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 Saturday, January 7, 2023.

January 2023 Secretary Update

Current Items:

Monthly Production and Sales for October 2022
Docket No. CC-2022-OGR-01-002, Application for Integration
2023 Legislature convenes
Injection Well Update
Field Status
News Article(s) of Interest
Current Prices

Monthly Production and Sales for October 2022
The October 2022 monthly report is now available. Please see the Monthly and Annual Reports page for more information.

Docket No. CC-2022-OGR-01-002, Application for Integration
The Evidentiary Hearing will be held next Thursday, January 12, 2023. More information for this application and hearing can be found on the Docket No. CC-2022-OGR-01-002 hearing webpage.

2023 Legislature convenes
The 2023 Legislature convenes Monday, January 9, 2023. I will continue to keep the Commission updated on the progress of the Oil and Gas Act Modernization bill. We will also continue to keep the webpage for the Proposed Statutory changes for title 47, chapter 3 updated as we move forward.

Injection Well Update
On November 3, 2022, EPA Region 10 issued a Class II Disposal Well Permit to Snake River Oil and Gas, LLC and approved an associated Aquifer Exemption for the Willow Sand in Willow Field. The permit took effect December 19, 2022, at 12:01 AM. The documents can be viewed on the EPA Region 10 web page here. The department has not discussed a specific timeline with the operator for bringing the injection well to an active status, but Snake River has indicated that it could be as long as 12 to 18 months.

Field Status
• Drilling operations are complete for the Irvin 1-19 and Barlow 3-14 wells in Harmon Field. Testing and completion operations commenced the week of November 28th and are ongoing. Both wells have been designated as confidential under Idaho Code § 47-327.
• On December 15th, 2022, the department declared the Kauffman 1-9 well inactive per the requirements set forth in IDAPA 20.07.02.501.01 https://adminrules.idaho.gov/rules/current/20/200702.pdf. Production has not been reported on that well since October 2018. The well record has been updated and all documents can be viewed on the well file page: https://ogcc.idaho.gov/well-files/uswn-11-075-20027-kauffman-1-9/. Snake River performed a Mechanical Integrity Test on the Kauffman 1-9 well on December 16, 2022. The well surpassed the minimum guidelines provided by the department.

News Article(s) of Interest
None this month.

Current Prices

Natural Gas (HH)*	$3.75 MMBtu.	01/04/23	(44.9% / $3.05 decrease since last month)
NGL (EIA)	$7.59 MMBtu.	12/21/22	(8.6% / $0.71 decrease since last month)
Utah Sweet Crude	$70.46 bbl.	12/30/22	(3.0% / $2.06 increase since last month)
WTI	$72.84 bbl.	12/01/22	(10.2% / $8.38 decrease since last month)

 

* Gas prices for the month of December were generally much higher in the western United States, with peaks in the $45.00-$50.00 range per MMBtu. The market has since adjusted and prices are back down. We will not know the impact of these spikes on Idaho production and sales until the operator provides sales data, which is due for December on February 14th, 2023, per Idaho Code.