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, September 19.

Current Items:
Application for Permit to Drill
Pad Reclamation Update
Field Monitoring System
Monthly Reports
Omnibus Rulemaking
News Article(s) of Interest
Current Prices

Application for Permit to Drill
On September 11, 2020, the Department provided email notice to the operator and appropriate agencies that the application for permit to drill for the proposed Barlow #2-14 well was denied. That notice can be found on the Well Permit Applications page.

Pad Reclamation Update
The Korn and White well reclamation efforts have been delayed due to local residents’ concerns. Snake River Oil and Gas intends to use recycled material from the Korn and White wells in the construction of the Fallon 1-11 well. Because the reclamation efforts have been delayed, the pad construction for the Fallon 1-11 has been delayed as well. To help resolve the issue SROG applied for a Conditional Use Permit (CUP) for the construction of the Fallon 1-11 pad. Pad construction is pending CUP approval.

Field Monitoring System
Snake River Oil and Gas is redesigning the production monitoring and reporting system for the entire field stream. After acquiring the field SROG found issues with the current Supervisory control and data acquisition system (SCADA). SROG has contracted with the Meridian Idaho office of Verus AEC https://www.verusaec.com/ to update and redesign this system. SROG has also been working closely with Bureau of Land Management to ensure federal criteria are met. SROG believes consistent and simplistic well monitoring is the best path forward.
SROG has asked the Department to attend a meeting with the contractor in early October to review the proposed system. SROG plans to have the new system implemented before production is re-started.

Monthly Reports
The July monthly production and transportation reports have been posted on the Monthly & Annual Reports page of the OGCC Website.

Omnibus Rulemaking
At the August 5, 2020 regular OGCC meeting, the Department presented an update on the next step of the omnibus rulemaking for IDAPA 20.07.02, Rules Governing Conservation of Oil and Natural Gas in the State of Idaho (as part of IDAPA 20, Rules of the Idaho Department of Lands). On September 16, 2020, the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking was published in a special edition of the Idaho Administrative Bulletin. No changes have been made to the rule that was approved by the OGCC on February 18, 2020. More information can be found on the OGCC rulemaking webpage for Docket No. 20-0000-2000F.

News Article(s) of Interest
State of Utah provides $5 million dollar grant program for Utah’s oil, gas and mining industries
https://www.ksl.com/article/50018447/funds-quickly-allocated-in-5-million-grant-program-for-utahs-oil-gas-and-mining-industries

Bureau of Land Management scraps Wyoming lease sale due to sage grouse protections
https://www.reuters.com/article/usa-drilling-wyoming/u-s-shelves-wyoming-oil-and-gas-leasing-plans-over-sage-grouse-idUSL1N2GE1R3

BP says oil demand could be almost dead by 2050
The majors continue the transition to carbon neutral business models. See attached E&E BP oil demand.

Current Prices
(Colors indicate spot price change since last update. Green indicates increase. Red indicates decrease.)

Utah Sweet Crude	$30.86 bbl.	9/17/20
WTI	$40.97 bbl.	9/17/20
Natural Gas	$2.06 mmbtu.	9/16/20
NGL	$4.77 mmbtu.	9/16/20