EOG has applied for several permits that start on private land and end on private land (ours) but go under some federal land. Would that well be banned under the push to ban drilling on federal lands?
That would fall into the “No Surface Occupancy” or NSO status for the Federal minerals. Theoretically that would place it into a less restrictive category since there would be no impact to the Federal surface. I say theoretically, because it’s anybody’s guess as to how things will occur under the new administration.
The well will still require a Federal permit and the folks at the BLM know how to slow-play the process better than anybody. Legally, they can’t stop drilling by imposing new restrictions on existing leases, but they can definitely make it more difficult.
2 Likes
Thank you so much for your input. We were in the process of re-leasing with EOG when things went off the rails so we don’t have an existing lease in place.
This topic was automatically closed after 90 days. New replies are no longer allowed.