Frontier Fracking Face-off | Russell T. Rudy Energy LLC
“Rigzone” reports that the U. S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Land Management introduced new fracking regulations in March. These would apply to approximately 700 million of acres of mineral rights with more than 100,000 oil and gas wells which produce 11% of the nation’s natural gas and 5% of our oil. Further, much of this acreage is in some of the most prospective oil and gas basins in the nation: the Green River Basin in Wyoming, the Uinta Basin in Utah, the Piceance Creek Basin in Colorado, and the Bakken shale in North Dakota.
Shortly after the introduction of the new fracking regulations, the Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA), and the Western Energy Alliance, filed suit in federal court to block their implementation. Wyoming quickly filed its own suit and was joined by Colorado, North Dakota and Utah.
In March, Interior Secretary, Sally Jewel, stated “As we continue to offer millions of acres of public lands for conventional and renewable energy production, it is absolutely critical the public have confidence that transparent and effective safety and environmental protections are in place.”
IPAA Vice President, Dan Naatz, countered that the new federal regulations were “…far more driven by the Obama administration saying it wants to do something on hydraulic fracturing. The process in place now (state regulations) does a great job.”
Oil and gas operators, still dealing with the financial impact of the crude oil price, are already cash strapped. Some have gone bankrupt or missed bond payments. The Western Energy Alliance estimates that compliance with the new federal regulations would add $97,000 to the cost of each well. The feds counter that this cost would be around $5,500.
The case, State of Wyoming v. U. S. Department of the Interior, is scheduled to be heard by U. S. District Judge Scott Skavdahl, in Casper, Wyoming.
To read the article in its entirety, please go to http://www.rigzone.com/news/article.asp?hpf=1&a_id=139270&utm .
