OKLAHOMA CITY – Michael Battles, Corporation Commission Oil and Gas Conservation Division director, has been selected to help government officials in the former Soviet Union state of Georgia learn how to regulate its oil and gas industry.

"Georgia and several other former Soviet states are now independent countries. They make their own rules, and they want to design regulation that will allow their oil and gas industries to grow as economic assets while protecting the environment and public safety. Protecting water is a major concern because fishing is a major industry," Battles said.

Battles has bachelor's and master's degrees in environmental science and nearly 20 years of experience regulating oil and gas operations in Oklahoma for the Corporation Commission.

Battles and Morris Bell, operations manager for the Colorado Oil and Gas Commission, will meet with government leaders in Georgia on June 10-11 on behalf of the U.S. State Department's USAID program.

Oklahoma Energy Secretary Michael Smith and David Bolin, of the Alabama State Oil and Gas Board, conducted a similar educational mission to Kazakhstan, another former Soviet state, on May 25-26.

"Our purpose is to become a regulatory resource. We want to show them that there are ways other than writing rigid rules to achieve efficient regulation. Communication among all parties and education can be effective alternatives," Battles said.

In two days of conferences with about 30 Georgia government leaders, Battles and Bell will explain the history of oil and gas regulation in the United States and discuss case studies, including two from Oklahoma, that illustrate regulation through education and involvement rather than rules.

One Oklahoma case concerns run-off of sediment from oil and gas operations into streams and lakes in southeast Oklahoma. The Corporation Commission achieved pollution-prevention compliance from small oil and gas operators by producing a book that explained the newest technologies for handling waste materials in a cost-effective manner. The commission also developed a quarterly newsletter for oil and gas operators and formed citizen committees to make recommendations for improving regulatory procedures.

The other Oklahoma case study discusses formation and activities of the Oklahoma Energy Resources Board, funded by the oil and gas industry, to clean up abandoned oil field sites and develop educational materials for schools and the general public on the importance of the oil and gas industry to the economy and environment of Oklahoma.

Battles said the goal of the educational assistance is to develop a long-term partnership arrangement. "We have a lot of information and assistance to offer, and these new countries may come up with some ideas that will help us make our regulation better," Battles said.

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