The US Bureau of Land Management found no significant potential impact from Anadarko Petroleum Corp.'s proposed development of the Monell and Arch units of the Patrick Draw oil and gas field, BLM's Rock Springs field office said as it issued a decision record.
It said the 32,781-acre Patrick Draw field has 128 producing wells and includes the 22,657-acre Monell and Arch units, which have 21 producing wells. The field lies in a checkerboard of federal, private, and state land about 30 miles east of Rock Springs, and is bisected by Interstate 80.
BLM Rock Springs said the Dec. 19 decision record approves the vertical and directional drilling of 105 oil wells, 18 carbon dioxide injector wells, and 2 water injection wells within the Monell and Arch units over 9 years, with a projected well life of roughly 30 years and a maximum surface disturbance of 238 acres as analyzed in the environmental assessment.
The field office conducted the initial public scoping on the proposed development in fall of 2012 and received nine public, partnership, and government comments after it made the environmental assessment (EA) publicly available in summer. All comments concerning potential impacts were addressed in the EA, it noted.