Ruling on Atlantic Rim development

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Federal judge dismisses challenge




By MATT JOYCE
Associated Press writer

CHEYENNE -- A federal judge on Tuesday threw out environmental challenges against the government's approval of natural gas drilling in the Atlantic Rim area of south-central Wyoming.

U.S. District Judge Richard Leon in Washington, D.C., sided with the Bureau of Land Management, the state of Wyoming and gas producers Anadarko, Warren Resources and Double Eagle Petroleum.

The BLM in 2007 agreed to allow 2,000 new gas and oil wells over about 421 square miles of publicly and privately owned land within Carbon County. The Atlantic Rim is a remote area that's home to thousands of mule deer, pronghorn, elk and sage grouse. The BLM has said the project could produce 1.35 trillion cubic feet of natural gas over 30 to 50 years.

In response to the BLM's decision, the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership accused the government of violating federal land management laws. It said the decision was "arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion" and in violation of the Federal Land Policy Management and National Environmental Policy Act.

The Natural Resources Defense Council, Biodiversity Conservation Alliance, Wyoming Outdoor Council, Western Watersheds Project and Wyoming Wilderness Association followed up with a lawsuit of their own. They also accused the government of violating NEPA.

In a single ruling that applied to both lawsuits, Leon backed up the BLM's decision-making process. He said the agency considered the potential for methane leaks, the impacts on sage grouse and mule deer, and allowed necessary public comment.

Leon said the agency followed federal law and "took the requisite hard look at environmental effects before approving drilling permits."

Steve Belinda, energy initiative manager for the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, declined to comment on the specifics of Leon's ruling. He said the group wanted to stop the Atlantic Rim from being industrialized.

"A lot of people go there to hunt mule deer, pronghorn and elk," said Belinda, of Boulder. "It was a very popular area that a lot of people locally were disappointed to see being prescribed for industrial use."

Looks like the i's were dotted and the t's crossed...

In another report, I heard that they are proposing some new development methods for this area. Any of the O/G folks (Oak?) no anything about those?

 

[Oak]

Locally, Exxon Mobil is touting a new fracking process that will increase production, but I know little about it. Exxon, however, is the only local company that has not cut back drilling operations at least 50% in the last six months. I don't know where they intend to put the gas, though. Pipelines moving gas out of the region are at near 100% capacity, and the current price of NG will preclude investors from spending money on new infrastructure. The pipeline that ONEOK is building from Piceance to Wamsutter will help a bit, especially when the Ruby Pipeline is completed.

Mar 7, 2009
DENVER (Map, News) - Exxon Mobil plans to dramatically increase its natural gas production in western Colorado while other companies are scaling back operations.

The energy giant says a new drilling technique will enable it to extract more gas from the Piceance Basin at lower costs.

Consultant Bentek Energy in Evergreen says the first phase of Exxon's project in Rio Blanco County will produce 200 million cubic feet of gas per day, about 10 percent of the basin's current total daily production.

Irving, Texas-based Exxon says it expects to ultimately produce 1 billion cubic feet of gas per day from the basin, enough to supply 8 percent of U.S. households. The company currently produces about 55 million cubic feet per day in the Piceance and leases 300,000 acres in the area.

Exxon says it is using a new hydraulic fracturing technique. Hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking," cracks open rock or sand formations to free up oil, gas and methane for easier extraction.

"They drill down holes to a certain depth, and they perforate the first intervals and begin producing gas out of it, and as that well begins to decline, they come back up the hole and drill up and perforate other intervals to keep the well flowing at the same rate," said Anthony Scott, a senior production analyst at Bentek.

The technology could give Exxon an advantage over other producers in the Rockies, where a pipeline shortage for shipping gas has created a bottleneck, resulting in lower prices for producers.

The past few years, the Piceance Basin has experienced some of the state's largest increases in drilling. But as the recession has worsened, some of the area's major operators have cut back drilling because of low gas prices and the tight credit market.

 

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Thanks for the info. The Ruby Pipeline crosses the SLFO boundary, so a I've heard a bit about that.