U.S. Secretary of the Interior, Sally Jewell, has announced a proposal to reduce the waste of natural gas and to reduce methane emissions on public and tribal lands. The full press release from January 22, 2016 can be found here.
The proposal is an effort update the BLM's current regulations that were adopted over 30 years ago, to curb waste of natural gas and limit venting, flaring and leaks during oil and gas production activities on Federal and Indian leases.
The full text of the Bureau of Land Management's ("BLM") proposed rule can be found here.
The proposed rule would "require oil and gas producers to adopt currently available technologies, processes and equipment that would limit the rate of flaring at oil wells on public and tribal lands, and would require operators to periodically inspect their operations for leaks, and to replace outdated equipment that vents large quantities of gas into the air."
The changes that will be necessary to comply with the proposed rule will likely be expensive for operators. The good news is that the proposed rule would not affect operators overnight, but would phase in over several years to allow operators to gradually replace outdated equipment and reduce their flaring activities.
The proposed rule is open to public comment for 60 days once it is published in the Federal Register.
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