Categories: Oil & Gas

North Dakota Grants Exception to Flaring Restrictions

In July of last year, the North Dakota Industrial Commission, the administrative body charged with regulating oil and gas production, responded to media and public pressure by promulgating strict new rules to reduce the amount of gas flared in the state. Under these rules, producers may flare for 90 days without restriction. After the 90-day period, they must meet gas capture requirements or face production restrictions. Further, the Commission now requires gas capture plans to be in place prior to issuing drilling permits. These new rules have been heralded as a major step toward reducing flaring without unduly stifling development.

Unfortunately, the realities of infrastructure development have made the difficulty of implementing this new policy apparent. Last week, the Commission granted a six-month exception to the new flaring rules for 105 oil wells owned by XTO Energy. The wells were supposed to be connected to a pipeline extension slated to be built in 2015. However, the pipeline developers reached an impasse in easement negotiations with the Three Affiliated Tribes, forcing the pipeline to be rerouted and pushing the completion date out at least a year.

Initially, XTO requested exceptions through the third quarter or 2016 for 143 wells that would have been connected to the new pipeline. The Commission denied the exception for some wells because they were drilled after XTO knew the pipeline project was not going forward as planned. At the end of the six-month exception, XTO must go back before the Commission to request an extension.

Published by
Welborn

Recent Posts

Big Win in California Real Estate Dispute

Welborn attorneys Sam Bacon, Ed Blieszner, and Matt Nadel recently secured dismissal of all claims…

1 week ago

Team Building at the Inaugural Welborn Olympics

Welborn had a blast at our attorney retreat in Vail last week! The retreat gave…

2 weeks ago

Summary Judgment Win for Welborn Team

The Welborn team of Sam Bacon, David Hrovat, and Joe Pierzchala recently won summary judgment…

1 month ago

Golfing for a Cause

The weather was ideal for last week's 2024 Annual Denver Petroleum Club Golf Tournament! Welborn…

1 month ago

Two Welborn attorneys’ work featured in recent publications

In the Summer 2024 edition of the American Bar Association's Natural Resources & Environment, Danielle…

2 months ago

New additions to our Denver office

We are thrilled to announce the newest additions to our Denver office:  Andrew Comer, a…

3 months ago