Saturday 7 May 2011

Think tank ranks Colorado least attractive state for oil, gas investment - Baltimore Business Journal:

moffaiqohegesa1490.blogspot.com
The latest survey was issued June 24. It’as been conducted annually for three yearss by the Fraser Institutein Calgary, Canada. Arizona was left off the list for lackof information. The surveyg ranks states as well asother countries. The first in 2007, ranked Colorado at the top of the list of placez executives considered positively for oil and gas By 2008, the state’s ranking had fallen to No. 52 out of 81 locatione around the world. The June 2008 surveyg said executives had grown wary ofthe state’s effortds to tighten rules governing oil and gas operationsz here. The new rules took effecft April 1.
This year, the surveg received 577 responses and covered 143 jurisdictions around the Coloradoranked No. 81, below California and and above the Canadian province of Newfoundlandd and Labrador and the nationof Greenland. All three surveye by the institute solicitedanonymoue responses. According to the institute’s the 10 most attractive jurisdictions for investment this according tothe survey, are: Arkansas, Kansas, Austria, Mississippi, South Dakota, Texas, Oklahoma, and The 10 least attractive jurisdictions for investmen t are Bolivia, Niger, Venezuela, Ecuador, Russia, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Kazakhstan and Ethiopia.
Respondentd ranked provinces, states and countries by investment barriers such as high tax costlyregulatory schemes, and security threats, among other factors. Scoresx were based on the proportion of negatives responsd ajurisdiction received; the greater the proportionh of negative responses, the greater the perceived investmentg barriers and therefore the lowerf the jurisdiction ranked, accordingg to the survey report. The report said investors listed several reasons for shifting investmentse toother areas, ranging from high tax labor shortages, or costly and time-consuming regulations.
The surveh quoted an unnamed executive saying thatin “operational, legal, and air quality rules and regulations are beinfg instituted at a dizzying It is hard to keep up with as an Most of the regulators instituting and enforcinf these new rules have little or no experiencwe in the industry and do not understandx operations. Often they cannot answer questionsor help, even with theit own rules.” Colorado’s new oil and gas regulatione were backed by Gov.
Bill Ritter and environmental groupa as needed toprotecft Colorado’s wildlife, environment and public health The new rules have been opposed by industrg executives, who have said they will raise the costse of operating in Colorado. “This study demonstrateas the harsh reality of an inconsistentregulatory regime, and thesre numbers run contrary to the belier of some policy makers that Colorado’s energy industry will grow no matter the constraints placed upon said Meg Collins, president of the Coloradpo Oil & Gas in a statement.
But Theo Stein, spokesma for the Colorado Department ofNatural Resources, which overseese the agency that regulates oil and gas pointed to Colorado investments by big energ companies such as interested in gettinv at the state’s natural gas. ExxonMobil announced June 22 it had doublef its natural gas processing capacity on the Western Slope and plannedr to drill more wells in the area over the nextseverao years. “Actions speak louder than words,” Stein “Some of the largest Northn American and global energy companieas are busy working and investingin Colorado’s future. They are planninvg to be here producing clean-burning natural gas for But state Rep.
Frank McNulty, R-Highlands Ranch, said companiesz like ExxonMobil have the money needee to complywith Colorado’s new rules. “They can absorb the higherf costs of production that are associatecd with the oil and gas McNulty said. “But what the Ritterd administration has done is pricedc outthe mid- and small-level companies that were lookiny to do business in Colorado.” The Fraser Institute is a thinkm tank and research center that advocates “a free and prosperous worlxd through choice, markets and responsibility.” .

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