Energy Tomorrow Blog
Industry Supports Effective Regulation
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Mark Green
Posted January 4, 2018
Let’s push back a bit on an emerging narrative that suggests the Trump administration’s recent actions to revoke or revise federal rules on natural gas and oil development are part of an anti-regulation movement prompted by our industry that weakens safety and environmental protections.
It’s a false narrative. Industry supports effective regulation that fosters safety and protects the air, land and water – rules that are clear, with tangible benefits that warrant costs and that work in concert with safe and responsible energy development. This goal of effective regulation is advanced by eliminating duplicative and potentially counterproductive rules.
Progress on Increasing Access to Federal Lands
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Mark Green
Posted July 28, 2017
It’s a positive step – for U.S. energy, economic growth, consumer benefits and climate progress – for the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to begin rescinding its 2015 hydraulic fracturing rule – one that we argue duplicates existing and effective state regulation and risks delaying energy development, potentially impacting consumers. The agency should follow this up by moving swiftly to improve the permitting process for natural gas and oil development on federal lands, as Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke ordered earlier this month.
BLM Methane Rule Duplicative, Unnecessary
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Jack Gerard
Posted May 18, 2017
America’s oil and natural gas industry supports commonsense regulation, but a duplicative Bureau of Land Management (BLM) rule regulating methane emissions is a solution in search of a problem. … Fortunately, the Interior Department has “flagged” the rule “as one we will suspend, revise or rescind given its significant regulatory burden that encumbers American energy production, economic growth and job creation.”
Use CRA to Repeal BLM’s Venting and Flaring Rule Now
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Mark Green
Posted March 21, 2017
The Bureau of Land Management’s “venting and flaring” rule should be repealed, which we’ve urged Congress to do under the Congressional Review Act (see here, here and here). The U.S. House has voted for repeal, and the Senate shouldn’t delay in following suit. BLM’s redundant, technically flawed rule already is having negative economic impacts and could put energy production and important progress on reducing emissions at risk.
Out of the West: Opposition to Venting and Flaring Rule
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Mark Green
Posted February 3, 2017
Last week we encouraged Congress to use the Congressional Review Act to repeal the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) technically flawed and redundant venting and flaring rule. It appears lawmakers are poised to do just that – concerned that the rule could discourage future energy investment on Indian and federal lands, where production trails output on state and private land, and that it risks negatively impacting supplies of affordable energy to American consumers and businesses. Good reasons all to axe BLM’s rule. Likewise, repeal would be responsive to the specific concerns of voices in the West, where vast acreages are under federal control.
Roadblocking America’s Energy Revolution
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Mark Green
Posted March 24, 2015
Last week’s release of the federal Bureau of Land Management’s new hydraulic fracturing rule suggests it’s time to update an infographic we posted last summer on the administration’s regulatory march that could impede America’s energy revolution.
Unfortunately, the administration’s plans for energy regulation aren’t encouraging – not if you truly grasp the historic opportunity that surging domestic production of oil and natural gas is providing the United States.
We’re talking about the complete rewrite of America’s energy narrative, from one of scarcity – limiting America’s economic possibilities and overshadowing its national security concerns – to one of abundance in which the U.S. is more self-sufficient, more prosperous and more secure in the world.
We call that historic, revolutionary, a true renaissance in American energy.
Fracking Rule Could Slow Energy Revolution
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Mark Green
Posted March 20, 2015
Some important context to the new federal hydraulic fracturing rule announced by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is found in looking at the recent trend in federal onshore energy development.
It’s not an inspiring picture. Since BLM deals with onshore energy, let’s look at oil and natural gas output together, measured in barrels of oil equivalent (boe). Federal onshore production has declined from 1.8 million boe in fiscal year 2009 to 1.6 million boe in FY2014, a decline of 11.3 percent, according to federal data.
Breaking out the natural gas production figures, the decline is more dramatic. Onshore production of natural gas in federal areas fell from 8.7 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) in FY2009 to 6.8 Bcf/d in FY2014, a drop of21.6 percent.
The reason is federal policy. Whether you’re talking about access to reserves or permitting red tape, the bottom-line result is declining production.
Energy’s Continued Decline on Federal Lands
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Mark Green
Posted January 15, 2015
Charting some of the latest Bureau of Land Management (BLM) data on federal oil and natural gas activity – which mostly shows continuing decline.
First, BLM issued fewer new oil and natural gas leases in fiscal year 2014 than in any year since FY1988. That year 9,234 new leases were issued, a number that fell to 1,157 in FY2014. Last year’s number was a retreat from FY2013, when 1,468 new leases were issued.
Other indicators also show declining oil and natural gas opportunity in areas controlled by the federal government.
Fed Red Tape = Lost Production and Royalties
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Mark Green
Posted July 2, 2014
An inspector general’s report issued this week really underlines what industry has been telling Washington over the past couple of years: Permitting for oil and natural gas drilling on federal lands takes too long, generates too much uncertainty and is a hindrance to developing reserves that are critical to the country’s energy security today and tomorrow.
The Interior Department inspector general’s assessment of the effectiveness and efficiency of the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) onshore drilling permit process basically shows that the process is neither very effective nor efficient.
Hindering the Energy Revolution
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Mark Green
Posted April 8, 2014
On Monday, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) released a remarkable new projection showing that given certain conditions and with the right policies in place the United States could reach energy self-sufficiency within two decades. It’s the first time EIA has projected that net imports’ share of liquid fuels consumption could reach zero – basically, that domestic production would exceed imports. Key to EIA’s scenario: access to domestic reserves.
On Tuesday, new Bureau of Land Management data showed that if EIA’s projection is to be realized, a new approach to energy development on federal lands will be needed. BLM statistics show that leasing and permitting on federal lands in fiscal year 2013 both were down, hitting their lowest numbers in years. Also down: new wells drilled.