Lee Fuller, Independent Petroleum Association of America, talks about the Biden administration’s upcoming release of a major crackdown on oil and gas methane emissions.
Fuller discusses some of the concerns and issues regarding how the rule could affect small operators and how the nation’s leading oil and gas producing states may fight the plan.
One of the concerns is that small oil and gas operators say the coming methane rules from EPA could have an immediate impact on the low-producing wells. Fuller added there are trade groups and companies who have filed comments with the agency asking for protection for those sites.
Fuller added that State vs. Federal and Rural vs. Urban become political fodder including the separation of Ozone and Air when regulating emissions.
The forthcoming rules are also expected to be received differently in states like Texas and North Dakota, where methane regulations have mostly been voluntary.
However, states like Colorado and New Mexico, are becoming the leading drive behind some of the newest methane controls in the nation.
A few other bullet points from the interview:
- The pending regulations for those older sites are aimed at the roughly 900,000 existing wells in the U.S
- Nationwide, there are 770,000 wells that produce less than 15 barrels a day — the definition of a stripper well — and they’re spread among about 15,000 companies.
- Oklahoma gets about 9.5 percent of its oil and 12 percent of its gas from marginal wells. Texas gets about 20 percent of its production from marginal wells.
The interview also dives into how mineral owners will be impacted and how that relates to the economy. Host Jason Spiess points out in the Bakken the average mineral check recipient is a woman in her 60’s. Fuller continues that thread of conversation to other states and how many are also on fixed incomes.
If anyone would like to schedule an interview, meeting or news tip email studio@thecrudelife.com
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Sponsors, Music and Other Show Notes
Studio Sponsor: The Industrial Forest
The Industrial Forest is a network of environmentally minded and socially conscious businesses that are using industrial innovations to build a network of sustainable forests across the United States.
Weekly Sponsor: American Directional Driller
RigER is an Oilfield Operations Management Suite created for Energy Service and Equipment Rental companies.
Since 2012, RigER has been helping men and women of the oilfield bring energy to their world. The innovative cloud-to-mobile solution RigER leads to operational improvements by converting traditional paper- and whiteboard-based information management processes into a user-friendly digital system. Operational efficiency and cost optimization of Oilfield Rental and Service companies is their goal.
Weekly Sponsor: MineralTracker
MineralTracker is the only mineral management software that allows mineral owners to compare actual royalty payments to expected payments based on well performance and a proprietary, Bakken-specific reservoir model built by MineralTracker’s petroleum engineers.
MineralTracker was formed in Watford City, North Dakota, and is a subsidiary of First International Bank & Trust, a family-owned bank also based in Watford City.
Phone Line Sponsor: Swan Energy, Inc. 866.539.0860
Studio Email and Inbox Sponsor: To Be Announced
Featured Music: Moody River Band
For guest, band or show topic requests, email studio@thecrudelife.com
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