February 2020, Vol. 247, No. 2
Features
NPC Offers Improvements to Regulations
The National Petroleum Council (NPC) released a report focusing on pipeline permitting solutions, which suggests the regulatory process for infrastructure needs to be simplified to eliminate redundancies.
“Dynamic Delivery: America’s Evolving Oil and Natural Gas Transportation Infrastructure” focuses on methods to cut down on bottlenecks hampering U.S. energy supplies, which are increasingly in demand to global and domestic users.
“Unfortunately, as this report points out, too many infrastructure projects are being delayed or even blocked by unpredictable permitting processes – projects that could deliver more clean-burning and affordable fuel to millions of households,” Interstate Natural Gas Association of America (INGAA) President and CEO Don Santa said. “If we are to maintain America’s role as a global energy leader, we must continue to invest in energy infrastructure.”
In addition to regulatory-related suggestions, the report highlights technological innovations that can improve safety and reliability, as well as reduce the environmental impact of oil and natural gas transportation infrastructure.
Among the report’s key findings:
- Even in energy scenarios designed to meet climate change targets, the largest energy sources to provide reliable and affordable energy continue to be oil and natural gas through at least 2040.
- Several critical infrastructure bottlenecks exist: natural gas pipeline access to New England and New York, the Port of Houston channel capacity, and oil and natural gas export capability.
- Increased natural gas use to replace coal and generate electricity has been the single-largest contributor to reducing U.S. CO2 emissions by 15% since 2005.
Successful infrastructure projects depend on early, effective and continuous stakeholder engagement and collaboration.
The study, in total, covers 600 pages, so it is not a quick read, but key findings can be found in a 50-page executive study. The NPC study can be downloaded at https://dynamicdelivery.npc.org/.
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