Council CEO Leslie Beyer moderated an engaging and informative regulatory outlook panel discussion at the Daniel Energy Partners Telluride Executive Series, a two-day event featuring energy industry leaders.
“With the energy industry in a period of transition and transformation, it’s critical that we’re engaged with regulators as they develop the rules of the road that will influence the direction we go,” Beyer told attendees. “We have to communicate the message that energy transition is about developing solutions to technical problems, not picking winners and losers based on ideology.”
Beyer and panelists Tracee Bentley, CEO of the Permian Strategic Partnership, and Stephen Flaherty, Vice President Government & External Affairs, Cimarex Energy, delved into strategic issues facing the energy industry, including ESG, energy resource development on federal lands, infrastructure and changing needs of the workforce.
“We need many answers to the energy questions posed by different conditions and resources available in areas around the world,” Beyer said. “In every sector of the energy production industry, companies are engaged in the work of answering these questions by doing the work of invention and innovation.”
Beyer said the regulatory environment must reflect the reality that all energy sources have environmental impacts and technological challenges.
“Energy transition is not about a shift from one source of energy to another,” Beyer said. “Regulators should be looking for ways to add options to form a diverse energy ecosystem that can meet the goals of clean, affordable and reliable energy — and that protects our national security.”
Taking real action on ESG reporting is an important aspect of oil and gas companies securing leadership roles in the transition ahead, Beyer said.
“The world needs us to take the lead,” Beyer said. “We have a history of finding and deploying technological innovations at a global scale, and we’re primed to do it again. We can use ESG to communicate the progress we’re making, secure access to capital and tell the story of why the talented young people we’ll need should make a career with us.”
