Ohio Oil and Gas Association Releases Community Sustainability Report

Youngstown Business Journal.  The Ohio Oil and Gas Association released its inaugural Community Impact and Sustainability Report, providing data on how technological advances have reduced the industry’s impact on the environment and given back to communities.According to the report, exploration of eastern Ohio’s Utica shale has fueled an increase in oil and gas production across the state while cutting emissions of greenhouse gases.In 2018, for example, the state produced 15 times more natural gas compared to 1990. During the same period, the industry reduced carbon dioxide emissions by 15%.Moreover, OOGA member companies have used new technology to better monitor methane, “with many producers falling well below the .28% goal the OneFuture Coalition has set to limit methane emissions from production operations.”Ascent Resources, the report cites, reduced its methane and greenhouse gas intensities by 20% during 2021. Other environmental efforts include oil and gas companies engaging in wetlands conservation, tree planting initiatives, and water-sharing programs.The report also highlights OOGA members’ commitment to community programs in 2021 such as a $50,000 fundraising effort for the Toys For Tots Foundation, COVID-19 mask and sanitization distribution to emergency management agencies, and road use management agreements.Also, OOGA members have paid nearly $850 million in taxes that go directly to local government and schools.“More than 208,000 people work in our industry every day,” Robert Brundrett, president of the Ohio Oil & Gas Association, wrote in the report. “It is important to understand how our members are evolving in a changing landscape. Our work to improve never stops and our member companies never stop improving.”On the education front, OOGA reports that it has invested more than $23 million in educational programs and outreach through its Ohio Oil and Gas Energy Education Program and the Ohio Oil and Gas Energy Education Foundation since 1998. It has invested more than $5.9 million in these programs since 2017.“The report not only reflects the last 10 years of shale development, it looks forward by showing what our member companies are doing and will continue to do to be good stewards of the land, the environment and strong active community partners,” OOGA spokesman Mike Chadsey said. “The last decade has been exciting but the best is yet to come as we learn every day how important a robust domestic energy sector is to our daily lives.”Click here to view the original article.