The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has put on hold its plans to offer acreage in the east-central part of the state for oil and natural gas leasing later this month. The Interior Department agency has deferred leasing on 73,000 acres primarily in McCone and Garfield counties, which were scheduled to be auctioned on July 31. The area includes the winter habitat for the sage grouse, said BLM spokesman Greg Albright, who added that the agency wants to make sure that protections are adequate before it leases land to the oil and gas industry. The BLM’s action also is in response to strong opposition from conservation groups, environmentalists and state officials, who claim that leasing would harm the habitat and damage the environment. These groups have protested the BLM’s last three sales, Albright told NGI. Opinions conflict on how the sage grouse has been faring ( see NGI, July 16; see related story this issue). The BLM still plans to auction 195 parcels, covering 263,000 acres, to producers later this month, he said.

Helix Energy Solution‘s exploration and production subsidiary Energy Resource Technology (ERT) reported the second discovery in less than six months in the deepwater Garden Banks Block 506, which is located about 145 miles offshore Galveston, TX, in the Gulf of Mexico in 2,700 feet of water. Tests on the Danny exploration well, 100% owned and operated by ERT, indicate the presence of high-quality oil in a single sand body. The well is currently being completed, and the discovery is expected to be developed in conjunction with the Noonan reservoir, which ERT discovered in February. The two wells would be developed via a subsea tie-back system to ERT’s East Cameron Block 381 platform, which is 31 miles to the north of the Garden Banks discoveries in 370 feet of water. First production from both the Danny and Noonan discoveries is expected in the second half of 2008. Preliminary analysis on Danny indicates reserve potential of around 50 Bcfe; Noonan holds a reserve potential of at least 100 Bcfe, according to ERT.

Members of the Railroad Commission of Texas elected Railroad Commissioner Michael L. Williams to serve as chair of the state’s oldest regulatory agency. Williams last chaired the Commission from September 1999 to September 2003. Since that time, both Commissioner Victor Carrillo and Commissioner Elizabeth Ames Jones have served as chairs. Williams noted how the energy industry has changed since he was last chairman. “This new century already has become an exciting one for the energy industry. Eight years ago, oil and natural gas producers were struggling to keep their businesses afloat. Today, world energy demand has swollen to such levels that producers struggle to meet the demand. Eight years ago, the Barnett Shale was a promising natural gas play in rural North Texas. Today, it is one of the largest producing fields in the nation and includes production in downtown Fort Worth. Eight years ago, the commission rolled out a pilot project for the on-line filing of one form. Today, over 20 forms can be filed on-line, with additional forms to be added this year. Eight years ago, the state had over 25,000 noncompliant wells. Today, fewer than 12,000 wells are on the Oilfield Cleanup Fund plugging list with over 12,000 plugged in the past eight years.”

Former CEO of San Francisco-based Pacific Gas and Electric Co. and president of its holding company, PG&E Corp. Tom King was named the new president of National Grid USA in Westboro, MA. King will become an executive director with the UK-based parent company, National Grid PLC. National Grid is currently in the process of acquiring KeySpan Corp. King replaces Cheryl LaFleur, who had been acting CEO at National Grid’s U.S. operations since October in anticipation of then-CEO Michael Jesanis’s departure at the end of 2006. John Parker, chairman of National Grid in the United Kingdom, welcomed King to the power and natural gas provider’s board. Earlier, PG&E said King, 45, was leaving the company to take a senior management assignment with an unspecified major international energy company. He joined PG&E in 1998 to be president and COO of the utility holding company’s interstate natural gas transmission pipeline business, Pacific Gas Transmission. Later, he led the entire, renamed independent energy businesses, PG&E National Energy Group.

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