Companies can't keep up with their current permits, and yet Dubya's administration continues to push for the BLM to speed up the process of approving new permits.
Why not just step back and let the companies catch up? Why the huge push to get as many permits approved as possible?
BLM changes drilling rules in Colo.
By Mike Soraghan
Denver Post Staff Writer
DenverPost.com
Washington - As the Bureau of Land Management faces increasing pressure to speed up gas-drilling permits on federal land across the West, it has begun extending deadlines in Colorado because companies can't start drilling fast enough.
BLM officials in Colorado recently changed their rules to stop the clock for drilling companies that can't find rigs to drill gas fields they've leased from the government. Previously, companies that couldn't start drilling before their lease expired lost their lease.
That change has drawn criticism from environmentalists who say it's inconsistent for the agency to request an extra $27 million from Congress to speed up the processing of permits for drilling on federal land while acknowledging that drillers can't use all the permits already issued.
"The industry is awash in federal drilling permits," said Dave Alberswerth of the Wilderness Society. "They have so many, they don't know what to do with them."
BLM officials say they acted to provide relief to small companies taking risks to find new gas fields.
"Most of the people who are applying for the suspensions are the smaller operators," said Duane Spencer, who heads the BLM's fluid minerals division in Colorado. "Rig availability is a bigger issue for them."
Spencer said one driller provided letters that he had received from rig operators while trying to lease a rig. "They ranged from 14 months out to 'you gotta be kidding me,"' Spencer said.
He said larger operators such as Williams Cos. and EnCana Corp. have long-term agreements for drilling rigs and don't need the extensions.
In Wyoming, BLM officials have always been willing to grant extensions if drilling rigs aren't available, a spokeswoman said. Industry groups, Congress and administration officials have pressed BLM managers to process more permits for companies to drill on public land. Last year's federal energy bill ordered regulatory agencies to streamline their permitting process to speed up decisions. Congressional investigators found last year that regulators are so busy processing permits for oil and gas development in the Rocky Mountain West that they aren't able to adequately police the drilling boom's effect on the environment.
Why not just step back and let the companies catch up? Why the huge push to get as many permits approved as possible?BLM changes drilling rules in Colo.
By Mike Soraghan
Denver Post Staff Writer
DenverPost.com
Washington - As the Bureau of Land Management faces increasing pressure to speed up gas-drilling permits on federal land across the West, it has begun extending deadlines in Colorado because companies can't start drilling fast enough.
BLM officials in Colorado recently changed their rules to stop the clock for drilling companies that can't find rigs to drill gas fields they've leased from the government. Previously, companies that couldn't start drilling before their lease expired lost their lease.
That change has drawn criticism from environmentalists who say it's inconsistent for the agency to request an extra $27 million from Congress to speed up the processing of permits for drilling on federal land while acknowledging that drillers can't use all the permits already issued.
"The industry is awash in federal drilling permits," said Dave Alberswerth of the Wilderness Society. "They have so many, they don't know what to do with them."
BLM officials say they acted to provide relief to small companies taking risks to find new gas fields.
"Most of the people who are applying for the suspensions are the smaller operators," said Duane Spencer, who heads the BLM's fluid minerals division in Colorado. "Rig availability is a bigger issue for them."
Spencer said one driller provided letters that he had received from rig operators while trying to lease a rig. "They ranged from 14 months out to 'you gotta be kidding me,"' Spencer said.
He said larger operators such as Williams Cos. and EnCana Corp. have long-term agreements for drilling rigs and don't need the extensions.
In Wyoming, BLM officials have always been willing to grant extensions if drilling rigs aren't available, a spokeswoman said. Industry groups, Congress and administration officials have pressed BLM managers to process more permits for companies to drill on public land. Last year's federal energy bill ordered regulatory agencies to streamline their permitting process to speed up decisions. Congressional investigators found last year that regulators are so busy processing permits for oil and gas development in the Rocky Mountain West that they aren't able to adequately police the drilling boom's effect on the environment.
