** The Interior Department on Thursday took steps to strengthen the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) by rescinding Trump administration policies that significantly undermined the landmark conservation program. Secretarial Order 3396 revokes an order signed on November 9, 2020 (Secretarial Order 3388) that unilaterally imposed new restrictions to inhibit the availability of LWCF funding for federal …
Category: Oil & Gas
Oil and gas industry targeted with water bill in New Mexico legislature
By a narrow vote, a New Mexico legislative committee passed a bill this week to ban the use of fresh water in certain circumstances for oil and gas exploration. The oil and gas industry has already been encouraged to reduce its reliance on fresh water since the Produced Water Act of 2019. But the …
Texas oil company hit with $1.9M penalty for Wyoming spills
Texas oil company Fleur de Lis Energy, LLC will have to pay nearly $2 million in fines for several crude oil and wastewater spills in Wyoming. The Environmental Protection Agency announced the $.19 million agreement this week. The spills happened between the fall of 2016 and the spring of 2018 reported the Associated Press. One …
Louisiana’s Democratic governor at odds with his own party over lease ban
Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards is taking his case against the Biden administration’s anti-oil and gas steps directly to some of its leaders. He’s at odds with the President’s move to put the fossil fuel industries in the bull’s eye and wants the White House to reconsider its ban on new oil and gas …
New Mexico says Biden ban resulted in ‘confusion’
The ban on new drilling and leasing on federal lands has left New Mexico state confused and they want a clarification from the Biden administration. New Mexico’s Secretary of Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources sent a letter this week asking the Department of Interior to clarify how right-of-way permits fit into the new policy, …
Oil prices continue their climb as storage falls in US
Crude oil futures continued their slow ascent in Wednesday’s trading as West Texas Intermediate crude for March delivery settled up 32 cents at $58.68 a barrel. Global benchmark Brent crude for April delivery increased 38 cents to finish the day at $61.47 on ICE Futures Europe. The increased crude prices came on a day …
GOP Attorneys General want Biden to reconsider killing Keystone XL
Skip to content President Biden has been asked by 14 Republican attorneys general to reconsider his move to kill the Keystone XL pipeline, a move that left thousands out of work, or else some might be forced to take legal action. Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter was not among them. In a letter to the …
Federal leasing ban a ‘direct attack’ on Wyoming says Governor
Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon said this week the Biden administration’s move to stop federal leasing of minerals to oil and gas developers is a direct attack on his state. He criticized the President’s action and said the freeze will have more of a devastating effect on Wyoming than other states On Fox News he …
Weak oil production dragged down Oklahoma revenue collections
Another sign of a slowly recovering economy in Oklahoma was shown this week by the state government when it released general revenue fund collections for January which were nearly 16% lower than a year earlier. The Oklahoma Office of Management and Enterprises Services announced the collections totaled $597.5 million, an amount that was $112.2 …
Norway’s Equinor bails out of Bakken
The Bakken shale holdings of Norway’s Equinor are being sold in a $900 million deal announced this week by the company. The sale of the assets in North Dakota and Montana come after years of mulitibillion dollar losses for the company. The buyer is Grayson Mill Energy which is a firm backed by EnCap …