American Oil and Gas Reporter - October 2024 - 18

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And get rig and
frac crew
counts, too!
to drill in a Powder River Basin oil and
gas project. The miscalculation deals
with industry water use; it appears in an
environmental impact statement that the
U.S. Bureau of Land Management
issued in late 2020.
Located in Wyoming, the Converse
County Oil and Gas Project covers
approximately 52,667 acres of land and
mineral estate administered by BLM
and will result in the drilling of
approximately 500 wells a year over 10
years, court documents say.
According to the ruling, the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency
commented to BLM that the project's
draft EIS contained " 'an
unrepresentatively high specific storage
value (by at least an order of
magnitude),' which 'may result in a
substantial underestimation of both the
magnitude and extent of drawdown
caused by pumping.' "
The court faults the EIS for
downplaying the risk of groundwater
drawdown with a model that
erroneously uses a specific aquifer
storage value from a 2014 analysis.
Essentially, the model set the storage
value at 0.001, rather than 0.00001, to
represent industry withdrawals. " BLM
responded to EPA's comment,
explaining again that it derived the
specific storage value from 'previous
Powder River Basin groundwater
modeling for the Powder River Basin
Coal Review,' and citing the same 2014
report, " it says. " That 2014 report,
however, lists specific storage values . . .
which are off from BLM's 0.001 value
by a factor of 10,000. "
Although the ruling does not impact
existing permits, the court says a new EIS
is necessary and it will " enjoin further
APD approvals based on the project EIS
while it decides whether to vacate the
project approval pending remand. " ❒
DOE OKs Gas Exports
From LNG Facility
In Mexican Waters
NEW YORK-New Fortress Energy
Inc. has received authorization from the
U.S. Department of Energy to export as
much as 1.4 million tonnes per annum
of liquefied natural gas to non-Free
Trade Agreement countries from its Fast
LNG 1 (FLNG 1) asset, which is
located offshore Altamira, Mexico, for
five years. The facility already has
received FTA authorization.
" This important authorization
cements NFE's position as a leading,
global, vertically integrated gas to power
company and enhances the marketability
of our FLNG 1 asset, " says Chairman
and Chief Executive Officer Wes Edens.
" NFE is now able to freely supply
cheaper and cleaner natural gas to
underserved markets across the world
and further our goal of accelerating the
world's energy transition. "
Although oil and gas advocates
such as American Energy Alliance
www.aogr.com
18 THE AMERICAN OIL & GAS REPORTER
The New Mexico Oil & Gas Association staff accepts the New Mexico Society of Association
Executives' Community Impact Award, which recognizes an association for undertaking
philanthropic programs or social responsibility initiatives. From left: Kathy Ytuarte, director
of administrative services; Ashley Wagner, vice president of government affairs; Marcellus
Davis, coordinator of membership engagement; award presenter Bridget Condon of Swire
Coca-Cola; Missi Currier, president and chief executive officer; Betty Read Young, NMOGA
immediate past chair; Lisa James, chief financial officer; and Abenicio Baldonado, director
of community engagement.

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American Oil and Gas Reporter - October 2024

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Oil and Gas Reporter - October 2024