Successfully advocating on behalf of America’s oil and natural gas producers for more than 80 years, the Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA) continues to stand as primary voice for American exploration and production as another decade rolls over. The IPAA is driven and led by a robust membership of over 5,000 producers and service companies, who along with an experienced, award-winning staff earn and maintain the Association’s strong reputation year-in and year-out. Ratified in 1929 following a presidentially mandated conference on petroleum conservation management, the IPAA has grown from a small group of oil operators, royalty owners and landowners into the foremost industry advocate, working alongside several dozen national, state and regional associations to assure networking opportunities, coordinate investment possibilities and facilitate the effortless exchange of educational materials and information on the nation’s vital and homegrown production of oil and natural gas resources. Leading the way for the industry in Washington and in the national media, the IPAA has, in the closing months of 2009, established a set of core policy initiatives and laid an impressive amount of groundwork to close the past year in a positive direction and prepare for 2010. These efforts have been guided by a volunteer board of directors and leadership structure that IPAA President and CEO Barry Russell believes has resulted into one of the “strongest, most unified voices for the industry in Washington, D.C.” Russell has been an integral part of the Association for the past 30 years, serving in various capacities until being named president in March 2000. Working closely with the Association’s regional directors and board of directors, Russell is quick, though, to also point towards the IPAA’s executive leadership for its fundamental role in guiding the IPAA’s policies, voice, and success. Leading the dynamic set of leadership the Association enjoys is Chairman Bruce Vincent who, alongside Vice Chairman Gigi Lazenby, began his two-year term last November. Previously serving as IPAA vice chairman, Vincent, president of Swift Energy Company, brings a focus on media relations to his new role – a focus that has become pressing as energy issues continue to rise on the national conscience and one that compliments well the bolstered efforts by the IPAA’s staff in Washington – on Capitol Hill and with the administration. Led by Russell, Vincent and Lazenby, the IPAA’s efforts are now focused on four core policy areas. In consideration of the actions and posturing by Congress and the Administration over the past year, and with respect to the points most vital to the sustained success of the industry, IPAA has committed itself to the matters of energy taxes, regulatory issues (particularly hydraulic fracturing and climate change issues), increased oversight and regulation of the financial markets, and access to future markets and market share for oil and natural gas. The Obama administration initially targeted the oil and gas industry for massive tax hikes last February, offering a $31.5 billion tax increase on American oil and gas producers in its initial budget draft proposal. This threat grew to include almost every single industry tax incentive and cost recovery mechanism. Items selected for elimination have included: intangible drilling costs; percentage depletion; the Marginal Well Tax Credit; the Enhanced Oil Recovery Credit; amortization of G&G Costs; a new Gulf of Mexico production tax; the Manufacturers Tax Deduction; Passive Loss Exception; repeal of the deduction for tertiary injectants; changing LIFO to FIFO inventory valuation; and changing the treatment of dual capacity taxpayers. Though the list is intimidating for the IPAA and its allies, for nearly a year the Association has aggressively opposed the tax proposals and worked to educate lawmakers about their consequences to America’s independent producers. Successfully kept at bay in 2009, tax threats to the industry remain on the table in 2010, and the IPAA has pledged not to relent in its efforts, realizing that with the massive deficits the U.S. government now faces tax increases of some sort will likely be on the horizon. The industry also faces well-funded “anti-development” organizations’ efforts with aims to compromise the drilling and completion techniques that have enhanced and improved energy development for decades. With this in mind the IPAA has strengthened its education work on Capitol Hill to help lawmakers better understand that the current regulatory environment for exploration and production techniques, such as hydraulic fracturing, have been effectively regulated by the states for 60 years. “Finding success with the IPAA-led coalition Energy In Depth, and its state of the art Web site and communications outreach program, the industry has established a strong voice with Congress and in the media on hydraulic fracturing, and have kept misguided legislation to mandate federal regulation and require chemical disclosure from advancing further in the US House and Senate,” says Russell. “Thanks in large part to the aggressive education efforts of Energy In Depth, Congress is beginning to understand the importance of shale gas in America, and how shale can change the future of U.S. energy supply. This progress is essential to not only issues related to hydraulic fracturing, but also in the face of other regulatory threats and the looming continuation of climate change debate and legislation, a very important position from which to frame the importance of oil and natural gas production in the nation’s future energy supply.” The IPAA has also become more involved lately with the matter of increased oversight and regulation of the financial markets. Over the past year, and dating back even to the emergence of the economic crisis in 2008, Congress has looked for ways to provide greater transparency and oversight of the financial markets, including the over-the-counter (OTC) markets. This is an important tool for America’s oil and natural gas producers, and a proposal that would significantly change the nature of the industry. Legislation remains pending on this matter, and the IPAA is prepared to see this issue carry out well into 2010. The fourth priority for the IPAA in the year ahead is one that Vincent acknowledges is “perhaps more comprehensive than perhaps the others, but deals with the crucial issue of access to future markets and oil and natural gas’ share of these markets.” “While it is easy to get lost in the intricacies of energy policy debates, at the heart of the matter is almost always a battle over future market share,” said Vincent at last year’s Annual Meeting. “Multiple sources of energy have entered into a worldwide battle for market share – solar, wind, coal, nuclear, biofuels, geothermal, oil and natural gas, among others. These players all want as much of the future market as they can get and are each determined to direct policy initiatives that favor their own ends. Over the next two years, the IPAA has made it a priority to differentiate oil and natural gas from the rest of the energy resources available.” As it has since its inception in 1929, IPAA recognizes in 2010 its essential role on behalf of independent producers to stake the industry’s claim and help policymakers realize the critical role oil and natural gas will play. Domestic oil and natural gas power the American economy by creating jobs and revenue, strengthening national security, creating a cleaner environment and greatly reducing our dependence on foreign sources of energy. And with critical leadership roles established and an experienced Washington staff prepared and focused for the year ahead, the IPAA appears once again poised to lead the industry forward in the following months and indeed the decade ahead.