Mick Thomas

Division Administrator – Minerals, Public Trust, and Oil & Gas

Secretary to the Oil & Gas Conservation Commission

This update was sent to the Commission on Saturday, May 16.

Current Items:
Pipeline / Gathering Lines
Class II Application
Impact of COVID-19 Response
Open Commissioner Position
Idaho Data Explorer Restored
News Article(s) of Interest

Commissioners,

Not a lot to report since our meeting Wednesday. For those on this email who were not listening in on the meeting I’ll review a few of the topics discussed.

Pipeline / Gathering Lines
The pipelines and gathering lines are installed and pressure tested for the Fallon and Barlow wells.

Class II Application
The EPA is reviewing the Class II UIC permit application and should have a decision before the end of the calendar year.

Impact of COVID-19 Response
In keeping with state guidance, the IDL offices are still following work from home protocols. As we move through the phases of reopening more staff will return to work as needed.

Open Commissioner Position
The Governor’s office will take the lead on this. While it is an important position to fill, the COVID-19 response is still taking a lot of resources. As long as we have a quorum of three commissioners, we can hold meetings and vote.

Idaho Data Explorer Restored
Some of you may have seen that the data transfer between RBDMS and Data Explorer was not functioning last week. This was a result of a firewall migration by IT. Chris Gozzo and James Thum worked to resolve the issues and the site is operating correctly now. Please follow the below link to see well information for Idaho. Use Chrome as the browser, as the map does not work in Microsoft browsers.
http://welldata.ogcc.idaho.gov/

News Article(s) of Interest
Pipeline regulator overrides Washington States attempt to increase regulation on pipelines.
PHMSA Strikes Down Washington’s Crude Shipping Requirements

States ask Trump administration to pay laid off oil workers to plug abandoned wells.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-global-oil-usa-wells/states-ask-trump-administration-to-pay-laid-off-oil-workers-to-plug-abandoned-wells-idUSKBN22I2KA

EPA releases summary of Input on Oil and Gas Extraction Wastewater Management Practices Under the Clean Water Act.
https://www.epa.gov/eg/study-oil-and-gas-extraction-wastewater-management

Utah’s oil industry crumbling under coronavirus pressure.
https://www.ksl.com/article/46749673/utahs-oil-industry-crumbling-under-coronavirus-pressure

Exxon reports historic loss, closes 75% of Permian rigs

Utah Sweet Crude	$18.26 bbl.	5/14
WTI	$29.65 bbl.	5/15
Natural Gas	$1.64 mcf.	5/14
NGL	-($0.75) mmbtu.	4/29 (No update available since last update)