Oral

While oral testimony is finished, the barrage of protests against Canada’s northern natural gas pipeline project continues to pile up in written form on desks at the National Energy Board (NEB).

Wyoming’s Bureau of Land Management will offer 84,015 acres of federal land in Wyoming in an oral oil and gas lease auction on Tuesday, June 6, at the Holiday Inn in Cheyenne. The sale includes a total of 128 parcels, including 13 parcels totaling 12,495 acres in the Bridger Teton National Forest and two parcels totaling 1,526 acres in the Shoshone National Forest. “Mineral resources on Wyoming public lands play a key role in meeting energy demands in the Rocky Mountain Region. With one-third of the nation’s oil and gas production coming from the public lands, oil and gas leasing helps increase domestic production of clean-burning natural gas and other mineral resources,” said Wyoming BLM State Director Bob Bennett. Oil and gas operations on BLM-administered lands in Wyoming produced 29.8 million bbl of oil and 1.4 Tcf of gas in 2005. About 64% of the homes in Wyoming are heated with natural gas. The auction rules call for a $2 per acre minimum bid in bonuses on any parcel. This means a buyer will pay the bid price for the right to obtain the federal lease, in addition to a standard $1.50 per acre rental on the lease. BLM also will charge winning bidders $130 per parcel to help cover administrative costs. If the lease becomes producing, the federal government will collect a royalty on production. Last year, $799.2 million in royalties were collected and shared equally with Wyoming. Leases are for a primary term of 10 years, and will be continued as long thereafter as oil or gas is produced in paying quantities. The complete list of parcels is available on the Wyoming BLM web site at: www.wy.blm.gov/minerals/og/leasing/oilgasleasing.html.

After two years of hearings and oral arguments, FERC yesterdayfinally gave Granite State Gas Transmission the go-ahead to buildits controversial liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in the townof Wells, ME.