Land

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.

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.

Proposed federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM) rules on hydraulic fracturing (fracking) violate the spirit of an earlier order by President Obama that called for the “least burdensome” regulations to be applied to allow for predictability and certainty, Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead told U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar in a letter last Thursday.

Wyoming’s Office of State Lands and Investments garnered $11.6 million for first-year rental and application fees on state trust land parcels offered at a quarterly oil/natural gas lease sale last Wednesday in Cheyenne. The state lands office sold all 199 parcels it offered covering approximately 83,609 acres of state trust lands. Bids ranged from $1 to $5,500/acre, the state unit said. Revenue generated from the state trust lands oil/gas lease auction is distributed to public education, the University of Wyoming and the Veteran’s Home of Wyoming. The “real revenue” from the auction comes later when there is production from the leases, according to Ryan Lance, director of the lands/investment office. The office will hold its next oil/gas lease auction Aug. 8.