American Oil and Gas Reporter - January 2012 - 19

IndustryDigest
operators who can establish that a spacing
unit would be drained by a horizontal well.
The association says the commissioner
seeking the change expressed concern that
working interests in an existing well or
project area could impede the formation of
a new project area.
The commission did not adopt any
proposed language relating to
compulsory pooling, the association
says, with one commissioner saying the
regulations clearly addressed horizontal
drilling, not pooling, and expressing
concern the rule making did not provide
notice about amendments to the
compulsory pooling rules.
In its prehearing statement on the
proposed regulation, NMOGA said it
agreed with the OCD plan to require
disclosure of the composition of
hydraulic fracturing fluids, but
recommended extending the time
required for disclosure from 20 to 45
days, to allow operators to receive the
chemical information from service
providers.
The Independent Petroleum
Association of New Mexico reports

OCD also will take up the pit rule issue
this year. It says it and NMOGA each
have submitted proposed amendments
to the existing rule in an effort to reduce
the regulatory burden created by the
Richardson administration's changes to
Rule 17, the pit rule.
IPANM holds that current
regulations place New Mexico at a
competitive disadvantage and have
convinced many oil and gas operators to
focus on fields outside the state. The
association asserts the proposed revised
regulations will not cause any increased
risk to the environment or groundwater.
New Mexico has a 30-day legislative
session in 2012, and IPANM says it
does not expect to see new legislation
affecting the oil and gas industry. r

Gulf Back In Business
With Western Sale 218
NEW ORLEANS-The Bureau of
Ocean Energy Management says its
Western Gulf of Mexico Oil and Gas
Lease Sale 218, held in mid-December

in New Orleans, attracted $337.7 million
in high bids, with ConocoPhillips Co.
leading the bidding. According to
BOEM, 20 companies submitted 241
bids on 191 tracts that totaled more than
a million acres offshore Texas. The
highest bid of $103.2 million came from
ConocoPhillips for Keathley Canyon
Block 95. The bureau indicates
ConocoPhillips was the apparent high
bidder on 75 blocks, the most for any
company, and had the most in bonus
bids at $157.8 million. BOEM says all
bids totaled $712.7 million.
Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar
notes the lease sale was the first since
the Deepwater Horizon blowout in
spring 2010, and states, "Offshore
drilling will never be risk free, but over
the last 19 months, we have moved
quickly and aggressively with the most
significant oil and gas reforms in U.S.
history to make it safer and more
environmentally responsible."
BOEM notes that Sale 218 is the last
remaining Western Gulf Planning Area
sale scheduled in the 2007-2012 Outer
Continental Shelf Oil and Natural Gas

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JANUARY 2012 19
American Oil and Gas Reporter - January 2012

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Oil and Gas Reporter - January 2012
