Blm

The requirement to conduct environmental assessments (EA) before oil and natural gas lease sales are redundant and need to be eliminated, and the Trump administration should order a review, western Colorado producers urged in a letter earlier this month to the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM).

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has clawed back about 43 square miles of public land in western Colorado from a planned June 8 oil and gas lease sale. Tracts in Grand County near Rocky Mountain National Park were dropped, with the sale now covering 115 square miles in parts of Jackson, Routt, Rio Blanco and Moffat counties. BLM Colorado officials said lawsuits had been filed against the sale by Grand County commissioners, a ranch, the Wilderness Society and others. The sale includes acreage in some of the state’s highest potential for oil and gas development, according to the Western Slope Chapter of the Colorado Oil and Gas Association (WSCOGA). WSCOGA Executive Director David Ludlam said he hoped BLM “reduces the practice of deferring lease nominations for political reasons and instead leases new lands for exploration, knowing that environmental review and appropriate mitigation can and will be applied.” Political deferrals “dissuade investment” in future exploration on federal lands, he said.

Eclipse Resources Corp. again added acreage in Ohio’s Monroe County last week after bidding successfully during the U.S. Bureau of Land Management’s latest auction for leases in the Wayne National Forest (WNF).

The Ohio Oil and Gas Association (OOGA) is urging U.S. Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) to support the repeal of the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) rules governing flaring and venting of associated natural gas on public and tribal lands. OOGA said the rule would have a “disastrous impact” on local legacy producers that operate wells on or near public land in southeast Ohio. There are currently more than 2,000 wells in the state that could be targeted by the rule, which was approved during the Obama administration. Many of the wells are older and have low production, the trade group said. OOGA estimates that conventional producers could pay up to $50,000 per well to retrofit them with emissions control equipment as required. The final rule was to be implemented in stages, but the House voted for a resolution to repeal it in February. The Senate must take similar action and President Trump must approve it before the rule is repealed.

Groups representing the oil and gas industry said they backed the vote by Congress to repeal a rule by the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) that called for revisions to its resource management planning process.

Groups representing the oil and gas industry said they backed the vote by Congress to repeal a rule by the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) that called for revisions to its resource management planning process.

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) on Monday launched a public comment period for a proposed oil and natural gas leasing sale in December that covers 28 parcels in northwestern Colorado within the Piceance Basin.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is expected to propose a master leasing plan (MLP) in October for the Tres Rios region in southwestern Colorado that would include provisions allowing oil and natural gas development, but some local industry are skeptical about the prospect.

The Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has completed an upgrade to its online drilling permit processing system and will now handle all such applications electronically.