On November 10, APGA staff participated in the fall meeting of the Oil and Natural Gas Subsector Coordinating Council (ONG SCC). In the morning, just a few representatives from oil and natural gas companies, as well as staff from the major trade associations in this sector met, and then, that afternoon, the ONG SCC participated in a briefing with pertinent personnel within President Biden’s Department of Energy (DOE) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The ONG SCC represents the industry interests of oil and natural gas companies in a government-industry partnership. It provides a forum to coordinate activities across the sector to support America’s homeland security mission.
Supply chain was a big focus of the conversation amongst the representatives from oil and natural gas companies, as well as staff from the trade associations in this sector. Discussion topics included immediate supply chain shortages, projected supply chain concerns, and supply chain security issues.
An important dialogue with DOE and DHS was the need for harmonization amongst regulations, which is one of the goals of APGA’s Policy Resolution, “Commitment to Security and Reliability.” Several federal agencies are considering actions regarding cyber and physical security, so there needs to be some coordination with any of these efforts, regardless of whether they are regulation or voluntary. As well, APGA staff and the others from the industry stressed the importance of seeking input from the pipeline operator subject matter experts, ensuring government activities solve actual problems and don’t add undue burden.
With any new developments, APGA staff will be engaging the APGA Security Task Group.
For questions on this article, please contact Stuart Saulters of APGA staff by phone at 202-544-1334 or by email at
ssaulters@apga.org.