American Oil and Gas Reporter - August 2022 - 36

Litigation And Its Implications
Prompt Adjustments By PAW
When 70% of all federal leases that
CHEYENNE, WY.-Petroleum Association
of Wyoming Chairman Joe Milczewski
has attended many barbecues
and gatherings this summer, and he says
one topic always arises.
" I have not been to a summer barbecue
this year where oil and gas prices did not
come up; I am 12-for-12 in discussing
the price at the pump, " recounts Milczewski,
vice president of state government
affairs for Oxy in Cheyenne. " People see
it in their day-to-day lives. People are
asking important questions: 'What is
going on with the pump price?' and
'What is being done fix it?' "
These questions mark a departure from
the past several years, when mild energy
prices may have recast oil and gas as an
abstract matter in the public mind, Milczewski
considers. " During the past five
or six years, many people who were not
close to the industry probably started
thinking of oil and gas as a political issue
and did not understand the economic reality, "
he suggests. " The last year has
clarified for many people the importance
of the American oil and gas industry. "
PAW is working to help the state's industry
provide the energy consumers
need, reflects President Pete Obermueller,
noting that the association's efforts focus
on easing regulatory burdens that make
it harder to do business in Wyoming.
Regulations, he observes, are the main
battlefield on which a relentless onslaught
of anti-industry lawsuits are launched.
" We are working hard against the
Biden administration's environmental
group allies and their litigious sue-andsettle
strategies, " Obermueller reports.
" Basically, they try to advance policy
objectives by filing novel lawsuits and
settling behind closed doors with a friendly
administration. Then, to twist the knife,
the settlement stipulates that the environmental
groups have prevailed so that
the federal government pays their attorneys'
fees. All that happens behind closed
doors and in the courts instead of through
elected representatives. "
In response, Milczewski says the association
has adjusted its gameplan to
ensure it can compete in the judicial
arena. " Historically, PAW was not very
active in litigation, but litigation has become
more prominent in recent years
and the stakes have gone up. PAW is increasing
its legal capacities and being a
more active participant in the legal
process, " he assures.
36 THE AMERICAN OIL & GAS REPORTER
Seeking To Intervene
have received all necessary permits to
drill are held by operators who currently
are running a rig, it is reasonable to
believe they will be developed soon, Milczewski
indicates. Meanwhile, he contrasts,
about half the unused leases are
tied up in some form of litigation. " Those
leases are simply off limits, " he says.
" That is a key issue for PAW's members
and a key reason we have become much
more active in the legal process. "
Examples abound of lawsuits freezing
projects in suspended animation or threatening
to scuttle them altogether. In one
recent case, Center for Biological Diversity
and WildEarth Guardians v. United States
Department of Interior, et. al., Obermueller
recounts, a couple major anti-development
groups filed a lawsuit to stop the 808
permits in Wyoming that have been issued
since President Biden's election. The suit
alleges that the administration's permits
do not meet federal greenhouse gas and
endangered species standards.
" Those arguments are weak, but the
remedy they seek is an injunction on all
the permits companies already have in
hand, and to also stop BLM from issuing
any new permits until the requirements
are met, " he relates. " Unfortunately, public
statements by these groups and the Biden
administration are clear: They are in lockstep
in their intention to halt oil and gas
development on federal lands even while
Americans pay record prices at the gas
pump. We will not sit idly by as President
Biden coordinates with his activist allies
to set energy policy through closed door
litigation activism. "
To help prevent another sue-and-settle
scenario, PAW has sought to intervene in
the case, which is pending before the U.S.
District Court for the District of Columbia.
If PAW is granted intervenor status, it will
gain a seat at the table for any settlement
decisions. Obermueller points out that
97% of those 808 drilling permits are held
by PAW member companies.
The lawsuit comes after Secretary of
the Interior Deb Haaland killed a federal
transparency requirement in mid-June.
The now-scuttled Trump-era stipulation
forced conditions upon the Department
of Interior's participation in sue-and-settle
arrangements and required the government
to publish accessible and easily searchable
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American Oil and Gas Reporter - August 2022

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