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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 8, 2022.

January 2022 Secretary Update

Current Items:
Special OGCC Meetings
Proposed Legislation Idaho Code 47-3
Field Status
Injection Well Update
News Article(s) of Interest
Current Prices

Special OGCC Meetings
The Department held a special meeting for the Commission on December 16, 2021, in order for the Commission to choose to authorize one person to review substantive documents for filing with the court, and to make strategic litigation decisions on behalf of all commissioners, as the Commission, regarding CAIA v. Miller in consultation with the Commission’s attorneys of record, the Idaho Attorney General’s Office. The Commission chose Chairman Betty Coppersmith to take this role. An additional Commission meeting was held on January 5, 2022. More specific detail is provided below:

Proposed Legislation Idaho Code 47-3
In the month of December, the Department worked through comments received and created a second draft text. This draft text was presented to the Commission at the January 5, 2022 special meeting for the Commission. Public comment was not accepted at the meeting but written comments will be accepted on the second draft text from January 5- January 12, 2022. Please visit the OGCC website for more information.
Idaho Code title 47, chapter 3 – Proposed Statutory Changes | Oil & Gas Conservation Commission

The January 5, 2022 meeting lasted approximately five hours with a brief lunch. While comments were not accepted at the meeting It was open for telephonic and in person attendance.
The Commission discussed the proposed changes to Title 47, Chapter 3, Idaho code. The Commission evaluated the written and oral comments received and shared ideas on potential revisions.

Some of the main points discussed:
1. Make-up of the Commission: There was general consensus that the number of Commissioners will remain the same at five. The qualifications of the Commissioners were discussed as well. The Commission did support replacing the IDL Director with a different person to be selected by the Governor, however the qualifications of that person are still being evaluated.
2. Drilling Location and Well Spacing: Significant discussion was given to rewording Section 317 and Section 318, with the goal of simplifying the wording, providing more clarity, and being more consistent with other states.
3. The role of the Commission: The ability of the Commission to be more involved as a technical resource to the Department was discussed. Especially regarding the role of the Commission as an appellate body vs. hands-on technical expert in the hearing process.

The Department and AG’s office are working together to aggregate Commission comments and will provide an updated version of the of Title 47, Chapter 3, Idaho code soon.

Field Status
The Dutch Lane 1-13 on the eastern side of Harmon Field spudded December 18, 2021 and has reached a total depth of 4875’. Snake River Oil & Gas has designated this as a Confidential Well per Idaho Code § 47-327. Drilling operations for the season have been completed for the present, but some additional workover operations are planned for the next one to two months. Snake River will perform remedial cementing operations on the Fallon #1-10 in the next week in preparations for commencing production from the well.

Injection Well Update
Snake River Oil & Gas has reached out to the EPA Region 10 office at various times over the past several months regarding the status of their application. The most recent information indicates that they will possibly be making a proposed recommendation in the early part of 2022.

News Article(s) of Interest
Interior: US has twice as many abandoned oil and gas wells as previously thought | TheHill
Secretary Note: I have been tracking this legislation. A change in leadership at the federal level provided a massive influx of federal funding for O&G well plugging. Because of this increase many O&G producing states found additional orphaned wells, doubling the volume previously reported to the IOGCC as recently as September 2021. Idaho does not have any orphaned and abandoned O&G wells and therefore did not apply for these funds.

New York State: Natural gas bans are new front in effort to curb emissions

Colorado: Garfield County to continue oil and gas regulations economic impact study into new year
https://www.postindependent.com/news/garfield-county-to-continue-oil-and-gas-regulations-economic-impact-study-into-new-year/

Anti-government conspiracies create another challenge to addressing drought in the West
https://www.deseret.com/2022/1/3/22841583/anti-government-conspiracies-create-another-challenge-to-drought-in-the-west-bundy-colorado-river

Current Prices

Natural Gas	$3.79 mmbtu.	01/05/22	(no change since last month)
NGL	$10.14 mmbtu.	01/05/22	(9.3% / $0.94 increase since last month)
Utah Sweet Crude	$65.91 bbl.	01/07/22	(7.5% / $4.27 increase since last month)
WTI	$78.85 bbl.	01/07/22	(8.8% / $6.91 increase since last month)

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

The second draft text of proposed statutory changes has been posted to the Idaho Code title 47, chapter 3 – Proposed Statutory Changes webpage. This draft text #2 will be presented at the January 5, 2022 special Commission meeting. The Commission will give oral comments but will not be accepting oral public comments on the second draft text. The Department will accept written comments from January 5 – January 12, 2022.

The October 2021 monthly report is now available. Please see the Monthly and Annual Reports page for more information.

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, December 11.

December 2021 Secretary Update

Current Items:
Field Status
Dutch Lane #1-13 APD Approved
Annual Inspections
Third Quarter 2021 – Quarterly Report
Proposed Legislation Idaho Code 47-3
IOGCC meeting
News Article(s) of Interest
Current Prices

Field Status
In Harmon Field, the Fallon #1-11 well has completed drilling operations. Snake River Oil & Gas has designated this as a Confidential Well per Idaho Code § 47-327.

Dutch Lane #1-13 APD Approved
The permit for the Dutch Lane #1-13 well was approved by the Department November 17, 2021. The proposed well is located approximately one mile southeast of the Fallon #1-11 and is also in Harmon Field. The operator expects to begin moving in and rigging up to commence drilling operations the week of December 4th.

Annual Inspections
Annual inspections on all wells and facilities in Payette County were completed the week of November 28th and the final inspection reports are being compiled. The annual inspection for the Fallon #1-10 was not performed due to pending planned operations by Snake River Oil & Gas. Once those operations are completed, the Department will complete the inspection.

Third Quarter 2021 – Quarterly Report
Attached is the quarterly report for the 3rd quarter of 2021.

Proposed Legislation Idaho Code 47-3
The Department received oral comments from the November 16, OGCC meeting and five written comments on the first draft text. The Department will be reviewing those comments and working on a second draft text during this month of December.

IOGCC meeting
The Annual Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission held our annual meeting on November 7th through 9th in Santa Fe New Mexico. James Thum and I attended on behalf of Idaho.
While oil & gas prices have recovered in the past several months, this annual meeting covered a broader array of topics than in years past. The majority of states understand that the U.S. is moving toward a more diverse energy industry and are working with operators, NGO’s, federal partners, and other states to best serve the changing regulatory needs of the industry.
Below is a link to all of the presentations held during the meeting if you would like to review.
Annual Conference Presentations | Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission (ok.gov)

News Article(s) of Interest
Exxon Mobil plans to go net-zero in the Permian Basin
https://energynews.us/digests/exxon-mobil-plans-to-go-net-zero-in-the-permian-basin/

Nations power grid needs expansion to meet anticipated renewable energy production
Renewable Energy Is Great—but the Grid Can Slow It Down | WIRED

Idaho moves ahead on plan to appraise federal land for taxes
https://apnews.com/article/technology-business-legislature-idaho-property-taxes-31b0872bf817f38989955776598b01e0

Current Prices

Utah Sweet Crude	$61.64 bbl.	12/10/21	(11.4% / $7.87 decrease since last report)
WTI	$71.94 bbl.	12/10/21	(11.6% / $9.40 decrease since last report)
Natural Gas	$3.79 mmbtu.	12/08/21	(32.2% / $1.80 decrease since last report)
NGL	$9.20 mmbtu.	12/08/21	(23.7% / $2.86 decrease since last report)

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

The September 2021 monthly report is now available. Please see the Monthly and Annual Reports page for more information.

The Department has approved the Dutch Lane #1-13 application for permit to drill. More information can be found on the Dutch Lane #1-13 well file page. 

The first draft text of proposed statutory changes has been posted to the Idaho Code title 47, chapter 3 – Proposed Statutory Changes webpage. This draft text #1 will be presented at the November 16, 2021 Commission meeting. The Commission will give oral comments and also will be accepting oral public comment on the first draft text. The Department will accept written comments on this first draft from November 16-30, 2021.

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, November 6.

November 2021 Secretary Update

Current Items:
Field Status
Dutch Lane #1-13 APD Received
Injection Well Update
IOGCC meeting
News Article(s) of Interest
Current Prices

Field Status
In Harmon Field, the Barlow 2-14 was drilled and completed in October. The operator has designated this as a Confidential Well per Idaho Code §47-327. Completion and other information will be released to the public beginning April 13, 2022. The log data will be released beginning October 12, 2022 (1 year).

The Fallon 1-11, also in Harmon Field, spudded November 1, 2021 and has also been designated as a Confidential well. Operations are expected to be completed by late-November.

Representatives from the BLM along with IDL witnessed meter proving in Willow Field in mid-October for the Kauffman 1-34, ML Investments 1-3 and ML Investments 2-3 wells. The operator has installed proving loops at the well separators in order to test the meters under field conditions as required by the BLM. The Department received copies of the test results from the BLM (all meters passed) and is coordinating with them on their future inspection schedule.

Dutch Lane #1-13 APD Received
Snake River Oil & Gas, LLC submitted an application for permit to drill which is under review by the Department. The application and other information can be found on the Well Permit Applications page (https://ogcc.idaho.gov/well-permit-applications/). The Department is accepting comments on this application through November 16, 2021. This well is located on the east side of Harmon Field, and will likely be drilled in late-November or early December 2021.

Injection Well Update
EPA is continuing its evaluation of the injection well application from Snake River Oil & Gas. The Department has responded to inquiries from them regarding our statutes and rules for well plugging requirements in the state. EPA has not given any indication of the status of the application or timeframe for their recommendation on the permit.

IOGCC meeting
The Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission is holding it’s first in person meeting annual meeting since 2019. Department staff will be attending this meeting in Santa Fe from Saturday, November 6 to Tuesday November 9. We look forward to sharing with the other ~35 member states how the industry has turned around in Idaho thanks to the new operator.

News Article(s) of Interest
Negative narrative continues from Oregon newspaper on Idaho Oil & Gas:
See Independent Enterprise attachment (PDF)

Teton Regional Land Trust announces protection of 3 properties (NOTE: COMMISSIONER HINCHCLIFF)
https://www.postregister.com/news/local/teton-regional-land-trust-announces-protection-of-3-properties/article_6a59d8fd-aa3d-5340-a23b-89af2e55dd9a.html

Biden says he worries that cutting oil production too fast will hurt working people
https://www.upr.org/post/biden-says-he-worries-cutting-oil-production-too-fast-will-hurt-working-people#stream/0

US to gauge climate damage from federal oil & gas sales
https://apnews.com/article/climate-joe-biden-business-environment-and-nature-environment-30b6d0c8de10b0c1381fb1cf4694e53d

U.S. Interior to weigh greenhouse gas emissions of proposed 2022 oil lease sales
https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/us-interior-unit-weigh-greenhouse-gas-emissions-proposed-2022-oil-lease-sales-2021-10-29/

Shell Oil plans to construct a new renewable gas facility in Southern Idaho
https://www.kmvt.com/2021/10/19/shell-oil-plans-construct-new-renewable-natural-gas-facility-southern-idaho/

Current Prices

Utah Sweet Crude	$69.51 bbl.	11/04/21	($0.51 increase since last month)
WTI	$81.34 bbl.	11/05/21	($1.33 increase since last month)
Natural Gas	$5.59 mmbtu.	11/04/21	($0.36 decrease since last month)
NGL	$12.06 mmbtu.	11/04/21	($0.30 decrease since last month)

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

The 2022 Administrative Hearings schedule has been updated and posted to the Administrative Hearings page. The schedule also includes deadlines to submit an application for a hearing.

Snake River Oil & Gas, LLC submitted an application for permit to drill which is under review by the Department. The application and other information can be found on the Well Permit Applications page. The Department is accepting comments on this application through November 16, 2021.