Offer

With other Canadian provinces touting large natural gas discoveries, Alberta has backtracked on its royalty regime changes and now will offer substantial breaks for deep oil and gas drilling.

Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal has asked federal officials to suspend energy leases issued in the Wyoming Range and offer a refund to the producers that were planning to drill there.

Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal has asked federal officials to suspend energy leases issued in the Wyoming Range and offer a refund to the producers that were planning to drill there.

Liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargoes generally do not avoid the U.S. market when gas prices here are low, according to analysts at Barclays Capital, who offer a list of other factors that drive LNG movement to the United States far more than price.

Liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargoes generally do not avoid the U.S. market when gas prices here are low, according to analysts at Barclays Capital, who offer a list of other factors that drive LNG movement to the United States far more than price.

The Wyoming office of the federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM) on Tuesday will offer a total of 162,476 acres in 184 state parcels for lease in an oral oil and natural gas auction.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has put on hold its plans to offer acreage in the east-central part of the state for oil and natural gas leasing later this month.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has put on hold its plans to offer acreage in the east-central part of the state for oil and natural gas leasing later this month. The Interior Department agency has deferred leasing on 73,000 acres primarily in McCone and Garfield counties, which were scheduled to be auctioned on July 31. The area includes the winter habitat for the sage grouse, said BLM spokesman Greg Albright, who added that the agency wants to make sure that protections are adequate before it leases land to the oil and gas industry. The BLM’s action also is in response to strong opposition from conservation groups, environmentalists and state officials, who claim that leasing would harm the habitat and damage the environment. These groups have protested the BLM’s last three sales, Albright told NGI. Opinions conflict on how the sage grouse has been faring ( see NGI, July 16; see related story this issue). The BLM still plans to auction 195 parcels, covering 263,000 acres, to producers later this month, he said.

The Wyoming Bureau of Land Management (BLM) will offer 207,381 acres of federal land in an oral oil and gas lease auction on Aug. 7 at the Holiday Inn Convention Center in Cheyenne. The sale involves 179 parcels with more than 50% of the acreage located in Natrona, Washakie and Weston counties. Leases are for a primary term of 10 years and “will continue beyond the primary term as long as long as oil or gas is produced in paying quantities on or for the benefit of the lease.” The complete list of parcels is available on the Wyoming BLM website, http://www.blm.gov/wy/st/en/programs/energy/Oil_and_Gas/Leasing.html. Protests of the Aug. 7, oil and gas lease auction are due at the BLM Wyoming State Office by 4 p.m. on July 23. The BLM has tentatively scheduled its next lease auction for Oct 7.