Federal agency on pace to set record for well drilling permits in U.S. this year

The Associated Press

As oil and natural gas prices continue to climb, the Bureau of Land Management is on pace to issue a record number of well drilling permits this year for public lands across the nation.

The demand also has extended the time it takes the agency to issue permits, increasing from about 180 days last year to about 200 days as of June 25, BLM geologist Richard Watson said July 28.

During an address to a natural gas outlook conference, Watson said the agency processes many permits within the 30-35 day period established by the BLM, but it has been difficult for the staff to keep up with demand.

The agency had issued about 3,500 permits by June 25, a number that is expected to increase to a record 6,000 by the end of the federal fiscal year in September, Watson said. Last year, the agency issued about 4,000 permits.

“It’s unprecedented in the history of the BLM,” he said.

After his speech, Watson said the permit demand is due almost entirely to oil and gas prices.

Wilderness Society officials contend the Bush administration is trying to give industry more control over public land. “It appears to us they’re trying to get as much land under lease now while they can,” society spokesman Bill Beagle said.

Three years ago, the Energy Task Force headed by Vice President Dick Cheney asked the BLM to find ways to open new federal lands to oil and gas leasing and to speed the approval of drilling permits.