AOGCC considers regulation change

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The Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission is considering a change to its regulations that would require companies to inform the commission before installing or altering certain equipment used for measuring volumes of produced gas and fluids.

The change grew out of a series of incidents across both the North Slope and Cook Inlet basins in recent years where AOGCC inspectors found existing metering systems that did not conform to the agency’s standards. The commission ultimately ordered them to be replaced.

At a hearing on Jan. 13, representatives from the Alaska Oil and Gas Association, a trade organization representing most of the oil industry, expressed some concern that the language of the change might be too broad, and lead to “inadvertent non-compliance.”

Of particular concern was whether the change might accidentally include well testing equipment. Some concern also centered around the changing nature of oil development on the North Slope, where independents are now renting space in existing infrastructure.

During the hearing, industry representatives and the AOGCC commissioners discussed the ambiguities in the proposed changes, but ultimately left the language untouched.

There is no statutory timeline for the commission to issue a final ruling on the changes.

—Eric Lidji