American Oil and Gas Reporter - June 2023 - 19

IndustryDigest
BLM has offered a certain minimum
number of acres for lease within the
previous year.
The bureau notes that minimum bids
for the parcels have increased by $2 an
acre and that royalty rates have been
raised from 12.50% to 16.67%. Rental
rates also have been increased from their
previous $1.50 an acre for the first five
years and $2.00 an acre thereafter, and
now will be $3 an acre for the first two
years; $5 an acre for years three-eight;
and $15 an acre for years nine and ten.
Links to the environmental
assessment, maps, parcel lists, notice of
competitive lease sale, and proposed
lease stipulations are available at the
BLM ePlanning website
at https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanningui/project/2021616/510.
❒
DOI Proposal To Include
Conservation Leases
Attracts Criticism
WASHINGTON-The U.S.
Department of Interior's proposal earlier
this spring to initiate a program to sell
leases on public land for conservation is
drawing fire from some Republicans and
multiple-use advocates.
According to DOI, conservation
leasing is authorized under the Federal
Land Policy and Management Act and
entails a time-limited lease of federal land
that allows interested organizations to
conduct specific restoration or mitigation
activities. The department says the
provision responds to comments from
state and industry partners expressing a
need for a reliable path to pursue
compensatory mitigation to facilitate
development projects on public lands.
In a May hearing of the Senate Energy
and Natural Resources Committee, press
accounts indicate, Senator John Barrasso,
R-Wy., told Interior Secretary Deb
Haaland that the Public Lands Rule
would provide drilling and grazing
opponents another way to block those
activities. " The secretary wants to make
nonuse a use, " Barrasso is quoted. " She is
. . . turning federal law on its head. "
Press accounts indicate Mallori
Miller, vice president of government
relations for the Independent Petroleum
Association of America, has deemed the
proposal a radical turnabout. " This rule
is a complete shift of mindset and
priority that is not consistent with the
way federal land has ever been managed
since the 1800s, " Miller is quoted.
" There was never a choice between
mineral extraction or conservation, but
now the door is open. "
The National Cattlemen's Beef
Association and the Public Lands
Council also have expressed concern.
According to NCBA Executive Director
of Natural Resources and PLC
Executive Director Kaitlynn Glover, the
rulemaking will upend the Bureau of
Land Management's multiple-use
mandate and jeopardize the bureau's
ability to be a good partner.
" Ranchers have a reasonable
expectation of transparency and
predictability when dealing with the
BLM, and this proposed rule falls short
on both accounts. The covert manner in
which the rule was developed and
announced has left permittees feeling
like the rule is either a capitulation to
the extremist environmental groups who
want to eradicate grazing from the
landscape, or a concerted effort to
develop rules that preclude ranchers'
input, " Glover says. " The BLM will
have to answer some serious questions
about their understanding of their
multiple-use mandate and the value they
place on their relationship with ranchers
across the landscape. "
The first of five public hearings on
the rulemaking was held in May. The
deadline to file formal comments is
June 20. ❒
New York Governor
Signs Budget That Bans
Gas In New Buildings
ALBANY, N.Y.-When Governor
Kathy Hochul in early May signed a
budget bill that contained a measure to
prohibit natural gas connections in most
new buildings, New York became the
first state to institute a natural gas ban.
Supporters of the provision call it a way
to cut the state's greenhouse gas
emissions, media reports say, but
opponents question the ban's legal
durability in light of an April federal
court ruling that nixed a local ban on
natural gas connections in Berkeley, Ca.
(AOGR, May 2023, pg. 15).
Press accounts note that the provision
will prevent gas in new Empire State
residential buildings. It also prohibits
buildings that are seven stories or shorter
from hooking up to natural gas in 2026,
and extends that to taller buildings in
2029, although there are exceptions for
large commercial and industrial buildings
including stores, hospitals and restaurants.
It does not address existing connections.
" I know people love to misinterpret
this, but people with existing gas stoves,
you are welcome to keep them, "
published reports quote Hochul. " This
is where our nation has to go eventually,
but I want to make sure that it's not a
bumpy road to the transition. "
However, warns Energy In Depth's
Nicole Jacobs, New Yorkers should not
be surprised if the actual transition will
be into higher energy bills and
unreliable energy.
" New York continues to flout
consumer choice and energy security by
extending its electrification push to state
budget discussions, altogether skipping
the legislative process, " she writes.
" Efforts to accelerate the phasing out
natural gas-a trusted fuel source which
a majority of New Yorkers rely on-
insensitively pass along the price tag to
constituents while adding greater
pressure to an already-strained grid. " ❒
Vital Energy, NOG Buy
Delaware Basin Assets
From Forge Energy
TULSA-Vital Energy Inc. and
Northern Oil & Gas Inc. have reached a
$540 million definitive joint purchase
and sale agreement to acquire the assets
of EnCap portfolio company Forge
Energy II Delaware LLC.
The deal calls for Vital Energy to
acquire 70% of the assets for $378
million and to operate the asset, while
NOG will pay $162 million for the
remaining 30%, Vital details. The
company says it expects the deal to
close late in the second quarter, with an
effective date of March 1.
" This accretive acquisition is
attractively priced and significantly
expands Vital Energy's Permian focus,
adding a core operating area in the
Delaware Basin, " states Jason Pigott,
the company's president and chief
executive officer.
Vital Energy says the nearly 42,000
added acres will increase its Permian
JUNE 2023 19
American Oil and Gas Reporter - June 2023

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