Watching Government: BLM’s fiscal progress

May 13, 2019
The US Bureau of Land Management reported an unusual accomplishment on May 1. Onshore US crude oil production from federally managed lands during fiscal 2018 reached a record 214,144,945 bbl from the smallest footprint of acreage under lease (25,552,475 acres) since BLM started collecting comparable data in fiscal 1985 (120,686,611 acres), it said.

The US Bureau of Land Management reported an unusual accomplishment on May 1. Onshore US crude oil production from federally managed lands during fiscal 2018 reached a record 214,144,945 bbl from the smallest footprint of acreage under lease (25,552,475 acres) since BLM started collecting comparable data in fiscal 1985 (120,686,611 acres), it said.

“Demonstrating the marvel of technology and innovation, our production numbers are unprecedented, even though we have the fewest acres under lease in almost 4 decades,” US Interior Sec. David L. Bernhardt said.

Onshore lease sales produced a record $1.1 billion of revenue during the 12 months ended Sept. 30, 2018. BLM said that in the last 2 years, it has improved its oil and gas leasing program dramatically by reducing processing times for drilling permit applications. The 28 lease sales it held during fiscal 2018 netted a record $1.1 billion as a result, and the number of drilling permits issued climbed 55% to 3,388 from 2,184 in fiscal 2015, the agency disclosed.

It said fiscal 2018 drilling permit application processing times averaged 176 days compared with fiscal 2016’s average of 257 days. BLM credited automated processes it implemented to increase the reviews and approvals, which provided greater regulatory certainty for applicants. The agency remains dedicated to reducing these permitting times further, it added.

BLM also saw a substantial year-to-year increase of more than 1,000 in the number of wells spudded from 847 in fiscal 2016 to 1,191 during fiscal 2018.

The number of producing leases continued to increase steadily to 24,028 in fiscal 2018—the highest level since 10 years earlier, it said. The agency received bids on 1,488,300 acres in fiscal 2018, marking the most acreage receiving bids in more than 10 years and an 87% increase from 792,823 acres receiving bids in 2017.

Other numbers grew

Numbers for new acres leased and new leases issued continued to grow during fiscal 2018, up 117% for new acres leased and 156% for new leases since fiscal 2016, it said. BLM leased 1,253,369 acres in fiscal 2018, up from 1,114,218 leased acres in fiscal 2017 and 577,317 leased acres in fiscal 2016. New leases issued rose to 1,333 in fiscal 2018 from 520 in fiscal 2016, BLM said.

Producers also nominated or filed expressions of interest (EOI) for 11% more acres in fiscal 2018 than 2 years earlier, it said. In 2018, EOIs covered about 8.7 million acres, showing an increase in interest for oil and gas development on US public lands, the agency said. Another streamlined process reduced the percentage of parcels protested by 23% from 88% during fiscal 2017 to 68% the following year, it added.