An environmental assessment for QEP Resources Inc.’s two-well oil exploration project in eastern Utah has been released for public comment, the US Bureau of Land Management’s Vernal, Utah, field office said. Comments will be accepted through Nov. 7.
The Denver independent producer plans to drill two oil wells southwest of Vernal in Uintah and Duchesne counties, the field office said. It said that total new surface disruption under the proposed action would be 14.53 acres and involve construction of two well pads, including reserve pits, and construction or upgrading of two roads.
The EA supplements the draft environmental impact statement for the Greater Natural Buttes Area gas development project and includes recent ozone monitoring data for the Uinta basin. The EA may be viewed at (www.blm.gov/ut/st/en/fo/vernal/planning/nepa_.html)
Alan Petzet is Chief Editor-Exploration of Oil & Gas Journal in Houston. He is editor of the Weekly E&D Newsletter, emailed to OGJ subscribers, and a regular contributor to the OGJ Online subscriber website.
Petzet joined OGJ in 1981 after 13 years in the Tulsa World business-oil department. He was named OGJ Exploration Editor in 1990. A native of Tulsa, he has a BA in journalism from the University of Tulsa.
