The American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) Wednesday applauded the US House passage of a bill allowing states to continue to make their own decisions about the regulation of shale oil and gas production. Thomas J. Gibson, president and CEO of AISI, said that H.R. 2728, the Protecting States' Rights to Promote American Energy Security Act which passed by a vote of 235-187, would maintain state predominance in the regulation of shale oil and gas production--which the steel industry supports.
"The discovery and production of shale-based oil and natural gas is leading to significant investment, plant expansions and job creation in manufacturing sectors across the US economy--including in steel," said Gibson. "Expanded production of affordable natural gas is providing markets for steel pipe and tube products that are essential to the production and transmission of oil and natural gas, and the steel industry is also developing new options and technologies for the production of steel that maximize the use of natural gas. Keeping up the momentum on this resource is critical in enabling international competitiveness for our industry," said Gibson.
Gibson said the shale and natural gas renaissance is being threatened by proposed new federal regulations, which would add federal Bureau of Land Management lands rules on hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling to many existing current state regulations.
"These new federal regulations would be a one-size-fits-all approach that hinder the economic and energy benefits we are seeing from shale oil and gas production. By allowing state-based approaches, the economic and energy benefits from domestic shale resources will continue to be realized," he concluded.