February 9, 2022

Welcome UPA New Members

Big West Oil is committed to be a top-tier refiner, marketer, and employer in the Rocky Mountain Region, focused on building lasting value through operational excellence, continuous improvement, and pursuit of internal and external growth opportunities. We will accomplish this by embracing the following value statements: Integrity and Responsibility, People and Community, Relationships with Partners,

We at the Utah Petroleum Association express our appreciation to our members. We encourage you to buy within the industry and do business with your fellow members. We are stronger when we work together!

The Utah Petroleum Association is proud to announce our inaugural Safety and Environmental Awards, with winners to be revealed at the 2022 Annual Meeting. We know there is so much good work going on, quietly, under the radar that does not seek recognition but rather happens because it’s the right thing to do. We’re pleased to showcase three awards and the nominees in each category.

Given our state’s ozone challenges, UPA has been working collaboratively with our regulators anticipating rulemaking in support of a forthcoming State Implementation Plan (SIP), both for the Wasatch Front and the Uintah Basin. In the Basin, while the outcome of this winter is not yet determined, it serves as the critical fork in the road to either a path/redesignation of the standard or a “bump” from marginal to moderate nonattainment status. We will need to ensure that we can continue to reduce VOC and NOx emissions in either case. To that end, the Utah Division of Air Quality (DAQ) is in the process of proposing rules, likely to be presented to the Air Quality Board in March to kick off formal rulemaking, with a target to be effective Jan. 1, 2023, focused on the following (note that this is a high-level summary, not a comprehensive outline of the draft proposal):

We are excited to announce the reschedule of UPA’s annual meeting to March 24th and 25th following the conclusion of the Utah Legislative Session on March 4th. Due to company-imposed travel restrictions and our concern for your safety, we made the difficult decision to delay our initial January date.

The 2021 year is over, but that doesn’t mean we are done trying to serve and help others. We want to recognize the effort that went into a Christmas project that took place at the end of the year.

The U.S. has had a difficult couple of years because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic recession and a larger-than-expected cohort of retirees. Compared to other states, though, Utah has done remarkably well during this challenging time. Utah outperforms other states and is a model for getting things done.

Utah is recognized as business-friendly for many reasons, such as the economic outlook and an educated workforce. But as the U.S. ages, older workers retire and graduating high school seniors continue to opt for something other than learning a trade. Old solutions and strategies have become ineffective, and too many job openings for skilled work go unfilled. The Rural Water Association (RWAU), which consists of public and private water and wastewater systems in cities and municipalities, noticed a big gap in the number of workers retiring as opposed to the number of new employees it was able to hire. To help fill this gap, RWAU worked with the Department of Labor, Office of Apprenticeship and Workforce Services to set up two apprenticeship programs and now serves as an intermediary between potential apprentices and its membership base by providing classroom instruction and support throughout the process.

According to a GEO ExPro Magazine, in 1857, a man named Preston Barmore lowered gunpowder into a well at Canadaway Creek, NY, and dropped a red-hot iron down a tube, resulting in an explosion that fractured the rock and increased the flow of gas from the well. This is widely regarded as the first attempt at hydraulic fracturing, and, with the benefit of hindsight, it’s almost comical in its blunt force.