Montana

The Biden administration’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has broad authority to postpone oil and gas lease sales to address environmental concerns, a federal judge ruled in tossing one of several lawsuits filed by industry groups and GOP-led states. U.S. District Court Judge Scott Skavdahl of the District of Wyoming last Friday (Sept. 2) ruled…

An affiliate of Haymaker Minerals & Royalties III has closed a deal to acquire mineral and royalty interests in “thousands of wells” across 30 counties and parishes in Louisiana, Montana, North Dakota and Texas. “This acquisition fits perfectly within the Haymaker strategy of acquiring diversified mineral portfolios valued at greater than $100 million,” said Haymaker’s…

Wyoming’s two main oil and gas trade groups are seeking to expedite the resumption of oil and gas leases on federal property by the Department of the Interior (DOI). In a merits brief filed Aug. 30 in Wyoming District Court, the Western Energy Alliance and the Petroleum Association of Wyoming (PAW) allege that DOI is…

Calgary-based Enerplus Corp. is selling off a small bundle of oil and natural gas interests in Montana and North Dakota for $115 million, but the Williston Basin remains a priority, the CEO said.   Stakes are being sold in Montana’s Sleeping Giant field and North Dakota’s Russian Creek area of the Williston, home to the Bakken…

A federal judge has invalidated key land use plans in Montana that were approved under former Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Acting Director William Perry Pendley, a decision that could imperil land use decisions elsewhere and pave the way for a deluge of litigation from environmental groups. The ruling issued last Friday was the second…

Montana Gov. Steve Bullock has asked a district court to shelve three large-scale plans that would open most federal lands in the state to oil and gas development, arguing they were invalidated when a federal court ruled the Trump administration’s top public lands official was serving illegally. U.S. District Judge Brian Morris of the District…

Bellevue, WA-based Puget Sound Energy (PSE) bought itself a reduced-carbon fuel mix by selling its 185 MW interest in Colstrip coal-fired Unit 4 in Montana to the state’s largest private sector utility, NorthWestern Energy. The price was $1 in a unique deal.

Oil production from the Bakken Shale in eastern Montana, still relatively small compared to North Dakota’s record-setting output, has been steadily increasing, according to the North Dakota Pipeline Authority (NDPA).

Three landowners and two environmental groups on Tuesday challenged two recent U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) lease sales of 287 parcels in Montana, alleging in federal court that the agency ignored the potential environmental impacts of prospective oil and natural gas drilling.