By a 2-0 vote, Oklahoma Corporation Commissioners on Thursday approved emergency rules allowing the storage of crude oil off-lease sites, something that was requested as purchasers of cheap oil wanted the ability to store their crude.
After an hour-long debate concerning questions of the April 1 implementation date for applications, an issue initially raised by Commissioner Dana Murphy, Commissioners Todd Hiett and Bob Anthony voted to adopt the emergency rule.
“I’m not prepared to participate in these rules,” said Commissioner Murphy who did not vote on the issue raised last month by the Commission’s Oil and Gas Conservation Division.
“We shouldn’t be in such a hurry. I take no issue on it being voted on but I’m struggling with the wording, so I’m not gonna express opposition. I’m just not ready to support or participate,” explained Murphy, after which Commissioners Hiett and Anthony voted to adopt the rule.
Since it is an emergency rule, it has to be signed into effect by Gov. Kevin Stitt.
Much of the discussion centered around the April 1 implementation date and whether adjacent landowners should be notified or alerted that someone is storing crude oil in nearby storage tanks that are not part of an oil lease.
“If we do that with commercial disposal wells, why not if someone’s storing 100,000 barrels of oil next to me,” asked Commissioner Murphy as she raised the issue during the discussion.
The Commissioners voted after querying staffers about the technical aspects of the rule but did not take testimony from those interested in the issue.
As OK Energy Today reported earlier this week, the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality was included among those agencies that will have reviewing authority over sites containing crude oil storage tanks. The addition of the DEQ was part of the draft approved Thursday by Commissioners Hiett and Anthony.
The draft indicated that anyone applying for a permit to temporarily store crude oil at a remote site will also have to provide the permit application to the Chief Engineer at DEQ.
The Commission’s staff initially proposed the emergency rule after receiving inquiries from speculators and others interested in purchasing cheap oil and storing it, hoping to capitalize when oil prices increase at a later date.
When a discussion was held last week, some groups such as the Coalition of Oklahoma Surface and Mineral Owners as well as the Petroleum Alliance of Oklahoma shared concerns about what they called “fly-by-nighters” who wanted to take advantage of cheap oil.