Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission

Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission

Abbreviation	IOGCC
Formation	1935
Type	Interstate compact
Purpose	Promote efficient harvesting of oil and gas while protecting health, safety and the environment.
Headquarters	Oklahoma City
Region	United States
2016 Chairman	Mary Fallin, Governor of Oklahoma
Executive Director	Carl Michael Smith
Website	www.iogcc.state.ok.us
Formerly called	Interstate Oil Compact Commission

The Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission (IOGCC), formerly the Interstate Oil Compact Commission, is a United States organization, representing the governors of 30 member and eight associate states, that works to ensure the nation's oil and natural gas resources are conserved and utilized to their maximum potential while protecting health, safety and the environment. Established in 1935, it is the oldest and largest interstate compact in the nation.

In the early days of oil exploration, drilling was governed by the law of capture, which states that the owner of land on which a well resides has the right to any oil from that well even if it was drained from the land of his neighbors. This provided an incentive for each land owner to extract the oil as fast as possible. Each state tried to regulate its own oil by such measures as proration, the limiting of production to some fraction of capacity; but then two great oil fields, the Oklahoma City Oil Field and the East Texas Oil Field, were discovered. This, along with the Great Depression, led to much waste and very low prices, with a catastrophic effect on the industry. The problems were large enough that the states recognized the need for cooperation.

While the National Guard occupied wells in Oklahoma and Texas in 1931–1932, an Oil States Advisory Committee drafted the Thomas-McKeon Bill, which proposed an interstate oil compact and a Federal Interstate Oil Board to recommend quotas. However, the bill was abandoned after oil industry representatives withdrew their support. From 1933 to 1935, oil was regulated under the National Industrial Recovery Act and the Petroleum Code, which in effect left production control in the hands of industry representatives, with no representation for the states. The Supreme Court found these regulations unconstitutional in 1935, and the idea of an interstate compact was revived. On December 3, 1934, Oklahoma Governor-elect E. W. Marland met with the governors of Kansas and Texas to discuss an interstate compact. This led to the drafting of the Interstate Compact to Conserve Oil and Gas, which was ratified by Congress on August 27, 1935. At first, Congress ratified it for only two years at a time, then four years, and finally the compact was made permanent in 1979.