This DeSmog investigative series explores the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission (IOGCC), the most influential oil and gas lobbying organization very few have heard of. 

IOGCC is a quasi-governmental agency based in Oklahoma City and located on property adjacent to the Governor’s Mansion and on Oklahoma state property. The IOGCC is focused on oil and gas regulations, these days mostly centering around the issue of hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”), and consists of appointees selected by the governors of the 38 oil and gas producing states, plus eight Canadian provinces and three countries as international affiliates.

Often those appointees are lobbyists or industry attorneys. IOGCC’s membership roster is dominated by lobbyists and executives, which goes a long way in explaining how and why things work the way they do in the IOGCC, as well as in U.S. energy policy more broadly.

DeSmog’s ongoing investigation will explain IOGCC‘s policy impacts and reach, its misleading public relations efforts, the revolving door between industry, governement and the organization, and its legally nebulous status as both exempt from open records requests and also receiving little congressional oversight.