Mick Thomas

Division Administrator – Minerals, Navigable Waters, and Oil & Gas

Secretary to the Oil & Gas Conservation Commission

This update was sent to the Commission on Friday, May 6, 2022.

May 2022 Secretary Update

Current Items:
Proposed Legislation Idaho Code 47-3
OGCC Regular Meeting
New Commissioner from Payette County
Upcoming IOGCC Meeting
Injection Well Update
Field Status
Monthly Production and Sales for February 2022
News Article(s) of Interest
Current Prices

Proposed Legislation Idaho Code 47-3
At the April meeting the Commission discussed final changes to Idaho Code 47-3. The department has followed the recommendations of the Commission and will present a draft for vote at the May meeting.
More information can be found on the Idaho Code title 47, chapter 3 – Proposed Statutory Changes webpage of the OGCC website.

OGCC Regular Meeting
The May regular meeting of the OGCC was rescheduled and will be held Thursday, May 19, 2022 @ 1:30pm. More information can be found on the Commission Meetings page of the OGCC website.

New Commissioner from Payette County
Idaho Code 47-314(1)(a) requires that one of the members of the OGCC be a county commissioner from an oil and gas producing county in Idaho. This opening has been filled by Jennifer Riebe. Ms. Riebe is the District 2 Payette County Commissioner and has begun onboarding to the OGCC. She will be attending the May 19th meeting as an OGCC Commissioner. We appreciate Ms. Riebe’s commitment to Payette county and the state of Idaho.

Upcoming IOGCC Meeting
Idaho is a full member of the Interstate Oil & Gas Compact Commission (IOGCC). The IOGCC May business meeting will be held May 14-17, 2022 in Oklahoma City Oklahoma. James and I will be attending the business meeting as well as the annual State Inspector’s Forum that coincides with the business meeting. For those interested in hearing some of the topics of primary concern to state regulators, the Council of Regulatory Officials session includes a “state’s roundtable which can be heard via Zoom. Registration instructions can be found on the IOGCC website here: . Commissioners are encouraged to listen in.

Injection Well Update
The EPA comment period closed 3/30/2022. The Dept. of Lands submitted comments regarding the proposed well integrity evaluation procedures in the Recommended Decision. EPA Region 10 is evaluating each comment received and has not provided additional information regarding a timeframe for a decision. IDL staff plans to meet with members of the Ground Water Protection Council (GWPC) during the IOGCC meeting to discuss the technical aspects of the EPA Recommendation.

Field Status
Snake River Oil & Gas continues to evaluate potential well locations in the Fruitland area for the 2021-2022 drilling campaign. The Department has completed inspections of all wells in both Harmon and Willow fields. Two minor issues were brought to the attention of the operator and have subsequently been remedied. IDL will follow up with confirmation inspections in the next 7 to 10 days.

Monthly Production and Sales for February 2022
February Monthly Report | Oil & Gas Conservation Commission (idaho.gov)

News Article(s) of Interest
Bipartisan public lands mapping bill becomes law
(original link no longer works)

Risch, King Bill to Modernize Public Land Mapping Heads to President’s Desk – Press Releases – James E Risch, U.S. Senator for Idaho (senate.gov) (this link was added to this post to replace the broken link above)

Biden overhauls federal oil and gas leasing program — Here’s what it means

Current Prices

Natural Gas	$8.30 MMBtu.	05/04/22	(32.8% / $2.05 increase since last month)
NGL	$12.80 MMBtu.	05/04/22	(3% / $0.37 increase since last month)
Utah Sweet Crude	$98.44 bbl.	05/06/22	(13.9% / $12.03 increase since last month)
WTI	$110.49 bbl.	05/06/22	(13% / $12.73 increase since last month)

(green indicates prices increase since last update, red indicates decline)