Good news, bad news

March 22, 2004
In the day-to-day job of covering news about the oil and natural gas industry, OGJ editors happen upon stacks of news tidbits that, although important in their own right, will not likely receive a drop of ink in Oil & Gas Journal.

In the day-to-day job of covering news about the oil and natural gas industry, OGJ editors happen upon stacks of news tidbits that, although important in their own right, will not likely receive a drop of ink in Oil & Gas Journal.

This is because OGJ news staffers meticulously comb through daily industry happenings to present OGJ's readership with only those stories that will most affect their business decisions while shedding some analytical light on the industry.

A modest portion of the news that does reach OGJ's printed page reveals the darker side of industry, a.k.a., the bad news. Examples of these stories include the occasional crude oil spill, refinery explosion, or well blowout that can have damaging effects on the environment and sometimes even take peoples' lives.

Amid such reports of disastrous incidents, however, are a smattering of news releases that, if not of stop-the-presses importance, herald more-positive events—enter, the good news.

Having written a fair amount of the "bad" type of news for OGJ, this writer would like to devote what remains of this space to some recently accumulated if unheralded "good news" stories.

Texas cleanup

Texas Railroad Commissioner Michael L. Williams reported earlier this month that the commission had authorized $2.8 million in funding for its largest and most costly site remediation effort to date in the state's inventory of candidates for state-funded cleanup of orphaned oil production facilities: the 10 acre Manvel Saltwater Disposal site in Manvel, Tex., southwest of Houston.

Prior TRC orders were ignored for cleanup of the commercial mud and saltwater disposal facility, which was closed in the mid-1980s.

The commission also approved three applications for nonpoint-source grants from the US Environmental Protection Agency that could result in funding for the plugging of more than 200 abandoned wells near environmentally impaired bodies of water across Texas.

"We have broadened our scope of potential funding sources in order to increase the number of sites and wells we are able to address," Williams said. "This allows us to act more quickly in areas that may have been impacted by oil and gas production."

If awarded, the commission would utilize the requested $2.185 million to plug 215 wells.

Energy-to-food

Earlier this month, the Community Food Sharing Association (CFSA), St. John's, Newf., reported the receipt of $80,000 (Can.) and 45,000 lb of food through the 2004 Oil & Gas Industry Food Drive. The year's drive, which was themed "Putting Energy into Food," was aided by participants from all sectors of the province's oil and gas industry, including project operators, major global contractors, local service and supply companies, and industry associations such as the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers.

In its third year to assist CFSA in its drive, the oil and gas industry "overwhelmed" Eg Walters, CFSA general manager, with its "creativity, energy, and generosity" in coming up with ways to raise money for the association.

"Industrious" approaches to raising money included concession sales, "jailing and bailing" managers, and running in frigid weather.

Walters said, "This food can truly make a difference during this time in the year when food banks stocks are historically low. The food is shipped to food banks throughout the province. Every dollar is used to leverage up to $65 in food."

The province of Newfoundland and Labrador has the highest per capita use of food banks in Canada at 3.58%. Nearly 40% of the people fed through CFSA are under age 18.

Charitable source

Suncor Energy Foundation (SEF), the corporate donation arm of Suncor Energy Inc., Calgary, reported the donation of $5.3 million to 300 charitable organizations during 2003. The total was the foundation's largest annual contribution to date and an increase of 18% over 2002's total.

Since 1998, SEF has donated more than $20 million to surrounding communities, said Sue Lee, Suncor senior vice-president, human resources and communications, and SEF president.

Suncor Energy allocates a minimum of 1% of average domestic pretax profits to SEF and community contributions each year.

In 2003, SEF focused its donations in three areas: environmental initiatives, education in science and technology, and communities. Beneficiary Canadian charitable organizations included Northern Lights Regional Health Foundation, Alberta Conservation Association, Banff Centre for Continuing Education, and Inn of the Good Shepherd.

News 'punch'

Although not necessarily carrying the same journalistic punch as their "bad news" counterparts, these stories serve as anecdotal evidence that industry and social and environmental consciousness can, in fact, harmoniously exist within the same sentence.