Permitting

U.S. oil and gas drilling permitting has risen sharply from a year ago, but the gains are uneven, with the Denver-Julesburg (DJ) and Powder River basins drying up, while Haynesville Shale activity has increased, according to data compiled by Evercore ISI. The domestic permit count climbed by 32% in June from a year earlier, and…

A U.S. environmental review is expected to delay construction of the proposed Straits of Mackinac tunnel for Enbridge Inc.’s Line 5, the 540,000 b/d oil pipeline that serves Central Canada and the Midwest The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will require a formal environmental impact statement (EIS) for the Line 5 project, said Acting Assistant…

The U.S. drilling permit count reversed by 23% in May month/month and was down 3% from a year ago, Evercore ISI said in its latest summary of nationwide data. The energy analyst firm each month compiles oil and gas permitting figures using state and federal data.  April permitting had bounced up by double digits from…

Texas and Montana are leading a multistate lawsuit against the Biden administration for revoking the Keystone XL (KXL) crude oil pipeline’s 2019 presidential permit, arguing the administration lacks unilateral authority to overturn energy policy set by Congress. Upon taking office Jan. 20, President Biden issued an executive order (EO) rescinding the approval granted by President…

As the Biden administration further examines the ramifications of its pause on oil and natural gas leases on federal lands, it will find North Dakota’s Bakken Shale has a “unique story to tell,” according to Department of Mineral Resources (DMR) Director Lynn Helms. Most of the federal lands in North Dakota are split estates, where…

California’s oil and natural gas hotspot Kern County is set to resume issuing permits to drill in  April after adopting enhanced rules that could allow more wells to be permitted every year.  The five-member Board of Supervisors on Monday unanimously adopted the ordinance, which includes restrictions that could increase the costs for oil and natural…

New Mexico’s Permian Basin has feathered the state’s coffers and built the nation’s oil reserves, but if the Biden administration implements a ban of federal permitting, the region’s economy could take a sharp hit, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. The Biden administration in late January directed the Department of the Interior to…

Enbridge Inc. has scored fresh successes with its campaign to keep its 540,000 b/d dual-pipe Line 5 for oil and natural gas liquids by burying its disputed Straits of Mackinac crossing in a new utility tunnel. After obtaining a permit from the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (MEGLE), the $500 million project…

Wyoming’s revenue could be devastated in the near term by the pause in oil and gas permitting on federal lands, Gov. Mark Gordon warned on Wednesday. In a letter to Acting Interior Secretary Scott de La Vega, Gordon outlined his concerns over Secretarial Order 3395 issued in January regarding the pause in issuing federal permits…