President Joe Biden signed an executive order last month, temporarily pausing the leasing program for oil and gas drilling on federal lands. The first response in Weld County was one of worry, but some say not to do that yet.
Aaron Weiss, deputy director of the Center for Western Priorities, said the order does “almost nothing” to impact oil and gas companies. The Center for Western Priorities calls itself a non-partisan conservation and advocacy group working to protect land, water and communities in the western United States.
“In the short term, this does nothing,” Weiss said. “All it does is give the Biden administration a little bit of breathing room to go back and reassess the entire system.”
Jason Maxey, Weld County director of the county’s Oil and Gas Energy Department, also emphasized that this is temporary, and active wells can continue operating.
“They’re trying to gather more information, and then after that, we will see what they do,” Maxey said. “Right now, it seems fairly short term, but we’ll see after this initial time period is up and if there’s any extension or anything else that the federal government decides to do.”
Maxey, who is still reading through Biden’s recent orders, encouraged residents to do the same. The executive orders can be found on the White House or Federal Register websites.
“It’s super easy to read headlines on the internet or hear sound bites on the news or see them on Facebook and have a reaction. I’m guilty of doing that as well,” Maxey said. “The best way to do any type or research is to go to the source. Don’t just rely on that headline. Go see what they actually say.”
Biden’s executive order, signed on Jan. 27, paused the leasing program that allows oil and gas drilling on federal lands and waters. During the 60-day timeframe, the administration will not award new drilling permits.
The order, however, does not affect current drilling or previously approved permits. If a project has been permitted but not started, the company is still free to move forward. The Associated Press reported that companies stockpiled thousands of permits at the end of Donald Trump’s presidency to allow drilling for several years.
New drilling isn’t completely banned, either. Certain exceptions are allowed, but they must be approved by a small number of high-ranking officials at the Department of Interior.
Weiss said the executive order is the first step in ensuring taxpayers are considered when using public resources, and that oil and gas drilling is not contributing to accelerating climate change.
“The President’s action will provide a chance to review the federal oil and gas program to ensure that it serves the public interest and to restore balance on America’s public lands and waters to benefit current and future generations,” the Department of the Interior wrote in a press release.
Does the executive order impact Weld County?
Weld features the Pawnee National Grassland, which is federal property, but it only makes up 8.35% of the county’s total area.
The grassland features 367 total wells, Maxey said. Of these, 74 fall under the active status. This means they are producing wells, shut-in wells or temporarily abandoned wells. Forty-six are considered “other” status, which means the location didn’t work out, or they are locations that have been permitted.
The remaining wells are inactive.
Maxey said the county has 198 wells on private property that feature pipelines that travel through the grassland. These are producing minerals on federal land with the surface location elsewhere. He said the county already approved 506 permits for future projects like this.
Due to the nature of the order, Maxey said there is no immediate impact on current operations. It’s hard to determine the impact in terms of what new permit requests might have been submitted, but all approved work remains unaffected.
Executives of oil companies told investors they expected the moratorium and are not particularly concerned at this point.
“As for the questions of what a permitting moratorium could mean for ConocoPhillips specifically, let me take that head on,” ConocoPhillips CEO Ryan Lance said on a conference call last week. “While we certainly are going to engage to protect our interests, ConocoPhillips has the flexibility, the diversity and the depth of low cost of supply and low-(greenhouse gas) resources to manage through this issue without materially impacting our plans.”
EOG Resources told investors in 2020 it has roughly four years worth of federal drilling permits and access to other properties.
“When it comes to access to federal lands, that’s one of the things we’re not really worried about in our business,” COO Billy Helms said last year. “We have a lot of potential outside of federal land, too.”
Other parts of the executive order
Biden’s executive order featured more than just the permitting moratorium. First, it introduces the 30×30 goal, which aims to conserve 30% of the United States’ water and land by 2030. It is designed to protect health, food supply, biodiversity and communities.
Federal employees plan to work with local municipalities, landowners, environmentalists and other stakeholders as they move forward with the initiative.
Second, the Biden administration wants to invest in creating clean-energy jobs, land restoration, sustainable agriculture and renewable energy production, among other goals.
Weld County politicians and residents often bristle when they hear about plans to transition to more renewable energy, but Maxey said it’s not a bad thing.
Maxey knows oil and gas is important to Weld County — and thinks the industry is making strides to operate safer and more efficiently — but said all forms of energy are important.
“Different forms of energy all have their place, whether that is a fossil fuel energy source or a renewable energy source. I believe we can all work together to accomplish common goals,” Maxey said. “Solar, wind, oil and gas, coal or biogas — there’s a whole bunch of things that we can lump under the category of energy — I think for any society to have a well-rounded energy mix, you have to consider all forms and how they work together in cooperative aspects.”
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‘This does nothing’: Federal oil, gas permit has little impact on Weld County - Greeley Tribune
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