|
Flood of permits strains BLM in the Rockies In energy bill Bureau of Land Management would receive an additional $1.5 million to reduce the permit backlog in western states Robert Gehrke Associated Press Writer
Oil and gas companies eager to drill in the Rocky Mountain West appear to have an ally in the Bush administration, which is approving wells at a pace well ahead of the Clinton administration and looking to get even faster.
An Associated Press review of thousands of applications to drill on Bureau of Land Management land since 1998 shows a 34 percent increase in the number of wells approved under Bush when compared with the last three years of the Clinton administration.
The vast majority of the permits, 94 percent since 2001, are clustered in five states: Colorado, Montana, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming — a key region in the administration’s push to open more public land for energy development.
BLM has received nearly 26,000 applications to drill wells and approved nearly 19,000 since 1998 — almost three of every four. BLM land and other federal land managed by the Interior Department contain an estimated 68 percent of the nation’s gas reserves and 74 percent of oil resources. The Associated Press review covered detailed BLM records over the last three years and summary information dating to 1998.
A flood of permits has strained BLM’s meager resources, creating a backlog of applications industry officials say is leading to shortages and higher gas prices. Interior seeking to speed up process To answer the critics, the Interior Department is seeking to speed up the process.
“We are blessed with vast resources. We have a stewardship responsibility to produce it and I think the American public expects us to produce it,” said Patricia Morrison, the agency’s principal deputy assistant secretary for land and minerals.
BLM controls 262 million acres of land and 700 million acres of subsurface rights, with an annual budget of about $2 billion and 10,000 employees — but it isn’t enough these days.
The BLM field office in Buffalo, Wyo., has been swamped by the oil and gas stampede. It handles permits for the frenzied coalbed methane development of the Powder River Basin, where the agency expects to issue 3,000 permits in the coming year and methane is so shallow wells can be punched with rigs used to drill for water.
Four years ago, 23 people worked at the Buffalo office. The number has more than tripled to 76 to handle the demand, more than 4,000 permit applications in the last three years.
Dennis Stenger, field manager of the office, said his staff has been aggressive in trying to get faster, issuing permits to clusters of wells to avoid redundant environmental and cultural studies. That practice and others were adopted BLM-wide in a series of directives issued in April aimed at improving the permit process. Regulations call for permit processing in 30 days Without unforeseen delays, the office can generally get permits processed in 46 days, Stenger said. “You can’t streamline much more” without changing the environmental laws, he said.
Federal regulations, however, say BLM is supposed to process permits in 30 days or less. The industry notes that a state like Colorado can often process permits to drill on state lands in as little as 10 days.
The Associated Press review found it takes BLM much longer — an average of 89 days over the last three years, excepting applications still pending at the end of the 2003 budget year.
Morrison said the numbers don’t reflect delays caused by companies amending or withdrawing an application. But she conceded that permits are taking too long to handle for the liking of industry — and government.
“That’s exactly what we’re trying to address,” Morrison said. Volume of applications growing The Associated Press review found that, during the first 33 months of the Bush administration, the BLM approved 9,876 wells, or about 299 per month. In the final 40 months of the Clinton presidency, 8,934 wells were approved, or 223 per month.
The volume of permit applications has also grown fairly steadily, from 3,790 in 1998 to 4,715 in 2003. The number approved has fluctuated some, but has generally increased as well.
Billions of dollars are at stake: A recent industry study by IHS Energy estimated an additional 264 million cubic feet of natural gas per day could be in production by August 2004 if BLM were able to wipe out its backlog in six months and begin consistently processing permits in 45 days. The Energy Department has estimated that, over the next two decades, gas consumption will grow by more than 50 percent, while production would grow by just 14 percent if it continues at its current rate.
In the energy bill Republicans expect to revive next year, BLM would receive an additional $1.5 million to reduce the permit backlog in Colorado, Montana, New Mexico and Utah during the coming year. There are other provisions intended to speed things up, including the creation of a White House task force to coordinate energy projects, initiatives targeting the most crowded offices and tighter deadlines.
| 