Oklahoma companies part of natural gas group

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By MURRAY EVANS

Associated Press Writer

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- More than 30 independent natural gas producers have formed an alliance to foster more public awareness about the role of the fossil fuel in the nation's energy future.

The American Natural Gas Alliance is based in Reston, Va. It consists of members that collectively provide about 8 trillion cubic feet of natural gas per year -- about 40 percent of the U.S. natural gas supply -- and is "adding members every day," said its president, Rod Lowman.

The alliance will include at least three Oklahoma City-based companies: Chesapeake Energy Corp., Devon Energy Corp. and SandRidge Energy Inc.

Natural gas "is just not as visible as it needs to be as part of the energy discussion," Lowman said. "People take it for granted. We want to make them aware that it's abundant."

Lowman cited President Barack Obama's State of the Union speech on Tuesday, in which Obama discussed energy "but did not mention natural gas. To me that was a huge gap, something that we want to make sure does not occur in the future. We want to make people sure that natural gas has a vital role in this nation's energy future."

Chesapeake's senior vice president for corporate development, Tom Price Jr., said the alliance was formed after initial discussions between the leaders of seven companies -- Chesapeake, Devon, Plains Exploration & Production Co. of Houston, Southwestern Energy Co. of Houston, Newfield Exploration Co. of Houston, Anadarko Petroleum Corp. of The Woodlands, Texas and Questar Corp. of Salt Lake City.

"It has the potential to be an effective advocacy group for natural gas," Price said.

The work of the alliance would follow similar efforts undertaken in recent months by billionaire energy magnate T. Boone Pickens and Chesapeake.

Pickens, an Oklahoma native, continues to travel across the nation promoting his "Pickens Plan" for U.S. energy independence, part of which encourages the use of natural gas in heavy transport vehicles, such as tractor-trailers and buses.

In a campaign dubbed "CNG Now," Chesapeake Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Aubrey McClendon appeared in television ads encouraging the across-the-board usage of natural gas-powered vehicles, including passenger vehicles.

While agreeing with the long-term goals of those initiatives, Lowman said the alliance's efforts "will be focused at broader audiences."

"We need to be out there now talking about natural gas as a light bridge fuel to the future," he said. "Certainly everyone supports wind power and solar power, but when the wind doesn't blow and the sun doesn't shine, you've got to have a way to produce power."

While the vision of a so-called "green" economy "is good, the reality of getting from here to there is you're going to need a good diversity of power sources," one of which is natural gas, he said.

Lowman recently served as the president of the Abundant Forests Alliance and earlier worked with the American Plastics Council and the American Chemistry Council.

David Trice, the president and CEO of Newfield Exploration, will be the alliance's chairman.

Chesapeake's portfolio is almost entirely natural gas, while Devon's is about 60 percent natural gas and 40 percent oil, Devon spokesman Chip Minty said.

He said promoting the use of natural gas "makes a lot of sense for this country right now as we try to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions. ... We've barely tapped its potential as a transportation fuel."