Permits

The U.S. oil and gas drilling rig count is steadily rising, but permitting activity is a bit more wobbly, as the Lower 48 recorded a double-digit monthly dip in May. According to data compiled by Evercore ISI using state and federal information, Lower 48 permitting plunged by 17% in May, month/month (m/m). The Permian Basin…

Denver-based independent PDC Energy Inc. has secured approval for its Kenosha Oil and Gas Development Plan (OGDP) in rural Weld County, CO. The OGDP entails 69 wells on three pads, management said. The approval by the Colorado Oil and Gas Commission “marks an important next step as PDC further increases its permitted inventory by another…

The Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC) reported that it issued 38% more original drilling permits year/year across the Lone Star State in February. The natural gas and oil industry regulator granted 836 drilling permits in February, compared to 606 during the same month last year. Texas, particularly the Permian Basin, has been leading “the U.S.…

The monthly U.S. oil and gas permit count was nearly flat in September from August, with activity in the Eagle Ford Shale and some smaller Lower 48 plays offsetting declines in the Powder River and Permian basins, according to Evercore ISI. Each month the Evercore team compiles federal and state permitting data to note the…

The Department of Interior (DOI) said it is relocating the headquarters for the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) back to Washington, DC, from Grand Junction, CO. The DOI said “following years of transition and upheaval among the workforce” the change would “enable the bureau to better serve the American public and fulfill its mission as…

U.S. drilling permit activity slumped across the major Lower 48 basins in August, up sharply from a year ago but down from 2019 levels, according to Evercore ISI. The Evercore team led by analyst James West compiles a monthly report about drilling activity using state and federal data. Permits are usually requested by producers three…

U.S. drilling permit activity climbed sharply in July, led by the Eagle Ford Shale, Powder River and Permian basins, but the overall numbers are still short from the pre-pandemic days of July 2019, according to Evercore ISI. The energy analyst team led by James West uses federal and state data to compile a monthly review…

FERC has issued an environmental assessment (EA) for the long-delayed Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP), signing off on the project’s plans to use a different water crossing method at some locations along its route. MVP filed in February to amend its certificate approval as part of a broader plan to work around a prolonged legal process…

Mexico President Andrés Manuel López Obrador last Friday sent a bill to congress to amend the Hydrocarbons Law and grant the state greater control over granting and revoking permits in the oil, gas and petrochemicals business. López Obrador on Monday said the bill was designed to “remove the sharpest edges” of the 2013-2014 energy reform…