OGCC Secretary Update

Mick Thomas

Division Administrator, Oil & Gas

Secretary to the Oil & Gas Conservation Commission

This update was sent to the Commission on Saturday, September 21.

Current Items:
Special Meeting
IGS Advisory Board
Class II Permit Status
Transportation – Purchaser Reports
Alta Mesa Files Bankruptcy
News Article(s) of Interest

Special Meeting
The Oil and Gas Conservation Commission will be holding a special meeting on Wednesday, September 25, 2019 at 10:00am at the Idaho Department of Lands Boise Staff Office to present the pending rule for IDAPA 20.07.02 Rules Governing Conservation of Oil and Natural Gas in the State of Idaho. See the Commission Meetings page for more details.

Idaho Geological Survey Advisory Board
At the Land Board meeting last Friday, the Land Board appointed me to be their designated representative on the Idaho Geological Survey Advisory Board.
The Idaho Geological Survey (IGS) is a special program administered at the University of Idaho, under the authority of the Board of Regents of the university. IGS is the lead state agency for the collection, interpretation, and dissemination of geologic and mineral data for Idaho. Such information is acquired through field and laboratory investigations by IGS staff, and through cooperative programs with other governmental and private agencies.
The Advisory Board is a non-regulatory body that works with the IGS Director to formulate a strategic plan to accomplish the mission of the Idaho Geological Survey. The Advisory Board and the IGS Director ensure the actions of IGS are in line with their mission while following direction provided in statute. The Advisory Board also aids IGS research-based programs.

Class II Permit Status
On Monday, September 9, 2019 the EPA sent notice to AM Idaho that they would move toward the a denial of AM Idaho’s UIC permit unless an aquifer exemption request package was received by September 27, 2019. AM Idaho responded that they are working to provide a complete package and did not anticipate a problem meeting the September 27th deadline.

Transportation – Purchaser Reports
In August of 2018 Alta Mesa Resources notified the department that they would be selling liquids out of state and would cease providing purchaser data on liquids, however, ARM Energy Management LLC would continue to be the purchaser of gas from AM Idaho.
The Oil and Gas division has been in contact with known out of state purchasers of the Idaho liquids. Thanks to the cooperation of Big West Oil in Salt Lake, the division has received purchaser reports for condensate purchased by Big West. The condensate purchaser reports for 2019 are now posted on the OGCC website.
The department is continuing to work with a Canadian company, NGL supply, to gain purchaser data for the natural gas liquids sold from the highway 30 facility

Alta Mesa Files Bankruptcy
On September 12th, 2019 the public company Alta Mesa Resources filed a voluntary petition under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code.
http://altamesaresources.irpass.com/profiles/investor/ResLibraryView.asp?ResLibraryID=91280&GoTopage=1&Category=2049&BzID=2078&G=1070 
Alta Mesa Resources (AMR) formerly owned a majority interest in Alta Mesa Idaho (AM Idaho). This past spring, that majority interest was purchased in its entirety by a newly formed private company named High Mesa. The leases held by AM Idaho were included in the sale.
I’ve received some questions from the media and public at large regarding if and how the AMR bankruptcy could impact the Idaho operations. Since AMR and High Mesa are independent of one another, the bankruptcy should not have a direct impact on our field, or other operations owned by High Mesa. Both the Land Board audit and the allocation investigation being conducted by the Commission involve AM Idaho.
If you have further questions please call or email. I’m happy to discuss.

News Article(s) of Interest
Alta Mesa Resources Bankruptcy:

https://www.bizjournals.com/houston/news/2019/09/12/houston-energy-co-led-by-james-hackett-files.html

Drone attack on Saudi oil field:
https://iranintl.com/en/world/iran-responsible-attack-saudi-oil-facilities-rick-perry
https://www.ogj.com/general-interest/economics-markets/article/14039973/oil-price-spike-likely-shortlived-after-saudi-drone-attack

Regional information:
https://www.govtech.com/fs/infrastructure/Pacific-Northwest-Facility-to-Study-Grid-Security-Resilience.html