CIPA 2025 Oil & Gas Regulatory Summit a Unanimous Success

Roughly 150 people attended California Independent Petroleum Association’s inaugural Oil & Gas Regulatory Summit on October 15, 2025, at the DoubleTree Hotel in Bakersfield, bringing together leading voices from California’s energy industry and top regulators from federal, state, and local governments. The forum provided valuable dialogue between operators, engineers, and regulators regarding data-driven, focused solutions to long-standing bottlenecks in California’s permitting and regulatory processes.

CIPA CEO Rock Zierman opened the Summit, emphasizing that collaboration must guide California’s energy future. He praised the impressive turnout and underscored the association’s goal of ensuring that “state and federal agencies understand the urgency of practical solutions that allow operators to meet both environmental and energy needs.” Attending were nearly all major oil producers in California including Chevron, Sentinel Peak Resources, Berry Petroleum, Crimson Resources, E&B Natural Resources, CalNRG, Holmes Western, Signal Hill Petroleum, and others.

Session I — P&A Subcommittee: Plugging, Abandonment, and “Unsatisfactory” Wells

The first presentation, CIPA’s P&A Subcommittee, explored one of the industry’s most complex challenges: the growing number of “unsatisfactory” or “inaccessible” wells and the costs of regulatory gridlock. Leading the discussion were Joe Eller of Holmes Western and Dustin Kilpatrick of Signal Hill Petroleum. 

Eller and Kilpatrick emphasized:

• Over 300 non-routine abandonment memos issued to 22 operators since 2024.

• The need for reasonable cement isolation standards, rather than one-size-fits-all interpretations.

• The continuing effort to align state requirements with field realities and ensure that abandonments meeting statutory standards receive timely final letters.
  

The presentation also outlined a framework for resolving unsatisfactory classifications that can otherwise prevent operators from meeting Idle Well Management Plan (IWMP) requirements and slow site redevelopment. The shared goal: make every well count toward compliance and eliminate unnecessary obstacles to safe, permanent closures.

Session II — CalGEM Witnessing Practices: Costs, Delays, and Common-Sense Fixes

CIPA’s Witnessing Subcommittee delivered an analysis of inspection inefficiencies. Based on operator data, 30 percent of plugging and abandonment jobs experience witnessing delays, costing the industry more than $5 million annually in idle equipment and crew downtime. The discussion was led by Eller and Andy Pollack of General Production Services.

The group proposed expanding remote witnessing, staggering inspector shifts to cover 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., and even certifying third-party engineering firms for routine witnessing tasks. CIPA’s message was clear: flexible scheduling and improved communication would increase safety, lower costs, and get more wells properly abandoned faster.

Session III — Permitting Subcommittee: The Road to Aquifer Exemptions and UIC Efficiency

Megan Schwartz of Catalyst Environmental Solutions gave a presentation on Aquifer Exemptions (AEs) and the Underground Injection Control (UIC) program, examining how delayed approvals continue to strangle well activity across Kern County.

• Average review times for new or expanded UIC projects now exceed four years, compared to less than 18 months just five years ago.

• Over 20 projects remain under review after two to three years, despite full compliance with Public Agency Letters (PALs).

• CalGEM’s CEQA Unit currently holds 18 oil and gas projects, representing more than 470 new injection wells and 2,100 production wells, all awaiting clearance.

  
  

Industry representatives pressed for tighter coordination between CalGEM and the Water Board to meet the January 2026 hearing deadline and complete all AE reviews still under the legal stay.

Session IV — Basin Plan Amendment: Beneficial Use De-Designation

The Summit concluded with a presentation on the Tulare Basin Plan Amendment (BPA), a critical effort to de-designate groundwater zones beneath long-produced oil fields where water is non-usable for agriculture or municipal supply.

Covering a 55-mile corridor from Lost Hills to Midway-Sunset, the proposed amendment would formally recognize that groundwater in the area — often exceeding 10,000 mg/L TDS — is unsuitable for drinking or irrigation and should be removed from the state’s beneficial use maps. This change would provide regulatory clarity for operators, reduce liability exposure, and support continued responsible use of produced-water ponds where injection is impractical. The Basin Plan Amendment has broad local support, with no municipal or agricultural wells affected in the study area.

Shared Mission

Throughout the afternoon, CIPA members and regulators agreed on one essential point: communication and cooperation are the only path forward. Each presentation built toward a unifying theme: California’s energy regulators and producers share the same objective of safe, environmentally sound, and economically viable oil and gas production.

If you or anyone at your company would like to participate in any of CIPA’s subcommittees on these topics, please contact Laura Wilkin to get connected at lwilkin@cipa.org.