moratoria would be significant and would drag down US economic growth over the next two decades.

Offshore Energy Law Blog (by Jacob Dweck, David L. Wochner, Benjamin Norris).  A report issued by the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) concludes that continuing oil and natural gas exploration and production moratoria off the U.S. East Coast would likely have significant negative effects on the U.S. economy.  The model used in the study predicts, among other things, that by 2030, U.S. crude oil production will decrease by 15% annually, oil imports from OPEC countries will increase 19%, and U.S. gross domestic product will decrease on average 0.52% each year.  A copy of the report's executive summary can be found here.

Offshore Oil Jobs.  WASHINGTON, February 15, 2007, 11a.m.- A public/private Study Group today reported to the nation’s State utility regulators in Washington that its research has identified trillions of dollars of impacts resulting from updated domestic oil and gas resource projections and decisions to maintain moratoria restrictions against development of America’s oil and gas resources.

Peak Oil News, #15.  The U.S. economy could lose trillions of dollars in income and see oil imports increase if the Obama administration maintains a moratorium on domestic petroleum development in new areas, a new report warns. The study was co-commissioned by the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners, or NARUC, and the oil and natural gas industry. It comes as the Department of the Interior is re-writing the administration's plans on where, when and if it will allow new exploration around the country, particularly in the Outer Continental Shelf. It also follows an email last fall from a top Interior Department official indicating that public comments ran two-to-one in favor of a Bush administration plan to expand offshore drilling.

Pennenergy.  The American Gas Association (AGA) commended the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) for administering a study that closely examines the financial, social and environmental impacts of our nation’s oil and natural gas moratoria.

Petroleum News Alaska, by Alan Baily (NGP Photo).  In 2008, faced with energy security issues and soaring oil prices, President Bush and the U.S. Congress eliminated some decades-long moratoria on oil and gas development in huge tracts of federal offshore and onshore territory. But in a continuing debate over whether oil and gas exploration should in fact be sanctioned in any of this erstwhile closed land, just what is the nature of the trade-off between the economic benefits of oil and gas production and the environmental impacts of oil and gas development?  In an attempt to attach some solid data to the development side of the trade-off balancing act, the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners instituted a study....

Press Release Point: CHICAGO-A broad-based Study Group briefed the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners Gas Committee today on a three-year effort to design and execute a research project to determine the social, economic and environmental effects/costs of not developing America's oil and gas resources.

Rigzone by Ian Talley.  The U.S. economy could lose trillions of dollars in income and see oil imports increase if the Obama administration maintains a moratorium on domestic petroleum development in new areas, a new report warns.

SCRIBD: The Executive Summary.

SNL.  "NARUC's Gas Committee Receives Update on 'Moratoria' Study" ... 10/30/2007 NGSA joinsNARUC study assessing impact of energy exploration moratoriums ...

Solve Climate Dot Com.  According to the vice-chair of the NARUC study group, Dave Harbour, the hope is that this new analysis might play a role in the Obama administration’s decisions on whether or not to open up some restricted lands to new drilling operations. President Bush officially lifted the decades-old moratoria in 2008, but the new administration has yet to allow new projects to move forward. ... Harbour, the former regulatory commissioner of Alaska and vice-chair of the study group, says that the NARUC report is not making a judgment on amounts of oil but is simply showing that it is better to burn domestically produced oil and gas than fuels produced elsewhere.

“All I’m saying is that lawmakers have to consider whether or not they want to continue exporting dollar bills and jobs to bring in that barrel or they want to bring in that barrel from here,” he says. “That doesn’t mean that in general we’ll burn more oil, it just means we’ll burn more domestic oil.”

Supply Chain Brain: Two years of research conducted by a public/private study group and administered by the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners has identified trillions of dollars in impacts that would result from maintaining certain restrictions on development of America’s oil and gas resources.

Targeted News Service.  A broad-based Study Group briefed the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners Gas Committee today on a three-year effort to design and execute a research project to determine the social, economic and environmental effects/costs of not developing America's oil and gas resources.

Texas Gas Association.  AGA Commends New NARUC-Administered Study on Oil & Gas Moratoria

The Lid: oil-and-gas drilling bans will raise consumer energy costs and decrease cumulative U.S. GDP by $2.36 trillion over the next two decades (full report below). That’s an average annual GDP drop of roughly.5%, it will also result in $4,400 average loss in real disposal income. The report, presented to nation’s State utility regulators in Washington has identified trillions of dollars of impact resulting from President Obama's strategy of continued reliance on foriegn oil.

Twitter-NARUC.  NARUC Gas Committee Receives Final Report Detailing Oil/Gas Moratoria Impacts www.naruc.org/?pr=183

U.S. Hour (Dow Jones).  Although Congress lifted the official 30-year moratorium for drilling on many new areas off the U.S. coast, the administration has in principle maintained the moratorium by not opening new, unscheduled
areas for development.  “Our research allows policy makers to know the extent of the resource base and the effects
that maintaining the restrictions would have on the country,” said O’Neal Hamilton, chairman of the NARUC study group that
ordered the review.

Western Business Roundtable.  A public/private Study Group reported to the nation’s State utility regulators that its research has identified trillions of dollars of impacts resulting from updated domestic oil and gas resource projections and decisions to maintain moratoria restrictions against development of America’s oil and gas resources.

 (MORE NARUC MEETING PHOTOS BELOW: MORATORIA REPORT, COMMISSIONERS EMERITUS AND GENERAL PHOTOS)

NARUC, WASHINGTON D.C., FEBRUARY 2010, GAS COMMITTEE MORATORIA REPORT PHOTOS (Full resolution photos available):

Jay Ratafia-Brown, SAIC

Hannah Northey, Argus Media

John W. Broderick, Moratoria Study Group Observer, Sr. Economist, US Bureau of Land management, Minerals and Realty Management.

Dr. Michelle Foss, of the University of Texas Center for Energy Economics, Bureau of Economic Geology 

 David Holt, President, Consumer Energy Alliance

NARUC Gas Committee and Commissioners Emeritus Photos from the conference ..............

1.  Commissioners Emeritus Luncheon:

2.  Gas Committee Photos:

Jim Mulva of ConocoPhillips said: “Jim Bowles (COP Photo-l; NGP Photo-r) has led our Alaska organization and its some 900 employees since late 2004 and presided over a number of developments that ensured our company’s place and standing in Alaska and will serve as a legacy to his leadership as we go forward.”    *      ADN by Kyle Hopkins.  State troopers are watching the weather for a chance to return to the scene of an avalanche that killed Conoco Phillips Alaska President Jim Bowles and left another Conoco worker missing Saturday on the Kenai Peninsula.   *    KTUU.  Officials mourn Bowles' passing.   *    UPI.     *     Forbes