Bureau

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has approved Gasco Energy Inc.’s proposal to develop nearly 1,300 natural gas wells over 15 years in Utah’s Uinta Basin, the agency said Monday.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has approved Gasco Energy Inc.’s proposed development of a natural gas exploration and production (E&P) project that could include nearly 1,300 natural gas wells over 15 years in Utah’s Uinta Basin, the agency said Monday.

Regulating hydraulic fracturing (fracking) on public lands as the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) proposes to do would cost society $1.499 billion to $1.615 billion per year, according to an analysis commissioned by the Western Energy Alliance (WEA).

Regulating hydraulic fracturing (fracking) on public lands as the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) proposes to do would cost society $1.499 billion to $1.615 billion per year, according to an analysis commissioned by the Western Energy Alliance (WEA).

Beginning July 1 producers that use hydraulic fracturing (fracking) on wells in Oklahoma will be required to disclose the contents of the frack fluids they use, save for those contents that are deemed to be trade secrets. The regulations adopted earlier this year by state lawmakers and enacted by the Oklahoma Corporation Commission (OCC) are similar to those in other states.

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has the right idea with its measured approach to oil shale production in the western United States given the risks involved, according to a white paper by sustainability advocate Ceres.

Two research projects to assess the oil shale potential of the Piceance Basin in northwestern Colorado are undergoing preliminary assessment by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in Colorado.

After serving as director of the Department of Interior’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) for the last three years, Bob Abbey on Thursday announced that he will retire from public service at the end of the month. Abbey has overseen the BLM since August 2009 when he was confirmed by the Senate. His retirement culminates a 34-year career in state and federal service. The agency during his term implemented a number of regulations affecting the oil and natural gas industry — the latest being rules governing hydraulic fracturing on public and Native American lands (see Daily GPI, May 7). BLM Deputy Director Mike Pool will serve as acting director following Abbey’s retirement.

Speaking at the Offshore Technology Conference last week in Houston, the head of the Department of Interior’s Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) outlined the “next generation of regulations” for the Outer Continental Shelf that the agency plans to tackle in the upcoming year.