Oct. 10--The Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission plans a discussion at its annual meeting next month about challenges affecting the conservation and efficient production of domestic oil and natural gas, organizers have announced.

The 38-state commission of oil and gas producing states, led this year by Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, will host the roundtable discussion the first day of the meeting, which is set for Nov. 16-18, in Santa Fe, N.M.

Carl Michael "Mike" Smith, executive director of the commission, said unconventional oil and gas production will help reduce the nation's dependence on foreign oil and that states need to work with regulators and producers to bring more of it about.

Invited speakers are C. Michael Ming, executive director of the Research Partnership to Secure Energy for America, Foster Wade, a deputy assistant secretary for the U.S. Department of the Interior, Tom Price, a senior vice president with Oklahoma City-based Chesapeake Energy Corp., and Denise Hamsher, director of public, federal and regulatory affairs for Enbridge Energy.

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