On April 27, 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court denied a petition for writ of certiorari to review a Colorado rancher’s attempt to prevent oil development and related access on his ranch. Petitioner Stull Ranches had requested that the high court review and reverse a 2014 decision of the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decided […]
Developing federal lands in the Northern Denver Julesburg Basin (“DJ Basin”), Colorado, has been a challenge for many operators active in the area because of the presence of the Pawnee National Grasslands (“PNG”), an area that has been largely off-limits to oil and gas development. While development of fee minerals in the DJ Basin has […]
As promised by Secretary Jewell in March, see previous post, BLM is initiating a rulemaking process– Announcement of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR)– to “solicit public comments and suggestions that may be used to update the BLM’s regulations related to royalty rates, annual rental payments, minimum acceptable bids, bonding requirements, and civil penalty assessments for Federal onshore […]
The Wyoming Historical Society published an interesting piece by Wyoming reporter Dustin Bleizeffer on the history of coalbed methane development in Wyoming, “Coalbed Methane: Boom, Bust and Hard Lessons.” The article covers the boom of the early years of 2000’s and the current bust that has left companies bankrupt and the State addressing the abandoned […]
At the end of March 2015, Montana’s U.S. Senator Jon Tester joined the Blackfeet Nation in calling on the federal government to cancel 18 existing federal oil and gas leases located in Northwestern Montana. These leases have been the focus of controversy for several decades, and Senator Tester’s recent letter appears to signal a new […]
On April 7, 2015, EPA proposed a new rule to prohibit the discharge of wastewater pollutants associated with unconventional oil and gas (“UOG”) extraction to publicly owned treatment works (“POTWs”). Given that EPA is not aware that any UOG wastewater is currently being sent to any POTW, the rule is not expected to have much […]
Now that it looks like at least four of the Republican Presidential candidates claim a Texas connection – Jeb Bush, Ted Cruz, Rand Paul and Rick Perry – a look back at where the Texas connection to the White House began (hint: it wasn’t LBJ) is well-timed. http://www.chron.com/news/politics/article/A-look-back-at-presidential-candidates-from-Texas-6106289.php “The Big Rich,” by Texan and author […]
On March 20, 2015, after considering more than 1.5 million comments, the BLM released its much anticipated fracking rule for oil and gas wells on Federal and Indian lands. More than 90 percent of all wells, including those on Federal and Indian property, are hydraulically fractured by injecting water, sand and chemicals under high pressure […]
On March 17, 2015, Secretary Jewell presented what was billed as a “major speech” to describe her vision of a “balanced prosperous energy future” at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Directly tying the U.S. “energy transformation” to the recovered U.S. economy, she noted, “The energy revolution we experienced in the past six years […]
The Colorado Oil and Gas Task Force submitted its Final Report on February 27, 2015 making nine recommendations to the Governor that received two-thirds of the vote of the Task Force members as required by Executive Order 2014-005 to constitute recommendations of the Task Force. 1. Collaboration of local governments, the COGCC and Operators relative […]