US Interior Department pledges to fight public land flaring rule

(adds comments from US Department of Interior, American Petroleum Institute, American Chemistry Council and Environmental Defense Fund, paragraph 1-10)

HOUSTON (ICIS)–The US Department of the Interior (DOI) said it has reviewed and flagged a rule regulating flaring and venting emissions from drilling on public lands after the US senate voted against a resolution on Wednesday to repeal those rules.

Acting assistant secretary of the interior for land and minerals by Kate MacGregor said despite the Senate’s vote, the DOI will attempt to suspend, revise or rescind it.

“The rule is expected to have real and harmful impacts on onshore energy development and could impact state and local jobs and revenue,” MacGregor said. “Small independent oil and gas producers in states like North Dakota, Colorado and New Mexico, which account for a substantial portion of our nation’s energy wealth, could be hit the hardest.” 

The vote, 51-49, was in regards to a joint resolution attempting to nullify the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) rule for waste prevention, royalties on production, and conservation for oil and gas drilling operations on federally-owned land. The rule was finalised last year.

The American Chemistry Council (ACC) said although it was disappointed by the Senate’s vote, it was confident in the DOI’s plans.

“As an industry that has invested $180bn in plants and personnel linked to natural gas, we are concerned that these regulations could jeopardise US manufacturing growth,” the ACC said.

The American Petroleum Institute (API) was also disappointed by the no vote, it said, and described the BLM rule as an “unnecessary and costly misstep” that overlaps with regulations from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

According to API upstream and industry operations group director Erik Milito, the rule could impede US energy production.

“Analysis by Environmental Resources Management on the proposed rule found that the added cost of compliance could result in up to 40% of wells that flare on federal lands being permanently uneconomic to produce,” the API stated.

The Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) described the outcome as a win for US taxpayers, as oil and gas companies drilling on federal land would not be free to leak, vent or flare “the nearly 110bn cubic feet [2.1bn square metres] of gas they currently squander each year”.