American Oil and Gas Reporter - October 2018 - 105

ConventionCoverage: Petroleum Association of Wyoming
often brainstorm this together. There is a
lot of give and take, understanding what
your limitations are and you understanding
where we are trying to get."
Using the example of the order's restriction on working between March 15
and June 30 within two miles of a noncore
lek, Bruce said examples of minimizing
impact might include placing a well pad
at the edge of the buffer, locating it behind
a topographical feature that shielded the
lek, or a traffic management plan. "Even
though you have to be in there during
that time frame, can you lower your activity?" she asked.
Finally, if compensatory mitigation is
required, she encouraged companies to
come to the department early with a plan.
"We really need to document this process
and make sure we are accountable," Bruce
stated. "If a company can lay all this out,
sometimes the exception can go through
in a day."
Crowder said when an operator requested an OSLI bond be released, it
kicked off a total program compliance
assessment, by which the office determined
how to resolve any compliance issues associated with the lease. "We want to make
sure our land can be productive into the
future, and bonding really is our last leverage for that," he remarked. "We are going
to be very careful in releasing bonding to
make sure we don't lose that leverage."
He observed that OSLI didn't have

strict reclamation guidelines. "Usually,
companies are working with the BLM or
local entities, and they will have a lot
more strict guidelines," Crowder said.
"We are going to follow those."
"Reclamation doesn't occur overnight,
it usually takes two years; it may take
longer, depending on where you are and
the type of disturbance," Crowder advised,
"We are going to hold on to that bond
until successful reclamation has occurred."
Claypool harkened back to President
Donald Trump's March 2017 Executive
Order 13783, which required all federal
agencies to revise or rescind any regulations
that unduly burdened the development or
use of domestic energy resources. Interior
Secretary Ryan Zinke responded with Secretarial Order 3354, which reinstates the
quarterly lease sale provision of the Mineral
Leasing Act, Claypool said.
He said the memorandum that implemented SO 3354 required that parcels
for which BLM received an "expression
of interest" be offered within six months.
"Those of you familiar with leasing in
Wyoming know that in the past it has
been a 12-16 month process," Claypool
said. "It has been quite a challenge, but
we are there. We now have a six-month
turnaround."
General Session
During PAW's Aug. 23 general session,
William Perry Pendley, president of the

Petroleum Association of Wyoming Vice Chairman Scott Bliss (left) pauses with general
session speakers Susan Combs and William Perry Pendley during the association's
annual meeting, Aug. 22-23 in Casper, Wy.

Jason Crowder, assistant director for the
Wyoming Office of State Lands and Investments, reviews OSLI's bond release
program during an Aug. 23 committee
session at the Petroleum Association of
Wyoming's annual meeting in Casper, Wy.

Mountain States Legal Foundation, reviewed the significance of several cases
the foundation was litigating, and Susan
Combs, a partner in Holland & Hart's
Jackson Hole, Wy., office, spoke on crisis
response and management.
Pendley detailed the experiences of
Louisiana oilman Sidney M. Longwell,
who obtained a 6,247-acre lease from
BLM in 1982. After numerous National
Environmental Policy Act and American
Historic Preservation Act reviews and
appeals, Pendley said Longwell eventually
obtained four drilling permits, three of
which were revoked.
"In 2015," Pendley recalled, "a federal
judge called the government's treatment
of Longwell 'Kafkaesque' and ordered a
prompt decision. So in 2016, then Interior
Secretary Sally Jewell cancelled his lease.
"This is totally unprecedented," Pendley
exclaimed. "Never in the history of the
Mineral Leasing Act has a secretary
reached back a year, let alone 33 years,
to cancel a lease."
Pendley said the case was so important
the U.S. Chamber of Commerce filed a
brief on Longwell's behalf, fearing, "If
the federal government can cancel a lease
like this, it can cancel any contract into
which it enters."
Pendley also talked about lawsuits
MSLF filed in the case of Colorado oilman
Reed Williams, who had several Western
Slope leases cancelled even after complying
with numerous demands from the BLM
and USFWS, and against President ObaOCTOBER 2018 105
American Oil and Gas Reporter - October 2018

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