Wyoming

Two trade associations representing the oil and natural gas industry urged a federal appeals court to reject an effort by California, New Mexico and a coalition of environmental groups to reinstate, albeit temporarily, an Obama-era rule governing associated natural gas flaring and venting on public and tribal lands.

The State of California and a coalition of 16 environmental groups are appealing a decision by a federal judge in Wyoming to stay the implementation of parts of an Obama-era rule governing associated natural gas flaring and venting on public and tribal lands.

Just six weeks after a federal judge in California ruled that parts of an Obama-era rule governing associated natural gas flaring and venting on public and tribal lands should take effect, a federal judge in Wyoming on Wednesday reversed course and issued a stay, giving the Trump administration more time to revise or rescind the rule.

While federal agencies are rolling back Obama-era rules to curb methane emissions, an environmental group’s report is seeking to make Wyoming a poster child for updating restrictions on wellhead natural gas flaring.

A quirk in the system rather than a surge of new exploration and production (E&P) interest in Wyoming has created a backlog of about 10,000 applications for permits to drill (APD), according to the state’s oil and gas supervisor.

Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead in his state of the state address on Monday advocated for continuing two major initiatives launched in the past seven years: diversifying the energy-dependent economy and slashing the size of government.

In a case in which oil interests clash with coal development, the Wyoming Supreme Court has remanded the issue for federal agencies to resolve.

Adhering to the normal winter rig slowdown, the number of U.S. oil and gas rigs in operation for the week ended Jan. 5 dropped by five to 924, according to Baker Hughes data. However, all five lost rigs came from the oil side of the ledger.

Revenues from federal and state oil/natural gas lease sales this year in Wyoming shot up dramatically compared to their anemic levels a year earlier, prompting industry and government officials to conjure up visions of a return to more boom-like times ahead in the state oil/gas fields.