Speakers for Spring programs in Dallas, Fort Worth and Houston will be announced soon. Ames stresses that the subject may sound dry, but it is not to be missed. HECI v . State Petroleum Issues Committee Chairman Scott L. Anderson is pleased that his Committee's Jan. 17 session will feature Dean Ernest Smith of the University of Texas Law School. Smith, whose work is familiar to every oil and gas lawyer in the nation, will discuss how the Texas Supreme Court's HECI v .
Neel decision affects the rights and obligations of operators and royalty owners.
At the urging of RRC CommissionerTony Garza , the PUC reserves its right to develop additional safeguards to ensure natural gas produced in Texas remains the preferred fuel for power generation in this state. Even during the unseasonably warm Fall of '99, gas demand in the U.S. is rising and showing no signs of letting up. New wells drilled during the year added only 10.72 Bcf per day to the market. Estimates for 1999 indicate another 12.02 Bcf per day will need to come from wells drilled during the year to keep up with U.S. deliverability as of January '99. There were an average of 585 gas rigs operating in the U.S. during 1998.