Continental

In a meeting late last week, the Interior Department’s Outer Continental Shelf Policy Committee took on an environmental flavor by urging that in order to open up offshore moratoria areas for limited drilling, “congressional funding” for the appropriate environmental studies and monitoring will be necessary.

In a meeting late last week, the Interior Department’s Outer Continental Shelf Policy Committee took on an environmental flavor by urging that in order to open up offshore moratoria areas for limited drilling, “congressional funding” for the appropriate environmental studies and monitoring will be necessary.

The Minerals Management Service’s Gulf of Mexico OuterContinental Shelf Region sale today has generated more interestthan a similar one held last year. MMS has received 780 bids on 547tracts offered in the Central GOM Lease Sale 178, Part 1. Lastyear’s Central Gulf Sale 175 generated 469 bids on 344 tracts andattracted $300,567,675 in high bids.

The Minerals Management Service (MMS) is starting to prepare fora new five-year Outer Continental Shelf oil and gas leasing programto run from 2002-2007. The agency has asked for input frominterested and affected parties.

FERC last week rejected Williams Energy Marketing &Trading’s request to generically exempt Outer Continental Shelf(OCS) pipelines from FERC’s ban on “buy-sell” transactions. But itdid allow a “limited waiver” of its policy for the MineralsManagement Service (MMS) to carry out its royalty-in-kind programin the offshore.

The Bureau of Land Management released in the Federal Registerlast week its decision on the Continental Divide/Wamsutter IINatural Gas Project, allowing up to 2,130 new gas wells to bedrilled in Sweetwater and Carbon Counties, WY. The BLM basicallyadopted the proposed action outlined in its Final EnvironmentalImpact Statement on the project, which was released in December,but it reduced the total number of proposed gas wells andassociated facilities from 3,000 well locations to 2,130.Associated access roads, pipelines, and other ancillary facilitieswere reduced as well. Allowance of the remaining 870 wells/welllocations and associated facilities will be reconsidered pendingcompletion of a planning review of the Great Divide Resource Area(GDRA) Resource Management Plan (RMP) for the Rawlins Field Office(RFO) area, BLM said.

Producers and marketers denounced a recent request togenerically exclude Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) pipelines fromFERC’s ban on “buy-sell” transactions. They contend Williams EnergyMarketing & Trading’s bid for such a waiver is just abackhanded attempt to gain light-handed regulation on the OCS.

Producers and marketers denounced a recent request togenerically exclude Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) pipelines fromFERC’s ban on “buy-sell” transactions. They contend Williams EnergyMarketing & Trading’s bid for such a waiver is just anotherback-handed attempt to attain light-handed regulation in the OCS.

The Department of the Interior’s Minerals Management Service(MMS) announced a continuation of the Outer Continental Shelfroyalty-in-kind (RIK) pilot program last week and has doubled theamount of gas previously offered. Nearly 500 MMcf/d of productionwill go on sale this spring, the MMS said. Details for the sale arestill being finalized.